2014 Tax Season

  • IRS Has Tips for Tax Pros Preparing for Filing Season

    With a matter of weeks before tax season, the Internal Revenue Service is reminding tax professionals to get their offices in order during these slower days before filing starts. A little work done now can mean fewer headaches once the IRS starts taking in returns. Update Your E-Services Information E-Services encompasses a whole suite of…

  • Tax Year 2020 Annual Inflation Adjustments Revealed by IRS

    A recent Internal Revenue Service press release revealed the tax year 2020 annual inflation adjustments, which affect a number of tax items, including marginal tax rates, the Alternative Minimum Tax, the Earned Income Credit, and more. While the IRS notes that there are “more than 60 tax provisions” addressed by the adjustments, the first item…

  • IRS Announces New Way to Pay Tax Bills That Have Gone to Private Collections

    IRS Stresses Convenience of New Payment Method Taxpayers whose outstanding tax bill has been referred to a private debt collector have a new way to pay, according to a recent IRS press release. The IRS launched the private debt collection program following the passage of the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which—according to…

  • IRS to Stop Sending W-2 Verification Codes

    Form W-2 Reporting Deadline Moved to January 31 The Internal Revenue Service on Friday announced that it is ending the Form W-2 Verification Code pilot program. According to the release, the agency will not send the code for tax year 2019 returns. Since 2015, Security Summit partners have taken steps to address the growing threat…

  • Safe Harbor Clarifies QBI Deduction for Some Rental Properties

    Taxpayers interested in taking the section 199A qualified business income deduction (QBI) for their rental property will be happy to learn that the IRS announced a finalized safe harbor rule this week. QBI was introduced in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as tax relief for businesses not eligible for the new 21-percent C corporation…

  • Tax Relief Available When Disaster Strikes

    While current weather patterns point to an active hurricane season, the IRS wants taxpayers to know that disaster assistance and tax relief measures are in place should a natural disaster strike. Before the Internal Revenue Service can authorize tax relief, though, the president has to declare the event a federal disaster. Once that occurs, tax…

  • IRS Publishes Section 168(k) Depreciation Regulations

    The IRS last Friday announced the publication of final and proposed regulations for the first-year bonus depreciation deduction, bookending regulations that were proposed last year.   Before passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taxpayers could take an additional 50-percent depreciation deduction on qualifying, depreciable business assets the year they were put into service.…

  • New Process Lets Expats get Square with IRS

    The Internal Revenue Service says it has new procedures in place that can help certain expatriated American taxpayers come into compliance with their U.S. tax obligations and get relief for back taxes. Relief Procedures for Certain Former Citizens apply only to those individuals who have not filed U.S. tax returns as American citizens or residents,…

  • IRS to Self-Employed Taxpayers: Use the Tax Withholding Estimator

    According to the IRS, self-employed taxpayers should use the Tax Withholding Estimator when they perform their next “paycheck checkup.” IR-2019-149 is the latest press release advertising the Tax Withholding Estimator, the agency’s newest online tool: “The estimator is an expanded, mobile-friendly online tool that replaced the Withholding Calculator, which since 2001 had offered workers an…

  • No Dyed Fuel Penalty in Florida, IRS Says

    The IRS last Friday announced that it would be waiving the penalty for using red-dyed diesel in highway vehicles in Florida until September 15. The press release came while Floridians prepared for the possibility that Hurricane Dorian would make landfall. As of this afternoon, the now-Category 2 storm has yet to make landfall in the…