This past month, around mid-July, millions of Americans received a tax credit deposit to their bank accounts. This was a surprise for many, yet part of the pandemic relief program that slated billions to eligible families with children. In March of this year, Congress expanded the child tax credit to $3,600 per child for the year, from $2,000. The increased credit was in response to the financial fallout of the pandemic in order to assist families nationwide across all income

This past month, around mid-July, millions of Americans received a tax credit deposit to their bank accounts. This was a surprise for many, yet part of the pandemic relief program that slated billions to eligible families with children. In March of this year, Congress expanded the child tax credit to $3,600 per child for the year, from $2,000. The increased credit was in response to the financial fallout of the pandemic in order to assist families nationwide across all income

While the three stimulus programs amount to over $4.5 trillion were mostly funded by government debt, the recently introduced $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan will be primarily funded by tax increases. Preliminary indications are that the anticipated tax hikes will target both corporations and high earning individuals. The tax increases may be the largest since 1993. The following are among the proposals currently being considered: Raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from

The IRS has issued an alert regarding scam phone calls directly to taxpayers nationwide. The calls may be in person or via ‘robocalls’. Scammers claim that delinquent taxes are owed and that payment must be made or the taxpayer’s social security number will be suspended or canceled. The IRS advises that when in doubt, immediately hang up and ignore the call. Taxpayers should not disclose any sensitive information to unknown callers, including social security numbers, bank acc

With over 160 million stimulus payments sent with the first round of pandemic relief efforts, many in receipt of the payments are asking whether the payments are taxable or not. The IRS has clearly stated that stimulus payments, regardless of income or status, are not taxable. For those that did not receive a stimulus payment in 2020 but believe that they were due one, a filing for the Recovery Rebate Credit can be done. In essence, anyone who didn’t get a check can request a

The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act passed in 2017, brought about various tax changes that affected most individual tax payers. Following are various changes to consider as we reach the end of the year. Withholdings & Estimates Withholdings and estimated taxes should be verified before year end, as the IRS withholding tables have been unclear since the tax law changes. Employees should check their withholdings before year end and make any necessary adjustments. Quarterly payments made by

The alteration in the standard deduction and how taxpayers have been accustomed to using it may be the single most important factor for tax planning into 2019. The increase in the standard deduction is designed to simplify taxes for millions of tax payers. So rather than itemizing deductions, some taxpayers will instead just take the standard deduction, which has increased to $24,000 for married couples filing jointly. The IRS estimates that about 28 million taxpayers who wou

Tax reform has created questions about which taxpayers actually own stocks and benefit from certain tax provisions. Tax reform legislation has presented various proposals that would benefit long-term investors in the market. Repealing the estate tax would allow more families to transfer wealth accumulated in assets such as stocks to heirs without paying a tax. Corporate tax cuts and repatriated cash would benefit stock prices as companies would be enticed to buy back stock,

With the Tax Cut & Jobs Act heading for signature by the President, there are a handful of valuable tax provisions that some individuals and company owners may want to take advantage of before they are retracted. The 503 page bill will undoubtedly restructure the U.S. tax code, with new tax rates and numerous changes to existing provisions due to become effective January 1, 2018. However, most of the old rules will still be applicable and valid in the last few days of 2017.