Federal Tax Posts

Recent IRS guidance provides the 2024 depreciation limits for “luxury” business vehicles. For vehicles placed in service in 2024, depreciation limits are $20,400 for year one, $19,800 for year two, $11,900 for year three and $7,160 for each year after that. This includes passenger cars, SUVs, trucks and vans. The IRS also announced lease inclusion amounts for lessees of passenger vehicles first leased in 2024. [...]

A taxpayer who disputes a past-due tax bill can request a Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing. At a CDP hearing, one taxpayer didn’t dispute his tax bill of $107,410 but he did submit an offer-in-compromise, proposing to make monthly installment payments of $25. He also proposed being granted currently-not-collectible status and asked for penalty abatement. After analyzing the taxpayer’s ability to pay, the IRS Service [...]

If you’re in the market for an electric vehicle and hope to qualify for the new or used clean vehicle tax credit, take note: Deadlines for submitting seller reports to the IRS have been extended. Your seller is required to submit a report to the IRS Energy Credits portal by a specified deadline and provide you with a copy no later than three days after [...]

IRS notice 2024-22 provides anti-abuse guidance to employers that offer the new pension-linked emergency savings accounts (PLESAs). The procedures are intended to prevent participants from manipulating rules to cause excessive matching contributions. According to the IRS, a reasonable policy balances PLESA participants’ interests with the plan sponsor’s interest in preventing manipulation of matching contribution rules. On the other hand, it’s generally unreasonable to forfeit contributions [...]

The IRS is reminding certain disaster victims of a fast-approaching deadline on Feb.15, 2024. Those affected by federally declared disasters that occurred in 2023 between Aug. 8 and Oct. 9 were granted extra time to file their 2022 tax returns, but not extra time to pay taxes due. Among those disasters were Hurricane Lee, Hurricane Idalia and the wildfires in Hawaii. Generally, when the Federal [...]

Coming on the heels of its recent passage of the proposed Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, the U.S. House of Representatives may soon vote on another tax-related bill, the SALT Marriage Penalty Elimination Act. It addresses the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which was capped at $10,000 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The bill would increase the deduction for [...]

One of the most common misunderstandings about filing an income tax return is the difference between deductions and credits. Deductions reduce the amount of a taxpayer’s income before tax is calculated. For example, on your individual return, you can either take the standard deduction or itemize deductions if it will reduce your taxable income more. Credits, on the other hand, reduce the actual tax due, [...]

Now that Jan. 29 has been announced as the start of the 2024 tax season, the IRS is reminding taxpayers about free tools that can make filing easier. It strongly encourages taxpayers to set up accounts at irs.gov/account to file, make payments, monitor the status of refunds, manage tax records and electronically sign power of attorney authorizations from their tax advisor. If you anticipate owing [...]

Mark your calendar for Jan. 29! The IRS announced that’s the date the 2024 tax season opens, meaning it’s the first day the tax agency will accept tax returns. It expects more than 128.7 million individual tax returns to be filed by the April 15 tax deadline. The agency recommends taxpayers file electronically with direct deposit if they want to receive refunds, if eligible for [...]

Are you due for a refund from the 2019 tax year? You must submit a 2019 tax return by July 17, 2023, to receive your refund. According to the IRS, almost $1.5 billion in refunds may be waiting for nearly 1.5 million taxpayers who didn’t file for 2019. Note: if you are due a 2019 refund but haven’t filed a 2020 or 2021 return, your [...]

Educators: As you file your 2022 taxes, be aware there’s a tax deduction just for you. Even if you take the standard deduction, an eligible educator can deduct up to $300 in unreimbursed, out-of-pocket expenses. If you’re married filing jointly and both spouses are eligible, you may deduct up to $300 each. Based on inflation, this will increase in $50 increments in future years. Among [...]

If you file an amended tax return electronically, you can now get a direct deposit refund. The IRS announced that taxpayers e-filing Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, have this option. Previously, taxpayers who filed Form 1040-X had to wait for a paper check refund. Taxpayers may still submit a paper Form 1040-X and receive a paper check, but direct deposit isn’t available [...]

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) is planning aggressive oversight of the IRS. To that end, he’s established an online form to assist IRS personnel who want to submit information confidentially to the committee. Smith said such information can include concerns, information or documents related to misconduct, maladministration, taxpayer mistreatment, wrongdoing or any other agency matter an employee believes deserves the committee’s [...]

At tax time, age matters. Taxpayers who take distributions from their retirement accounts before age 59½ will generally owe a penalty of 10% of the amount. Exceptions exist, such as the need to pay documented medical bills (within statutory limits). One taxpayer, a software developer under age 59½, took a distribution after losing his job. He claimed to qualify for a disability exception due to [...]