The IRS announced broad-based penalty relief for taxpayers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The relief applies to failure to file penalties and certain international information return (IIR) penalties with respect to tax returns for tax years (TY) 2019 and TY 2020, filed on or before September 30, 2022. Relief is also provided to banks, employers and other businesses from certain […]

The IRS has reminded taxpayers to develop emergency preparedness plans due to the upcoming hurricane season and the ongoing threat of wildfires in some parts of the country. September is declared as the National Preparedness Month. The IRS advised taxpayers to:

secure critical documents such as tax returns, birth certificates, deeds, titles, and insurance policies inside waterproof containers in a secure […]

Businesses are still waiting for pandemic relief made available to them during the COVID-19 outbreak amid ongoing processing delays at the Internal Revenue Service, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

According to an August 31, 2022, report posted to the TIGTA web site, the IRS “did not begin processing claims for qualified Sick and Family Leave Credits and the Employee Retention […]

The IRS has released a list of exceptions for the inclusion of a cancelled student loan debt in income. Generally, had a taxpayer’s student loan been cancelled or repaid by someone else, the taxpayer was mandated to include the cancelled or repaid loan amount as part of their gross income, for tax purposes. However, the American Rescue Plan Act of […]

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) slashed many common deductions for business meals and entertainment. Yet a great deal of confusion remains about what is, and is not, deductible. Although most entertainment expenses no longer qualify (with some exceptions), many expenses for business meals continue to be deductible, at least in part. Here’s a quick review.

Entertainment

The TCJA […]

The IRS has extended the deadlines for amending a retirement plan or individual retirement arrangement (IRA) to reflect certain provisions of Division O of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, P. L. 116-94, known as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act), and Section 104 of Division M of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, […]

The IRS has updated its simplified procedure for estates requesting an extension of time to make a portability election under Code Sec. 2010(c)(5)(A). The updated procedure replaces that provided in Rev. Proc. 2017-34. If the portability election is made, a decedent’s unused exclusion amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) amount) is available to a surviving spouse to apply to transfers made […]