Taxes

This episode of What’s Ahead points out how the tax proposals President Biden outlined in his national address will hurt, not help, the economy. If enacted, they will turn into political poison for the Democrats. A doubling of the capital gains levy will shrink Uncle Sam’s revenue, as people will be more inclined to hold

The Canada Revenue Agency recently won its first cryptocurrency-related customer data request — a request involving Coinsquare, the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Under the order, Coinsquare must turn over personal and transactional information about its largest users, which captures about 5 to 10% of its customer base. In many ways, the CRA is following in the footsteps of the IRS, which in 2016

Today’s column addresses questions about when delayed retirement credits are applied to retirement benefits, whether suvivor’s benefits from a foreign country will affect Social Security benefits and becoming eligible for Social Security benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which markets

Restaurant owners have been patiently waiting for the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to open the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (“RRF”) since the passing of the American Rescue Plan Act on March 11, 2021. The SBA announced this week that registration for the SBA application portal will begin on Friday, April 30, 2021, at 9 am ET and

Heirs and hedge fund managers might take a hit, but tens of millions of families and lower-paid young singles will come out ahead with fatter tax credits. President Biden will lay out his $1.8 trillion American Families Plan on Wednesday in his first address to a joint session of Congress on the eve of his

My passions in life include family, cooking, board games, taxes, and small businesses. However, sometimes small businesses struggle to be heard by Congressional leadership is over lobbyists for large multinational corporations. After all, if I am operating a small business in Upstate New York what is the best way to make sure my view is heard with

Today’s column addresses questions about how stopping work before claiming a Social Security retirement benefit can affect the benefit amount, divorced spousal benefits and the family maximum that can be claimed on a single record and how the Government Pension Offset (GPO) is applied. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and

In the latest episode of Tax Notes Talk, David Thompson of the National Council of Nonprofits talks about how tax policy affects tax-exempt organizations and tax issues on the nonprofit industry’s radar today.  The post has been edited for length and clarity. Fred Stokeld: I’m here today talking with David Thompson, vice president of public policy

Caitlin Flanagan’s critique of private schools in a recent article in The Atlantic doesn’t focus on the tax treatment of donations to educational institutions. But one of the first concrete problems she identifies in her assessment of the inequities surrounding exclusive private schools with expensive tuition is that they benefit from the deduction for charitable contributions in section 170. 

Some people look at India’s equalization levy and don’t like what they see. The aversion could stem from the details of the tax, or from Western discomfort with the fact that a prominent market economy has chosen not to sit on its hands while the OECD fiddles with a coordinated response to the challenges of the digital

Topline National Economic Council director Brian Deese on Monday defended President Biden’s proposal to nearly double the tax rate on long term capital gains and qualified dividends received by investors earning more than $1 million annually, emphasizing that only a small fraction of American households would see their tax treatment change if the plan were

The IRS struggles mightily to balance two goals: It desperately wants to encourage taxpayers to file their tax returns electronically rather than on paper. And it must protect filers against identify theft and other forms of fraud. The problem: The agency’s security processes are preventing millions of people from filing electronically and are slowing refunds.

There are plenty of different categories at the Academy Awards, and not all celebs come away with awards or even gifts. Some get swag worth $60,000, but top nominees get a jam-packed gift bag worth $205,000. There’s a long tradition of gifts at the Oscars and with good reason. Companies pay promoters to place their

Today’s column addresses questions about whether child benefits will be reduced if the record holder filed early for their own retirement benefit, whether investing in stocks and cryptocurrency count as earnings and whether collecting early divorced spousal benefits reduce later retirement benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder

Topline As President Joe Biden enters the final stretch of his first 100 days in office, he’s still garnering approval from a majority of Americans—and faring better than his predecessor—but an overwhelming majority of voters are still concerned about the economy as concerns over gun laws and immigration also come to the fore, according to

In the game of tax chicken that is the 2021 filing season the IRS has swerved, albeit involuntarily, again. Despite repeatedly doubling down on the stance that first quarter estimated tax payments were due on April 15, the latest in a series of IRS system glitches has caused payments for many taxpayers not to be

Today’s column addresses questions about whether it’s always best to wait until full retirement age to take survivor’s benefits before switching to retirement benefits at 70, how the earnings test is applied this year and benefit amounts for disabled adult children. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and

Every so often I focus on what seems, from personal experience, to represent customer “support” bordering on consumer fraud. Reasonable customer service is part and parcel of what one is purchasing from our increasingly small number of mammoth retail companies. As those who read my Forbes columns know, I generally write about issues of general

For many organizations trading in goods, the end of this month could mark the end of the second phase of Brexit and the start of a next. In this third phase, organizations are likely to want to take the time to review how effective their import and export movements have been so far and to

Households making $1 million or more a year would receive half the benefit of repealing the $10,000 federal cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, according to new estimates by the Tax Policy Center. Seventy percent of the benefit would go to those making $500,000 or more. At the same time, 96 percent