News

2024-08-29 Bad actors often favor non-financed residential real estate transfers (including "all-cash" sales) to avoid scrutiny from financial institutions that have anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) program and Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filing requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), and obscure their identities and ownership interests by holding the residential real estate in the name of a legal entity or trust. FinCEN issued final rules…

2024-08-27 IR-2024-212, Aug. 15, 2024 The Employee Retention Credit ("ERC") program began as an effort to help businesses during the pandemic, but became the target of aggressive marketing well after the pandemic ended. Some promoter groups called the credit by another name, such as a grant, business stimulus payment, or government relief to increase claims. Findings of the IRS review, announced in June 2024, confirmed concerns raised by tax professionals…

2024-08-23 IR-2024-219, Aug. 21, 2024 The IRS reminds schoolteachers that the maximum deduction for classroom expenses in 2024 remains at $300. This deduction allows educators to offset the cost of supplies, materials and other classroom essentials, providing some financial relief for those who spend their own money to improve their students' learning experience. Who qualifies for educator expense deductions? This deduction is available for teachers, instructors, counselors, principals and aides…

2024-08-19 The Internal Revenue Service launched the Business Tax Account (BTA) service in the fall of 2023, an online self-service tool for business taxpayers that now allows them to view and make balance-due payments, and continues to expand its features. When fully developed, BTA will allow many types of business taxpayers to check their tax history, make payments, view notices, authorize powers of attorney and conduct other business with the…

2024-07-30 IR-2024-187, July 15, 2024 The Internal Revenue Service issued a consumer alert regarding bad advice circulating on social media about a non-existent “Self Employment Tax Credit” that’s misleading taxpayers into filing false claims. Promoters and social media are marketing something they describe as the “Self Employment Tax Credit” as a way for self-employed people and gig workers to get big payments for the COVID-19 pandemic period. Similar to misleading…

2024-07-24 The USPTO warned that trademark applicants and registrants have paid fees to private companies, mistakenly thinking they were paying fees required by the USPTO. The USPTO does not endorse any of these private companies and you are not required to use them. Watch for official USPTO emails about your registration. USPTO emails are important because your registration may expire or be canceled unless you maintain it. The USPTO uses…

2024-06-12 National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins noted in a June 6, 2024 blog post that the Internal Revenue Service is taking longer to process identity theft victim assistance (IDTVA) cases for taxpayers, and that the 2023 average processing time was 556 days, and as of April 2024, the processing time has jumped to 675 days. The spike has been attributed to shifting personnel within the agency to prioritize answering phone…

2024-06-06 Restaurants across the country are adding service charges to customers’ checks to boost wages for back-of-house workers and remove discrepancies in tipping, but the US tax code favors traditional tipping systems through tax credits, while restaurants that charge service fees don’t receive a similar credit benefit. Restaurants can only qualify for a tax credit under the standard tip system. Because the tip was passed to the employee who must…

2024-05-07 Every taxpayer has fundamental rights when working with the IRS, collectively known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. One of these rights is the right to challenge the IRS's position and be heard. Here’s what this right means for taxpayers. Taxpayers have the right to: Raise objections. Provide additional documentation in response to formal or proposed IRS actions. Expect the IRS to consider their timely objections. Have the IRS…