Taxes

Social Security is routinely clawing back benefits it claims it paid by mistake over years if not decades. This policy is cruel and unusual. It’s based on Social Security’s despicable mantra: Our mistake is your mistake. It leaves 77 million Social Security recipients living in constant fear of having benefits received for years, if not

The IRS may have your money. The tax agency has announced that more than $1.5 billion in outstanding refunds remain unclaimed from the 2019 tax year. The agency estimates that more than 1.5 million taxpayers might have qualified for a refund but did not file a federal income tax return for the 2019 tax year.

Social Security benefits automatically convert to standard retirement benefits at full retirement age (FRA) and this retirement benefit can then be suspended. Here’s the story of one disability benefit recipient’s frustrating attempts to do so. I asked James (a pseudonym) to write up his experience in trying to suspend his retirement benefit starting with his

Progressive mayors in Boston and Los Angeles have been joined by Chicago’s Brandon Johnson, all hoping not only to change criminal justice but also spend more on affordable housing, child care, education, and other progressive polices. But these progressives (along with a significant number of centrist mayors) will face serious budget and political challenges that

As Tax Day gets closer—April 18, 2023—many taxpayers are looking for ways to put a dent in their tax bills. To benefit from most tax-favored moves for 2022, like making a charitable contribution or buying new technology for the office, you needed to have taken action by December 31, 2022. But there’s a significant exception

Timing is everything. That was the lesson learned in a recent Tax Court case that resulted in a lost charitable deduction and capital gains tax. Here’s what happened. Background Commercial Steel Treating Corp., or CSTC, was founded in 1927 by the Hoensheid family. Over the years, the company performed well and remained in the family.

Tax Notes contributing editor Robert Goulder discusses the history of bank secrecy, Credit Suisse’s role in it, and the bank’s recent collapse. 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 International. This week: Can you keep a

On August 15, 1971, President Nixon unveiled a package of economic policies to jump-start a sluggish economy. His message featured a range of proposals, some rather tepid and conventional, others quite dramatic and controversial. It was the latter that gave rise to the name later used to describe the speech: the Nixon Shock. After the

Unless you’ve been involved in a lawsuit, you may not know about structured settlements. You may have heard of them on late night TV. “It’s your money,” some TV ads will exclaim. “Cash in your structured settlement and use your money now!” These TV ads are from factoring companies that buy up lawsuit structured settlements,

From what we can tell, Social Security is sending clawback bills to tens of thousands of Americans for mistakes it made. Social Security’s policy is cruel and unusual. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. Social Security is clawing back benefits it