Credit: AFP/Getty Images Getty The stock market has had a good run this year, although there has been one worrying spell as the weather warmed. From the look of things so far, is the old maxim is wrong, that summer is a bad time for equities? Well, perhaps the current rally is due to one-off circumstance,
Taxes
Social Security may be one of your largest assets. What and when you collect will make a huge difference to your lifetime benefits. Today’s column highlights a recent email exchange we had with a customer about the family maximum that can be claimed on a single record. The rules are complex and confusing, as shown
The IRS was looking for $5,167,000 in Code Section 6701 penalties (Aiding and abetting understatement of tax liability) from Martin A Kapp CPA EA. Special Trial Judge Peter Panuthos of the Tax Court in his decision knocked it down to $3,218,000. US Army black and white photos: Sinking ship Getty A Poetic Dispute I don’t know
In the last article of this column, we discussed two big taxpayer wins delivered by the US Supreme Court. One of those wins struck down North Carolina’s statute that imposed income tax on out-of-state trusts with in-state beneficiaries. To quickly recap, under long-standing rules: The trustee’s state of residency could tax all trust income from
Share to facebook Share to twitter Share to linkedin Alimony is no longer tax deductible for new divorces. iStock Balancing family dynamics when going through a divorce is never easy. New laws have added an additional layer of complexity. Before 2019 the alimony deduction had been a key divorce planning strategy for over 70 years. The payor
Russell Westbrook has to be thrilled with is tax-savings “payday”. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams) ASSOCIATED PRESS The NBA offseason has left every other league in the dust with its drama. As if the first week and a half were not crazy enough, Thursday night the Oklahoma City Thunder traded 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook to the Houston
Share to facebook Share to twitter Share to linkedin Getty Ready for back to school shopping? According to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, total spending for K-12 schools and college combined is projected to reach $82.8 billion, nearly as high as last year’s $83.6 billion. Here’s how that breaks
(Photo by AP/Patrick Sison) Todd Shaver and his contributing editors at BullMarket Report, selected three favorite stocks in January’s MoneyShow.com Top Picks report. Apple (AAPL) rose an admirable 28%; Twilio (TWLO) rose a very strong 53%; and Roku (ROKU) jumped 198%, making the latter the #1 performer in our annual survey. Here are updates on
Getty One day soon, the IRS will release its near-final version of the 2020 Form W-4 that workers are supposed to use to calculate their federal income tax withholding. The new form is intended to fully reflect the big changes in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and, says the IRS, make it
Introducing the Forbes OZ 20 Forbes Ambitious, bold, bipartisan—and controversial, Opportunity Zones can be a powerful policy tool to spark transformative investment in America’s left behind communities. Passed as part of the 2017 U.S. tax overhaul, Opportunity Zones offer massive potential tax breaks for investors and organizations who plow unrealized gains into impoverished areas. Based
Richard Rubin of the Wall Street Journal had some commentary on Joe Biden’s recently released tax returns that struck me as just a little bit off. In a piece titled Joe Biden Used Tax-Code Loopholes Obama Tried To Plug, he wrote: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden used a tax loophole that the Obama administration tried and
Social Security may be one of your largest assets. What and when you collect will make a huge difference to your lifetime benefits. Today’s column responds to questions about whether income after 66 can increase benefits, whether spousal benefits may end when other benefits begin, restricted applications before FRA, whether to file and suspend now
The Texas Legislature Reformed Property Taxes During the 2019 Legislative Session Eric Allie for the Texas Public Policy Foundation The government-appraised value of my home was due to go up 10.7% this year, which, if the tax rates for the school district, county and other taxing public entities held steady, would mean a tax hike
Ron Mikulaco, left, and his nephew, Brad Fernandez, examine a crack caused by an earthquake on highway 178 Saturday, July 6, 2019, outside of Ridgecrest, Calif. Crews in Southern California assessed damage to cracked and burned buildings, broken roads, leaking water and gas lines and other infrastructure Saturday after the largest earthquake the region has
It seems that some states, hungry for tax revenue, want to tax as a matter of whim as opposed to as a matter of law. Trust law has been around for over 2000 years. You read that correctly — two thousand years. Since ancient Rome. And, certain fundamental rules regarding taxation have been around for
Notepad kept on table in empty conference room Getty Board meetings can be a positive part of your company strategy and corporate governance. Here’s how to make the most of them and your board. Before the Board Meeting A short telephone call to each board member a week or so before the board meeting is
Attendees wave Greek flags during a during a pre-election rally with Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Photographer: Yorgos Karahalis/Bloomberg © 2019 Bloomberg Finance LP It is now a full decade since Greece sparked a sovereign debt crisis that threatened to rip a hole in the fabric of the Eurozone. On Sunday, July 7, 2019 Greece held a sixth
Back in the day, there was a strong sense that a tax deferred was almost as good as a tax avoided . A long period of low interest rates has shifted attitudes in that regard. Nonetheless, deferral of a large capital gains tax, particularly from what may be a once in a lifetime transaction, is
Coco Gauff has captured the tennis world’s hearts. UK taxing authorities will capture much of her winnings. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) ASSOCIATED PRESS Cori “Coco” Gauff has captured the hearts of the tennis world over the last week with her impressive wins over Venus Williams, Magdalena Rybarikova and Polona Hercog. And she won another three matches
Share to facebook Share to twitter Share to linkedin Getty If you’re looking to create or access your online payment plans with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), you should be aware of some key changes. The IRS recently updated its identity verification process to protect tax information better. An installment agreement is an option for