Taxes

A day may come when the fallout from the tax shelter scandal at the turn of millennium is no more. But it is not this day. On this day we share the story of Robert “Bobby” Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard ATVI , and Seaview Trading LLC. Mr. Kotick is a controversial figure for several

Few things herald the coming of spring in the United States like the blooming of the cherry blossom trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. Although the National Park Service has deemed March 23, 2023, as “peak bloom” for the blossoms, March 27 is a bit more significant: It was on this day in

“Has anyone had clients actually do the apocryphal story of a client using a 529 to go on a continuing education cruise of Europe?” asked one of my peers in a recent forum, “Trying to figure (this out) after client asked.” Can You Get An Education At Sea? There are a host of companies offering

Since the Roth IRA was created in 1997, a portion of the financial services community warned the Roth IRA was a trap. Congress would wait until Roth accounts held trillions of dollars, then repeal all or some of the tax benefits. From the start, I’ve been skeptical of the arguments that Roth IRAs are a

On Mar. 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act—the CARES Act—was signed into law in response to the challenges facing the US economy due to the Covid pandemic. Nearly three years later, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) reports that it has investigated 975 tax and money laundering cases related to Covid fraud, with

During the week, Eugene Hall uses his tech savvy to chase down tax cheats, identity thieves and other fiscal frauds. And on football Sundays, he assesses penalties—five and ten yards at a time. On Sundays, during the NFL season, you can spot Eugene Hall as side judge 103, making critical calls about whether a catch

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about how spousal benefit rates are calculated, how continuing to work can affect benefit rates and when survivor’s benefits can become available. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more Ask Larry answers here. Have

This morning, I woke up to the news that devastating tornadoes swept through Mississippi, killing at least 23 people and injuring dozens more. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency tweeted, “Unfortunately, these numbers are expected to change.” In times like these, of course, taxpayers want to help. But as part of its annual Dirty Dozen campaign,

Many were hopeful for U.S. tax legislation ensuring businesses could continue to fully deduct their research and experimental (“R&E”) expenditures in the 2022 taxable year. Senator Margaret Hassan (D-NH) introduced a bill as recently as March 16th, 2023, to provide an immediate deduction related to Section 174 expenditures. However, the partisan Congressional divide will likely

The IRS recently announced that scams from promoters pitching the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) to unwary business owners is the top of the “dirty dozen” list of tax cons this year. As I’ve written about previously, business owners need to be eyes open about the ERC – and work closely with their CPA/trusted tax advisor