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Tax Briefing(s)

The IRS has released the 2024-2025 special per diem rates. Taxpayers use the per diem rates to substantiate certain expenses incurred while traveling away from home. These special per diem rates include:


The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced it has recovered $172 million from 21,000 wealthy taxpayers who have not filed returns since 2017.


The Internal Revenue Service has made limited progress in developing a methodology that would help the agency meet the directive not to increase audit rates for those making less than $400,000 per year, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported.


National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins is working to address deficiencies highlighted by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration regarding the speed of service offered by the Taxpayer Advocate Service.


The IRS has highlighted important tax guidelines for taxpayers who are involved in making contributions and receiving distributions from online crowdfunding. The crowdfunding website or its payment processor may be required to report distributions of money raised, if the amount distributed meets certain reporting thresholds, by filing Form 1099-K, Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions, with the IRS.


The IRS has significantly improved its online tools, using funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), to facilitate taxpayers in accessing clean energy tax credits. These modernized tools are designed to streamline processes, improve compliance, and mitigate fraud. A key development is the IRS Energy Credits Online (ECO) platform, a free, secure, and user-friendly service available to businesses of all sizes. It allows taxpayers to register, submit necessary information, and file for clean energy tax credits without requiring any specialized software. The platform also features validation checks and real-time monitoring to detect potential fraud and enhance customer service.


Final regulations on consistent basis reporting have been issued under Code Secs. 1014 and 6035.


Q. I am reviewing my portfolio and considering selling some of my stock. How do I determine what tax basis I have in the publicly-traded shares that I own for purposes of determining my gain or loss if I buy and sell multiple shares at different times? Does keeping track of basis really matter?


An attractive benefit package is crucial to attract and retain talented workers. However, the expense of such packages can be cost-prohibitive to a small business. Establishing a tax-advantaged cafeteria plan can be an innovative way to provide employees with additional benefits without significantly adding to the cost of your overall benefit program.


While one of the most important keys to financial success of any business is its ability to properly manage its cash flow, few businesses devote adequate attention to this process. By continually monitoring your business cycle, and making some basic decisions up-front, the amount of time you spend managing this part of your business can be significantly reduced.


Keeping the family business in the family upon the death or retirement of the business owner is not as easy as one would think. In fact, almost 30% of all family businesses never successfully pass to the next generation. What many business owners do not know is that many problems can be avoided by developing a sound business succession plan in advance.


If you use your home computer for business purposes, knowing that you can deduct some or all of its costs can help ease the pain of the large initial and ongoing cash outlays. However, there are some tricky IRS rules that you should consider before taking - or forgoing - a deduction for home computer costs.


If you are considering selling business property that has substantially appreciated in value, you owe it to your business to explore the possibility of a like-kind exchange. Done properly, a like-kind exchange will allow you to transfer your appreciated business property without incurring a current tax liability. However, since the related tax rules can be complex, careful planning is needed to properly structure the transaction.


Starting your own small business can be hectic - yet fun and personally fulfilling. As you work towards opening the doors, don't let the onerous task of keeping the books rain on your parade. With a little planning upfront and a promise to "keep it simple", you can get an effective system up and running in no time.


For homeowners, the exclusion of all or a portion of the gain on the sale of their principal residence is an important tax break.


Q. A large portion of my portfolio is invested in Internet stocks and with the recent market downturn, I've accumulated some substantial losses on certain stocks. Although I think these stocks will eventually turn around, I'd love to use some of those losses to offset gains from other stocks I'd like to sell. From a tax standpoint, can I sell stock at a loss and then turn around and immediately buy it back?


An important IRS ruling shows how the use of trusts to hold personal assets can sometimes backfire if all tax factors are not considered. This ruling also drives home the fact that tax rules may change after assets have already been locked into a trust for a long period of time, making trusts sometimes inflexible in dealing with changing tax opportunities.


Q. The recent upturn in home values has left me with quite a bit of equity in my home. I would like to tap into this equity to pay off my credit cards and make some major home improvements. If I get a home equity loan, will the interest I pay be fully deductible on my tax return?


As a new business owner, you probably expect to incur many expenses before you even open the doors. What you might not know is how these starting up costs are handled for tax purposes. A little knowledge about how these costs will affect your (or your business') tax return can reduce any unexpected surprises when tax time comes around.


Q. My wife and I are both retired and are what you might call "social gamblers". We like to play bingo and buy lottery tickets, and take an occasional trip to Las Vegas to play the slot machines. Are we required to report all of our winnings on our tax return? Can we deduct our losses?


California State Senate Bill 542 was passed during the 1999-2000 legislative session and signed into law. This law requires businesses and government entities to report specified information to the Employment Development Department (EDD) on independent contractors.