5 minutes read
We’ve all been out to a restaurant and received a bill where gratuity–usually around 18%–was included in the bill. This routinely occurs when larger groups dine together. However, this practice may be going extinct as a change in the tax rules starting January 1st, 2014 will view automatic gratuities as a “service charge”, which opens them up to be taxed as wages.
3 minutes read
In a landmark ruling announced by the Obama administration, married same-sex couples shall be treated as any other legally married couple–at least in the eyes the Internal Revenue Service for tax purposes. This announcement follows and is consistent with the recent Supreme Court ruling which struck down the constitutionality of The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which only recognized “marriage” between that of a man and a woman.
2 minutes read
The IRS finalized its rules regarding the penalty that individuals must pay for failing to obtain health insurance next year, as well as what constitutes the minimum amount of coverage one must obtain, amongst other things.
2 minutes read
When NY State adopted same-sex marriage in 2011, the estate tax was also removed for legally wed couples. But now, The NY State Supreme court has gone one step further and ruled to refund estate taxes collected from any gay couple going as far back as tax year 2008:
3 minutes read
“Where’s my refund”! Is a common cry from NY State residents these days, and according to the state for good reason. After using Bank Of America to process refunds for the last 18 years, BOA decided to get out of the tax business all together and did not renew their contract. So what was Albany to do? Outsource the job of course! These subcontractors and not-for-profit groups are backlogged with refund requests which is what is causing the delay for so many New...
7 minutes read
By Benjamin K. Brenner, President
3 minutes read
Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller stated recently, that taxpayers will soon start feeling the effects of the Sequester now that the tax season has ended. Deep cuts to IRS Staffing will impact taxpayers calling the IRS, as well as the agency’s ability to combat fraud and collect tax revenues.
2 minutes read
Acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller recently sat before a congressional panel and hinted that the best way to combat the explosion of tax fraud may be to either delay the tax filing season, or wait to release all refunds until after the filing season concludes on April 15th.
2 minutes read
The IRS’ new “Modernized E-File Production (MeP) & Assurance Testing Systems” have been experiencing retrieval errors this past week. The IRS issued the following statement on their website: