Tax News

For the past 5 years, taxpayers with adjusted gross income up to a certain amount ($58,000 in 2013) have been able to prepare their federal income tax returns and file them electronically at no cost. ...

The numbers are out and they’re not comforting. Taxpayers spend an exorbitant amount of time and money filing their federal income tax returns each year, and this filing season had been no different...

Tax Freedom Day is April 21, which is three days later than last year. This is the day that the Tax Foundation computes as the time when the entire nation has paid enough to satisfy tax obligations fo...

The IRS is holding refunds totaling $760 billion for about 918,600 taxpayers who did not file their 2010 returns. The last day to file and claim the outstanding refunds related to these returns is Apr...

The president’s budget proposal for the government’s 2015 fiscal year contains a measure to expand the earned income tax credit (EITC). This credit is fully refundable, so low- and moderate-income...

The IRS’s annual list of the Dirty Dozen Tax Scams has been released. Taxpayers who use or fall victim to these scams expose themselves to additional taxes, penalties, and in some cases, criminal pr...

Income from whatever source derived is included in gross income unless there is a specific law treating the income as wholly or partially tax free. This means that the winnings awarded by the U.S. Oly...

With tax seasons comes the advent of tax scams by email and phone, including text messages. The IRS cautions taxpayers to be wary at this time of the year. Here are some pointers to help you: The ...

FreeFile is a no-cost way to figure your taxes online and submit your federal return electronically. FreeFile for 2013 returns opens on January 17, 2014 (although the IRS will not begin to process ind...

The National Taxpayer Advocate is an independent organization within the IRS to help taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS as well as to recommend changes that will prevent problems. Nina Olsen, the...

The U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment of John Koskinen as the next IRS commissioner. He starts his job during the week of December 23. He becomes the first commissioner since Douglas Shulman left ...

The IRS announced that the filing season for 2013 income tax returns will begin on January 31, 2014. This is about a week or two later than usual. The government shutdown in October limited IRS work o...

If you use your car, truck, or van for certain purposes other than personal reasons, you can deduct the related costs or use an IRS-set mileage rate. The mileage rate for 2014 is: 56 cents per mil...

IRS interest rates are unchanged for the first quarter of 2014 (January 1, 2014, through March 31, 2014). These are the rates changed on underpayments and overpayments: 3% for overpayments (2% for...

Final statistics for the 2013 filing season (for 2012 income tax returns) show that e-filings increased by 2.5%. A total of more than 122 million returns were e-filed by tax professionals or by taxpay...

If you need more time or other help in paying your taxes, it will cost you more now. Starting December 2, 2013, the fee for obtaining an installment payment agreement from the IRS is $120, up from $10...

Cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, apply to nearly four dozen tax rules, and the IRS has announced these adjustments for 2014. With inflation running low, the adjustments are modest. They impact su...

Flexible spending accounts, or FSAs, allow employees to contribute a portion of their wages that can be used to pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance. The amount contributed to the FSA is ...

The IRS has announced the contribution limits for qualified retirement plans and IRAs for 2014. Due to low inflation, most limits remain unchanged from 2013 limits, for example, limits for contributio...

The Social Security Administration announced the 2014 wage base used for figuring the Social Security tax portion of FICA and self-employment tax. For 2014, this wage base is $117,000, up from $113,70...