Taxes

Today’s column addresses questions about potential retirement benefit rate increases at full retirement age (FRA), spousal benefits based on the record of someone receiving Social Security disability benefits and maximizing benefits after retiring earlier than expected. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning,

Nikki E. Dobay, a partner with Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP’s tax practice group, discusses the SALT cap workarounds for passthrough entities that many states have adopted and possible coming developments for those policies. 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

When the global chair position for Latham & Watkins LLP’s tax department opened up in 2016, partner Jiyeon Lee-Lim spoke up. At the time, Lee-Lim was a nearly 30-year veteran of the firm and a prominent tax partner on some of Latham’s most complex and high-profile transactions. When Liberty Global LBTYA  and Virgin Media combined in 2013, generating one of the largest cable deals ever,

Victims of Hurricane Ida in parts of New York and New Jersey now have until Jan. 3, 2022, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments, the Internal Revenue Service announced today. This is comparable to relief provided last week to Ida victims in Louisiana. The IRS is offering relief to

Topline The wealthiest Americans are evading hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes each year, the Treasury Department asserted in a report released Wednesday, using the findings to bolster the case for a proposed $80 billion investment to help the Internal Revenue Service improve tax enforcement. Key Facts According to the Treasury’s report, the top

Are retroactive tax increases constitutional or even fair? Up until now, the tax rate on capital gain has been zero, 15% or 20%, depending on your income. In some cases, you add the 3.8% Obamacare tax, but at worst, your total tax bill is 23.8%. The long term capital gain tax is graduated, 0% on

Today’s column addresses questions about whether moving to another state can exempt a person from the Windfall Elimination Provision, when to file for survivor’s benefits while still potentially earning income and when spousal benefits can still be available. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic

Are retroactive tax increases constitutional or even fair? Up until now, the tax rate on capital gain has been zero, 15% or 20%, depending on your income. In some cases, you add the 3.8% Obamacare tax, but at worst, your total tax bill is 23.8%. The long term capital gain tax is graduated, 0% on

West Virginia announced the first round of winners of its moving incentive program this week and more of them are coming from California than any other state. Of the 53 applicants who were selected to move to the Morgantown area, 11% are from the Golden State. This is sure to feed the narrative that “Californians

Despite the debacle in Afghanistan and what that’s done to make the world a more dangerous place, congressional Democrats are still obsessed with passing mammoth, economy-killing, tax-and-spend bills.  But this segment of What’s Ahead details the continuing good news that various states are going in the opposite direction of these Washington politicians. One example: The

Ronald Reagan made tax cuts the centerpiece of his 1980 campaign for the presidency. And after winning the election, he made good on his promise.  The Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA), enacted on August 13, 1981, was the biggest tax cut in American history. It was also remarkably durable, reshaping the federal tax system — and

The House Ways and Means Committee may release a draft of the $3.5 trillion social policy bill as early as next week, including the tax hikes needed to pay for it. That’s left wealthy taxpayers scrambling to do proactive planning, especially to avoid a possible doubling of the top capital gains tax rate to 39.6%,

When Congressional Democrats began the legislative process to enact President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders insisted on adding a costly expansion of Medicare benefits to the bill. But a new report from the program’s trustees makes clear that this expansion would be unwise: Medicare is already expensive and growing faster

Today’s column addresses questions about how even with the deeming rules, it can still be possible to receive only retirement benefits before later spousal benefits, survivor’s benefit rates is the record holder dies before claiming and how the WEP and the GPO work. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the

The Employee Retention Credit (“ERC”) is providing a meaningful (and immediate) tax benefit to tens of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses (as well as tax-exempt entities) across the country as business owners seek to keep their doors open and make new hires in the face of the pandemic. As business owners and charity leaders

The IRS Chief Counsel has signaled with CCA 202130014 that the Service will be continuing its hard line on conservation easements. The engine of every abusive syndicated conservation easement is a vastly inflated appraisal. Rather than focus on the appraisal issue, IRS has instead gone after technical flaws in the easement documents. What is disturbing about that approach

On the hunt for tax cheats, fraudsters, money launderers and dark web drug dealers, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has sent an undercover agent to work on a market for trading bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrency. In a search warrant reviewed by Forbes, the undercover IRS agent went by the name of “Mr. Coins” on

When the Covid-19 recession hit hard in spring 2020, people feared that state budgets would collapse, driving cities and states to bankruptcy and crippling public services.  Although we still must keep investing in public goods, the feared budget disaster didn’t happen.  Why?  Prompt government action, including unprecedented steps by the Federal Reserve and massive federal spending. Remember the

In this installment of In the Pages, Robert Goulder of Tax Notes and Ruth Mason of the University of Virginia School of Law discuss the reasoning behind the OECD/G-20’s two-pillar agreement compromise and debate whether a final agreement will be unanimously approved. Here are a few highlights from their discussion, edited for length and clarity. Robert Goulder: Hello everyone.

A recent Tax Court case considered its jurisdiction when the IRS erroneously included a denied innocent-spouse relief claim for a prior year in a later determination for another year. As the case holds, that later determination can effectively revive the Tax Court’s jurisdiction over the denied claim for the prior year because of its inclusion