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For a document just two pages long, the Form 1040 has plenty of pitfalls for taxpayers, errors that could needlessly boost your bill, require an amended return or even trigger an audit. Americans spend a lot of time just filling out their tax forms each spring. Form 1040 filers toil over the two-page document for …
The IRS is warning the public to be aware and it’s out with its “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams for 2015. Topping the list: aggressive and threatening phone scams. The agency says to be wary of callers posing as IRS agents, threatening to have the taxpayers licences revoked, deported, or even arrested. The IRS says never …
The alternative minimum tax may be the most reviled tax in the country, but it is almost certainly here to stay, say tax advisors. If you’ve been subject to it in the past, there’s a good chance you will be again this year. “There’s nothing magical you can do to avoid the AMT,” said Mike …
Mergers and acquisitions experts forecast there will be more major pharmaceutical deals in 2015, but it won’t be a repeat of last year’s frenzy: The U.K. won’t be a focus and deals won’t be done for tax reasons. “Running into 2015, I am expecting to see a lot more pharma M&A,” said Hamilton Matthews, CEO …
Intuit has halted the transmission of all state e-filing tax returns on worries of rampant fraud, the company said. During the current tax season, Intuit said that the company and some states have noticed an increase in “suspicious filings” and attempts by to use stolen information to file fake state tax returns, and then claim …
Accountants and financial advisors may be breathing a sigh of relief that there were no major new tax-law changes this year, but that doesn’t mean they’re happy about the higher taxes their clients are paying now compared to just a few years ago. “Some clients whose situation did not change at all paid $6,000 or …
The president’s goal is lifting the incomes of middle-class families that have stagnated in recent decades while more affluent Americans have benefited from economic growth. To do that, he proposed decreasing some tax benefits from the affluent in order to increase benefits for the less well off. Specifically, the president proposed to raise $1 billion …
Pot may be illegal in the eyes of the federal government. But the people selling it legally still have to pay their taxes. Owners of recreational “adult use” marijuana operations in Colorado and Washington are preparing to file their first federal tax returns, and they’re learning some hard lessons. The IRS is not allowing all the …
Did you mail out those checks to charities before year-end? Did the beneficiaries of your annual tax-free gifts cash their checks? Did you sell those energy stocks and use the losses to offset gains elsewhere in your portfolio? There are plenty of tax-smart strategies that required action before the end of the year, but it’s …
Amazon’s tax arrangement in Luxembourg may have run foul of European Union (EU) rules by giving it an unfair advantage over its competitors, regulators said on Friday. The U.S. online retailer is being investigated for its tax arrangements in Luxembourg alongside three other companies including Starbucks. The tiny European state – at 999 square miles …
You donate to charity during the gift-giving season. You purchase presents for loved ones. You may even tip your postal worker. But it’s no doubt safe to assume that the Internal Revenue Service is not on your holiday list. Indeed, by failing to take advantage of all tax breaks to which you are entitled, you …
Taxpayers, it’s time to sharpen your pencils. Between uncertain tax breaks and the Affordable Care Act, the end of the year is again bringing a complicated set of tax considerations. The moves you make now will have a decided effect on your tax bill for 2014. Alison Flores, a principal at The Tax Institute at …
Don’t let the hustle and bustle of the holiday season distract you into a hefty tax penalty come April. The Internal Revenue Service expects consumers to begin taking distributions from their retirement accounts starting in the year they turn 70-and-a-half or the year when they retire, whichever is later. Fail to do so and the …
Accelerate deductions, harvest losses and time your investment income if you’re teetering close to the Medicare surtax line. Taxpayers who deploy such year-end planning strategies could significantly lower the 2014 tax bite from Uncle Sam. But they’d better act fast. The deadline for claiming current year deductions, in most cases, is Dec. 31. And it …
Here’s an international money riddle for you: What country is smaller than Rhode Island yet is the most attractive place for companies and investors to park their money behind the United States? Ireland? Cayman Islands? Try Luxembourg. The little grand duchy tucked away in the heart of Europe saw about $95 billion moved into the …
