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The changes enacted under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at the end of 2017 caused many taxpayers to struggle in meeting their 2018 federal income tax withholding obligations. Due to the “lateness” of that legislation and the complexity inherent in many of the new provisions contained in the new law, calculating proper federal income […]
With the ups and downs of the financial markets over the last several weeks, it seems that political conversation has turned to the consideration of additional tax cuts as a vehicle for economic stimulus to ward off any recession that might be on the horizon. Recent discussions coming from the Trump administration have touted a […]
A fundamental tenant of taxation under the United States Internal Revenue Code is that taxable income includes “all income from whatever source derived”. Thus, under the tax law, all sources of economic enrichment are taxable unless there is a specific provision which works to exclude that item. Supplementing this tenant is a second fundamental tenant […]
An often discussed income tax provision in past decades has been the idea of removing the effect of inflation in the determination of taxable capital gains. A simple illustration demonstrates the fundamental idea. Assume an individual buys a share of stock at $1,000 (original tax basis) and its value after 10 years is $2,500. If […]
The tax changes generated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and the resultant “simplified” Form 1040 was highly touted by the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress as a way to reduce complexity in complying with the tax laws. As a result of the simplification provisions, it was decided that Form 1040-EZ, a shorter […]
Under Section 103(g) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ERISA, Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs) are required to file complete and accurate lists of participating employers with their Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan. Obviously, the very nature of MEPs creates a major compliance challenge. Recognizing that a substantial number of MEPs were […]
President Trump has signed the Taxpayer First Act of 2019 (H.R. 3151), which alters the management and oversight of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with the aim of improving customer service and the appeals process. The Act also provides new confidentiality safeguards as taxpayers interact with the IRS. The Taxpayer First Act includes provisions that: […]
The Internal Revenue Service has released the depreciation deduction limits for passenger autos (including trucks and vans) first placed in service during 2019. These annually inflation-adjusted numbers represent the maximum income tax depreciation allowed under the luxury automobile rules. In Revenue Procedure 2019-26, tables set forth the new depreciation limits. Table 1 provides the depreciation […]
The IRS recently announced the annual inflation-adjusted limits on deductions for contributions to a health savings account (HSA) allowed for taxpayers with individual or family coverage under a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) for calendar year 2020. Under Internal Revenue Code Sec. 223, individuals who participate in an HDHP are permitted a deduction in computing their […]
The Internal Revenue Service recently released its 2018 Data Book, which summarizes that agency’s operating activity for fiscal-year 2018 (October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018). Always interesting, the Book notes that during this period, the IRS collected nearly $3.5 trillion in revenue and processed more than 250 million tax returns and other forms and […]
