The IRS has announced new tax relief for expatriates who meet certain requirements (IR-2019-151, 9/6/19). This relief only applies to individuals who have not filed federal tax returns as U.S. citizens or residents, owe a limited amount of back taxes and have net assets of less than $2 million. Also, past compliance failures must have [...]
FOR PRINT FILE AND PDF Dear Clients and Friends: Year-end tax planning in 2019 remains as complicated as ever. Notably, we are still coping with the massive changes included in the biggest tax law in decades—the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017—and pinpointing the optimal strategies. This monumental tax legislation includes a myriad [...]
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017—passed almost two years ago—continues to have a significant impact on year-end planning in 2019. Many of the changes in the TCJA for individuals are effective for 2018 through 2025. Accordingly, consider these six strategies for reducing your personal tax bill this year. Manage securities transactions. Depending [...]
The retirement plan limits for 2020 have been released. The 401(k) and SIMPLE IRA deferral limits increased, along with the catch-up contributions for 401(k), maximum plan compensation, the annual addition limit and the taxable wage base. Other limits, such as the contribution limit for personal IRAs, catch-up contributions for both SIMPLE IRAs and personal [...]
We get asked a lot of questions about IRAs, and their required minimum distributions or RMDs. So Mindy Norton with our JMF Pension Consulting group provided the following synopsis to help explain. As an individual, you are required to begin taking minimum distributions from your traditional IRA in the year in which you turn [...]
Are you planning to take out a home equity loan to pay for home improvements? Unfortunately, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) cracks down on mortgage interest deductions for home equity loans, among other changes. However, if you play your cards right, you may have an ace in the hole. How it works: Due [...]
Congress passed the “Taxpayer First Act” in late June. This new groundbreaking legislation creates an independent office of appeals within the IRS, modernizes IRS operations and improves cyber security measures. The new law also expands safeguards addressing ID theft of taxpayers. But this is likely not the end of the story. Most experts believe [...]
Recently released IRS form 8995 instructions indicate that taxpayers filing business returns must reduce qualified business income by charitable deductions. A reduction in qualified business income reduces the potential qualified business income deduction. Although this provision is not in the Section 199A regulations, the reduction in qualified business income can be avoided by making [...]
Do you need to make repairs to your business premises or equipment? It can make a big tax difference if the work is characterized as a “repair” or an “improvement.” In brief, a repair is currently deductible by your business, while the cost of an improvement must be written off over time. The IRS and [...]
The IRS recently issued a stern warning to some taxpayers who plan to travel internationally: Pay off your tax debt or your passport may be revoked. Under a little-noticed 2015 law, the IRS was granted the authority to notify the State Department about taxpayers who have a “seriously delinquent tax debt.” This is defined [...]