Taxes

The future of Social Security and Medicare has unexpectedly become a central point of contention in the final week before the 2022 midterm elections. As the two biggest non-emergency spending programs in the federal budget and the foundation of retirement security for nearly all American workers, it makes perfect sense to have a conversation about

Wednesday’s announcement by the Federal Reserve of another ¾ point interest rate increase continues the central bank’s grim war with inflation. Higher rates are doing damage across the economy, which has never stabilized after the COVID-19 shock. But commercial real estate, vital to cities’ economic and fiscal well-being, hasn’t taken a big hit—yet. Ever-higher interest

The bold, hype-laden pronouncements around AI and machine learning were hard to miss five or six years ago. Headlines about robo-accountants stealing jobs, algorithms that will cure disease and autonomous vehicles were everywhere. Then, reality quickly caught up with the hype, those promises eventually proved overly ambitious and many people lost the plot. Then, a

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about who can get new COLAs, how soon spouses can apply for spousal benefits and how filing early can affect spousal and survivor’s benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more Ask Larry answers

Former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, now with Alliantgroup, discusses the need to identify the agency’s next leader and how the IRS should use its additional funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax

At 7:02 p.m. on January 20, 1953, John Mays held the door as Dwight D. Eisenhower ascended the steps of the North Portico and entered the White House. Mays had been welcoming presidents to the White House since William McKinley occupied the Oval Office, but Eisenhower’s entry was still noteworthy: He was the first Republican

The Inflation Reduction Act recently signed into law by President Biden provides for $80 billion in increased IRS funding over ten years. This increased budget will provide for the hiring of tens of thousands of additional and replacement IRS employees. Despite the claim that new enforcement is to focus on higher income taxpayers, Republicans in

Urban planners are used to being ignored by the larger public, media, and culture. So it’s shocking that New York theater’s hottest ticket isn’t “Hamilton”, or the Michael Jackson musical, but The Shed’s production of “Straight Line Crazy”—a play about New York’s controversial urban planner and master builder Robert Moses. Written by award-winning British playwright

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about how spousal benefit amounts are calculated, whether previous COLAs can increase spousal benefit rates and when spousal benefits can be higher than retirement benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more Ask Larry

Earlier this month, Heinrich Schweizer got bad news from my favorite Tax Court judge Albert Lauber, “Scholar Al” as Lew Taishoff has dubbed him. Lauber ruled that Schweizer’s failure to meet the disclosure requirements for a charitable contribution of property was not “due to reasonable cause”. The opinion illustrates Reilly’s Fourth Law of Tax planning

Many urban downtowns hope converting empty and underused office buildings to apartments will mitigate the fiscal impacts of increased working from home. But can office districts and buildings be converted to residential, building new neighborhoods? A great exhibit at New York’s Skyscraper Museum, curated by Museum Founder and Director Carol Willis, says “yes” by documenting

If you have young grandchildren, take a fresh look at 529 education savings plans. These plans always were good estate planning tools, but changes in recent years make them more attractive ways for grandparents to help grandchildren. You can set up a 529 savings plan account for any beneficiary, and you can set up accounts

Recent years’ tax acts don’t change trader tax status (TTS), Section 475 MTM accounting, wash-sale losses on securities, or the tax treatment on financial products, including futures (Section 1256 contracts) and cryptocurrencies (intangible property). It’s helpful to consider IRS inflation adjustments in income and capital gains tax brackets, various income thresholds and caps, retirement plan

Structured settlements can help resolve most any case and are regularly used in personal injury lawsuits. They increase the value for a plaintiff of the defendant’s payment, “bridging the gap” between negotiating parties. Afterward, the plaintiff can depend on monthly, annual, and even lifetime payments. Often, news articles about “structures” tell stories of fraud. And

Tax return preparation service Liberty Tax TAX is being sued by the District of Columbia for allegedly cheating customers by luring them with a cash bonus program, while secretly increasing their preparation charges. The lawsuit feeds into a long-running debate over whether there should be better federal regulation of the tax return preparation industry. During

After dramatically rising during the worst of the pandemic, the number of households who pay no federal income tax has fallen sharply. It will remain relatively steady in absolute numbers and as a share of tax filers as long as the job market remains relatively healthy and until the individual tax provisions of the 2017

If you didn’t know (and many people don’t), a tax credit is more valuable than a tax deduction. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the taxes you will owe in a year. In contrast, a tax deduction will likely only save you pennies on the dollar. A tax deduction for the highest earners

We have lost a great truth-teller about cities, inequality, and American social and economic life. On Tuesday, after a long bout with cancer, Los Angeles writer and activist Mike Davis died at age 76. Davis was always enlightening, amusing, and oddly both apocalyptic and hopeful, even as he chronicled America’s (and the world’s) unequal urban,

Wedding photographer Scott Burton of Oxford MS was not charging sales tax on his wedding packages. To a couple facing say a $5,000 tab for his service, you could see tacking on another $350 for the 7% Mississippi sales tax would make a difference. Unfortunately, on audit the Mississippi Department of Revenue (MDOR) determined that

U.S. Tax Court Chief Judge Kathleen Kerrigan discusses the court’s post-COVID transition and case management system, and how the additional funding from the Inflation Reduction Act may be used. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today