Taxes

Running your own business (or being self-employed) is a major part of the American Dream and a great way to quickly move towards financial freedom. This also leaves the heavy lifting of tax planning and setting up a retirement plan squarely on your shoulders, as if running a business wasn’t complicated enough. Keep reading as

Tax cases involving Native Americans are complex, highly fact-intensive, and if required, a court must weigh the competing interests of the tribe, the federal government, and the state to determine if the tax stands or falls.  There are instances in which a court, in order to reach the correct result, must examine the original treaty document

In a measure aimed at developing the UK’s post-Brexit international trading arrangements, it was announced last month that several Free Ports (sometimes referred to as Free Trade Zones) would open in the UK.  What are Free Ports? Free Ports are commonly used throughout the world, although less so within the EU, to promote international trade

When it comes to taxes, the good news is that we all have until May 17th to file and pay our federal income taxes. (Your state income tax deadline may be a different story.) Parents can also qualify for the higher child tax credit. The bad news is there isn’t much you can really do

Cities and states have increasingly been offering moving incentives to entice new residents in recent years and the pandemic has prompted more governments to get into the game. West Virginia became the latest place to do so this week and it’s offering one of the largest incentives yet: $12,000 cash to relocate to the “Wild

When President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion-dollar American Rescue Plan last month, he launched a new and improved Child Tax Credit. The Child Tax Credit has been around since the Clinton Administration, yet this new version may have a positive effect on Americans who have been trying to find financial stability through the Covid-19 pandemic.

I recently wrote about how the IRS taxes legal malpractice settlements. I said a legal malpractice settlement should be tax free for an underlying physical injury case, where damages would have been tax free in the underlying physical injury case. Shortly thereafter, the Tax Court decided Blum v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2021-18. Its harsh taxable

In the latest episode of Tax Notes Talk, Abdul Muheet Chowdhary of South Centre, an intergovernmental organization of developing countries, talks about how the U.N. Committee on Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters could be more transparent and effective for developing countries.  The post has been edited for length and clarity. Nana Ama Sarfo: Abdul,

Congress has returned to Washington after a two-week Easter vacation, and What’s Ahead explains why investors should be worried. The first thing on Congress’ plate is President Biden’s gargantuan infrastructure bill, most of which has little to do with such traditional infrastructure projects as highways and bridges. Unless changed, the legislation will hurt the economy—and,

How you prepare your taxes could help others make sense of your estate. Piecing together a person’s financial holdings when you don’t know where to start can be almost impossibly overwhelming. Let’s say you have to look after a parent suffering from diminished capacity, or are in charge of the affairs after a person has

By Doug Sheppard, Tax Notes State commentary editor Being the first American rock band of perhaps thousands to cover a reggae song would have to be considered a major milestone — if not something to brag about. If one knew that they were breaking new ground, that is. Informed years later that Brownsville Station’s 1973

It’s not how much you make but how much you keep. This fact of life doesn’t go away once you leave the workforce. Making intelligent tax-planning decisions before and during retirement can have a significant impact on your net retirement income.  In plain English, we are talking about reducing the taxes you have to pay

Are you comfortable signing your tax return under penalties of perjury? It’s almost April 15, but for most of us, Tax Day this year is May 17th. There’s a month left for you to stew about it, and the IRS and Department of Justice Tax Division want to make you think carefully. Willfully filing false

Today’s column addresses questions about ‘switching’ from a retirement benefit to a spousal benefit, filing retroactively and then immediately suspending and what benefits might be available on records of ex spouses. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which markets Maximize My

Nowhere is President Biden’s ambitious policy agenda more in conflict than in his triple aim of funding a major infrastructure initiative, attacking climate change, and never raising taxes on households making less than $400,000. He has a terrific opportunity to achieve the first two promises, but he cannot if he sticks to that no new

While the IRS extended the tax return deadline to May 17, it kept the usual April 15 date for the first quarterly estimated tax payment of 2021. This is awkward for the many people planning to base 2021 estimated taxes on 2020 income reported in their Form 1040 tax returns. How are you supposed to

The Trump tax reform conspicuously targeted high-tax Democratic states. Now that they’re in control, some Democrats have made undoing the damage a priority. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has always been more reluctant than other Empire State Democrats to soak the rich—just last summer he warned that raising taxes on the state’s billionaires would mean

In late March, thirteen states filed a lawsuit to fight what they claim is “a complete take-over of state finances” by the federal government, “one of the most egregious power grabs by the federal government in the history of the United States.” They want to use federal Covid-19 relief money to cut state taxes, which would continue

Wondering where your tax refund is? In its Covid-19 operations update, the Internal Revenue Service has added an explanation for why in many cases it’s taking longer than the typical 21 days to process tax refunds for individual taxpayers. We’re talking about tax returns filed for the 2020 tax year during the 2021 tax season

This year’s tax filing deadline hasn’t exactly been smooth. It seemed that the April 15 deadline would stick, but then the IRS extended it to May 17. But that didn’t cover everything, notable the April 15 estimated tax payment deadline! What’s more, don’t forget about FBARs either, as that deadline was not extended. The IRS