Taxes

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about benefit rates after applying for but not receiving early benefits due to the earnings test, reporting foreign pensions and when it might be advisable to apply for benefits given an age difference between spouses. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and

Two California men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and for preparing false tax returns for professional athletes. According to court documents and statements, Thanh Rudin was a principal of Mana Tax Services, a tax preparation business created in 2018. Seir Havana was

As we begin tax season 2023, small business owners are likely looking for ways to lower their tax bills for 2022. Hopefully, you are sitting on record profits for your highly successful business. However, record profits often mean record taxes. One of the best ways to lower last year’s taxes is to fully fund a

I’m starting to get this question more and more from do-it-yourself types hoping to save money. If computers can beat a world chess champion, they argue, why can’t they perform as good as or better than my local tax advisor? We’ll explore this issue in more detail below, but the short answer is no, artificial

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about whether Social Security spousal benefits can only be paid for a limited time, eligibility for survivor’s benefits and how Social Security taxed wages are reported to Social Security. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the national debt will increase by $19 trillion over the next decade under current law, $3 trillion more than it projected last May. But for all the squawking in Washington over how to deal with deficits and debt, nearly all of the increases will come in spending Congress and President

Taxpayers lose quite a bit of money in flexible spending accounts (FSAs) each year while trying to save a few tax dollars. FSAs are fairly simple. Before the start of the year, an employee elects to defer part of his or her compensation into an FSA. The deferred amount is excluded from gross income for

There is a big difference between managing direct taxes, such as corporate tax, and indirect taxes, such as sales tax and value added tax (VAT). While for corporate taxes, it is irrelevant where the customer is located or the goods are shipped to, for indirect taxes, every transaction detail matters and is crucial to determining

Trader tax status (TTS) is the ticket to tax savings. If you qualify, you can claim some tax breaks, such as business expenses, after the fact and elect and set up other tax breaks — like Section 475 MTM accounting (tax loss insurance) and health insurance and retirement plan deductions through an S-Corp— on a

There has recently been a fair amount of activity in the world of Section 179D – an important tax incentive for energy efficient building design. As background, in 2005, Congress enacted Section 179D of the Internal Revenue Code, – the energy efficient commercial building deduction – in an effort to impact the country’s largest consumer