2020 Social Security COLA Increase

Posted by JCB on Oct 21, 2019 in Advice The Social Security Administration has announced that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will increase by 1.6% for 2020. See the attached for key figures that are affected by the annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for the years 2018 through 2020. 2018-2020 Social Security COLA Increase...
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IRS Tool to Check your Withholding

Posted by JCB on Oct 16, 2019 in Advice The IRS encourages everyone to use the Tax Withholding Estimator to perform a quick “paycheck checkup.”  This is even more important following the recent changes to the tax law for 2018 and beyond.  IRS Tax Withholding Estimator.  The Tax Withholding Estimator helps you identify your tax withholding to make sure you have the right amount of tax withheld from your paycheck at work. There are...
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Preventative Care for HSAs

Posted by JCB on Sep 15, 2019 in Advice The IRS has added care for a range of chronic conditions to the list of preventive care benefits that may be provided by a high deductible health plan (HDHP). Notice 2019-45 lists the new types of medical care that may be treated as preventive care for this purpose. Individuals covered by an HDHP generally may establish and deduct contributions to a health savings account (HSA) as long as they...
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New IRS Impersonation Email Scam

Posted by JCB on Aug 28, 2019 in Advice The IRS is warning taxpayers and tax professionals about a new IRS impersonation scam campaign spreading nationally on email. The IRS detected this new scam as taxpayers began notifying phishing@irs.gov about unsolicited emails from IRS imposters. The email subject line may vary, but recent examples use the phrase “Automatic Income Tax Reminder” or “Electronic Tax Return...
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IRS Sending Letters on Virtual Currency Transactions

Posted by JCB on Aug 28, 2019 in Advice The IRS has begun sending letters to taxpayers with virtual currency transactions that potentially failed to report income and pay the resulting tax from virtual currency transactions or did not report their transactions properly. “Taxpayers should take these letters very seriously by reviewing their tax filings and when appropriate, amend past returns and pay back taxes, interest and...
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What Happened to My IRS Refund???

Posted by JCB on Feb 13, 2019 in Advice You should also be asking “Am I paying more or less under the new tax laws?” We are seeing a reduction in IRS refunds this year. We are also seeing a reduction in total income taxes paid.  The net result is taxpayers are keeping more of their income throughout the year.  When we sit down with our clients and show a two or three year comparison, the savings is more apparent.  Here are...
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IRS issues updates on post-shutdown activities

Posted by JCB on Jan 31, 2019 in Advice Taxpayers and tax practitioners received guidance from the IRS on what to expect in the areas of audits, collections, tax return processing, and Tax Court operations now that the government shutdown has concluded. The IRS explained on its website that IRS employees returned to work on Jan. 28 and are going through mail and voicemail messages, but that it will take several days for them to catch...
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Underpayment of Estimated Income Tax

Posted by JCB on Jan 28, 2019 in Advice IRC section 6654 requires that the lesser of 90% of the tax shown on the return for the tax year, or 100% of the tax shown on the prior year tax return (110% if prior year AGI is above $150,000) must be paid through withholding and/or estimated tax payments throughout the year. A taxpayer is subject to the underpayment of estimated tax penalty for failing to meet these requirements. The penalty...
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IRS Shutdown

Posted by JCB on Jan 24, 2019 in Advice During the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history, many IRS operations are inactive. About 70,000 IRS employees are furloughed (87.5% of its workforce), and most of those who are still on the job are working without pay. Although the IRS has announced that filing season will still open on time, and that tax refunds will be issued during the government shutdown, most other functions...
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IRS Confirms Tax Filing Season Begins January 28, 2019

Posted by JCB on Jan 14, 2019 in Advice IR-2019-01, January 7, 2019 WASHINGTON ― Despite the government shutdown, the Internal Revenue Service today confirmed that it will process tax returns beginning January 28, 2019 and provide refunds to taxpayers as scheduled. “We are committed to ensuring that taxpayers receive their refunds notwithstanding the government shutdown. I appreciate the hard work of the employees and their commitment...
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