Taxes

In the first of a two-episode series, Tax Notes contributing editor Marie Sapirie interviews David Kreutzer, an economist at the Institute for Energy Research, about his views on a carbon tax. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today International. This

Mega-IRAs are hot this summer, following a June 2021 report by the nonprofit news service ProPublica that revealed—based on leaked IRS files—that a handful of high-net-worth individuals have accumulated massive individual retirement account (IRA) balances. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation also reported that in 2019 more than 28,000 taxpayers owned IRAs worth more than

The $3.5 trillion Senate budget framework approved today calls for higher taxes for high-income folks, but it also calls for what could be a big tax break for the same group: “SALT cap relief” or relief from the current $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction. This has important implications for third quarter

On August 10th, the Senate approved 69-30 the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684), a bipartisan infrastructure package that makes investments in roads, bridges, broadband, water, and power, IRS cryptocurrency reporting and other provisions. The Senate has proposed that the bill will be partially paid for with unused COVID funds. The misnomer in that statement is

Today’s column addresses questions about whether it would be worth it for a spouse to continue working so that could draw their own Social Security retirement benefit, whether working more can increase an existing benefit and survivor’s benefits after remarriage at 60. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder

Several U.S. Democrats want to tax the country’s largest polluters over the next 10 years and collect up to $500 billion in the process. But is their proposal tough enough? That question is important because pollution taxes, which have risen in popularity over the past few years, are not always as effective as one might

Sales and trading in nonfungible tokens (or NFTs) have gone from increasing to skyrocketing. They’re new. Their values can be volatile. But for those with U.S. tax obligations they can also be a goldmine for the IRS. Why? Because unlike most other forms of income and assets, NFTs can create multiple taxation events for both

Families began receiving monthly Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments on July 15. For many, those regular payments—currently permitted through the end of the year—will combat poverty and help families keep current on monthly bills without having to borrow. But because the CTC depends on income, number of children, and marital status, some changes in family or financial

In what has become common practice, a handful of senators and Administration staffers tried over a few days to draft a highly complex bit of tax legislation in a (at least a metaphorical) backroom in the dark of night. The piece of the massive infrastructure bill just approved by the Senate would require some in

Today’s column addresses questions about taking survivor’s benefits early before retirement benefits once they’ve increased, potential negative repercussions of taking spousal benefits and how to claim retirement benefits after taking spousal benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which markets Maximize

Employers, accountants and financial advisors recently received new guidance from the IRS on the extremely important and somewhat complicated Employee Retention Credit (”ERC”) which was passed as part of the Cares Act in February of 2020, and became available retroactively and going forward in 2021 to PPP Borrowers. Brandon Ketron, JD, CPA and I presented

Karin Slaughter’s recently released latest novel False Witness focuses on a lawyer in a prestigious Atlanta firm gearing up for a criminal trial. Coincidentally we have this week the outcome of her own legal drama, which likely only excites the tax blogosphere. Her appeal to the Eleventh Circuit of a 2019 Tax Court decision confirming that

Several U.S. Senators have been negotiating over the amendment language in a cryptocurrency tax reporting provision of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is one of many offsets designed to pay for the costs of the bill. These lawmakers are facing tremendous time pressure from the White House as well as the Senate Majority

Back in April, the conservative economist Lawrence B. Lindsey published an article in The Wall Street Journal complaining about the Biden administration’s plan to raise the capital gains rate. An increase to 39.6% would actually cost the government money because it would exceed the revenue-maximizing rate. There could only be one motive, Lindsey insisted. “Tax rates above the revenue-maximizing rate are punitive,” Lindsey charged. “The

Today’s column addresses questions about whether investment withdrawals can make Social Security benefits subject to income taxes, potential options for filing when you have more than one ex and suspending a retirement benefit after it converted from a disability benefit. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president

Does the IRS like to impose penalties? It must, since IRS penalties have a way of creeping into many tax notices, even for innocent mistakes. You might think that if you weren’t trying to cheat on your taxes and just made a mistake, it would be OK. Taxes are complex, and mistakes happen, but the burden

Topline Following days of negotiations, the Senate on Monday struck down a bipartisan amendment to overhaul and clarify newly proposed cryptocurrency tax-reporting requirements included in the Senate’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, dealing a potentially massive blow to a slew of companies concerned they could be forced to hand over transaction information to the Internal Revenue

Let me tell you about Ember, a small business owner. Her PPP loan through Bank BAC of America was approved for $76,773. A year later, BofA sent her an email that they were retroactively qualifying her for just $4,377! Is this really how Bank of America chooses to treat their best customers? I wrote in

Join us on Saturday August 7th at 10:00am EST for a 30 minute webinar discussing the below and other aspects of Notice 2021-49 as well as recently issued Paycheck Protection Program guidance. The webinar can be registered for by emailing info@gassmanpa.com with ERC in the subject line. In a tremendously unpleasant surprise for owners of

In a sign of the political divide over death taxes, Iowa is repealing its inheritance tax, with a phased-in reduction of the tax bite retroactive to January 1, and full repeal as of January 1, 2025. Abolishing the state inheritance tax was a key priority for Republican Governor Kim Reynolds; it was part of a