Taxes

The IRS recently released its 2023 “Dirty Dozen” tax avoidance and fraud list consisting of nine consumer-targeted fraud schemes and three categories carried over from 2022. Consumer-Focused Fraud Employee Retention Credit. The ERC is a refundable tax credit designed for businesses that closed during COVID-19 but still paid their employees or that had a significant

Now that the tax deadline has passed, have you ever paused for a moment to consider how all of the tax returns get processed? The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is arguably one of the most loathed government agencies in the country. It is a mammoth organization consisting of over 79 thousand employees that are responsible

Introduction VAT in the UK is 50 years old this month. VAT is one of the highest yielding taxes for the UK government with official government statistics that over £150 billion of UK VAT was collected last year, being around 16% of total tax receipts. This compares to circa £68 billion for corporation tax and

After months of dithering, Washington is finally beginning to grapple with the need to raise or suspend the federal debt limit. The White House has said for months it would not entertain negotiations until House Republicans laid out a coherent negotiating position. Speaker Kevin McCarthy sought to do just that on Monday with a speech

The $787 million settlement by Fox FOXA News and Fox Corporation to resolve the Dominion defamation suit made big news, but the tax news that this is a deductible business expense to Fox should be no surprise. It appeared that Fox was likely to lose the defamation suit, and likely would have had to pay

Today is 4/20, a counterculture holiday based on the celebration of cannabis. A few years ago, the day would have confounded some. Now, 4/20 is so mainstream that it trends on social media. Cannabis simply doesn’t have the same taboo as it once did, largely due to legalization efforts. History Of 4/20 While there are

Senators Kevin Cramer and John Thune, Republicans who represent Dakota, North and South respectively, have introduced the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2023. This is not a new thing. I think the origination of the term “death tax” is a little murky but much credit for its adaptation as a GOP talking point goes to

As usual, the politicians are missing the point: Success or failure of the IRS’s ambitious plan to spend $80 billion in new money won’t be measured by how many new staff it hires. Rather it will depend largely on the agency’s ability to hire the right people, upgrade and modernize its technology, and change its

For many Americans, tax season is as exciting as watching paint dry and as tedious as picking weeds in the garden. The best or worst moment is finalizing the calculations that determine whether you get a refund or a tax bill. Here are some tips on how you can use either outcome to improve your

Last week, the U.S. Treasury surprised almost no one by concluding in Revenue Ruling 2023-02 that IRC section 1014’s basis step-up does not apply to irrevocable grantor trusts that are not included in the grantor’s estate. So, what is notable about a revenue ruling to which maybe 100 people paid attention? Well, less than a