Tax News

You can’t claim your pet as a dependent, no matter how much a part of the family your pet is. You can’t treat veterinary bills as deductible medical expenses. And you can’t take an adoption cred...

The current federal individual income tax rates are set to expire at the end of 2012. Should Congress raise or lower the tax rates next year or keep them the same? That’s the debate that has begun. ...

The Senate Finance Committee learned that the number of identity theft cases that the IRS received between 2009 and 2011 nearly tripled. To better protect taxpayers, one senator introduced the Identit...

The U.S. Supreme Court is determining whether the personal mandate for every individual to carry health coverage is constitutional. This personal mandate is set to take effect in 2014; those who refus...

When a property owner receives a settlement from the government for taking his property under eminent domain, the settlement may be paid out over time, with interest on the installments. In one recent...

Before you make any donations to a charity, it’s helpful to check on its tax-exempt status. Unless the organization is IRS approved, you cannot claim any tax deduction for contribution to it. The IR...

The tax law allows individuals who receive foster care payments to exclude them from gross income if all three of the following conditions are met: Payments are made pursuant to a foster care prog...

If you’ve been griping about IRS service, put your money where your mouth is! The Treasury is now accepting nominations for volunteers to serve a 3-year term on the National Taxpayer Advisory Panel ...

The IRS has announced the dollar limits on depreciation that can be claimed for cars and light trucks purchased for business and placed in service in 2012. The limits are slightly higher than those in...

The clock is ticking on your ability to collect your 2008 refund if you haven’t already done so. You have until April 17, 2012, to submit a tax return for 2008, which acts as a claim for refund. The...

Each year, the IRS compiles a list of tax scams as a way to warn taxpayers not to fall for them. Here are the top 5 on this year’s list: Identity theft. Scammers obtain taxpayer filing informati...

Just before the Presidents’ Day holiday, Congress passed an extension of the 2-percentage-point reduction in Social Security taxes paid by workers. The cut had been set to expire on February 29, 201...

The IRS released IRS2Go 2.0, which is an expanded version of its smartphone application. The new app works on both the iPhone and Android platforms. It enables taxpayers to check the status of their f...

Homeowners who claimed the first-time homebuyer credit in 2008 are subject to an annual repayment of 1/15th of the credit until it has been fully repaid to Uncle Sam. The credit effectively was an int...

The president’s State of the Union address on January 24, 2012, contained several tax mentions: For tax “fairness”: A promise to enforce the so-called “Buffett rule” so that wealthy exec...

Republicans vying for the presidential nomination have released their tax returns showing their effective tax rates. The effective tax rate is the percentage of taxable income that was paid in taxes. ...

The IRS’s Free File program (www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.html) for 2011 returns is now in full swing. If your adjusted gross income for 2011 was less than $57,000, you can choose from ...

Each year, the National Taxpayer Advocate is required to provide a report to Congress. The report identifies problems and issues and suggests ways in which they can be fixed. The report for 2011, whic...

If someone uses your Social Security number to file a fraudulent tax return in order to receive a tax refund, what can you do? The IRS now has a guide for taxpayers in this situation. Respond imme...

The “tax gap” is the spread between what the government thinks it should collect in taxes and what it actually collects. In 2001, the tax gap, after enforcement activities, was $290 billion. In 20...