Tax Preparation Tips

With these Tax Preparation Tips, we will be able to maximize your refund.
Find out how you can get a higher refund here, when preparing your taxes.

More Guidance on Virtual Currency

In 2014, the IRS said that virtual currency, such as Bitcoin, is property and not currency (Notice 2014-21). Thus, individuals receiving payments in cryptocurrency held for investment means reporting them as property transactions on Form 8949 and Sche…

Settlement with HOA Was Includible in Gross Income

Compensatory damages received for a personal physical injury or sickness are excludable from gross income. Damages for any other personal reason, such as defamation, as well punitive damages for any reason, are taxable. In one recent case, a homeowner…

IRS Interest Rates Unchanged for Q4 2019

The IRS has announced that the interest rates applicable to overpayments and underpayments of federal taxes for the fourth quarter of 2019 are the same as for the third quarter of the year (Rev. Rul. 2019-21). The rates are:
5% for overpayments by ind…

Car Prize to Prize Student Is Taxable

A high school senior with a perfect attendance record and good grades was entered by the school into a “Strive to Drive” drawing held by a local car dealership. She won a Jeep Renegade valued at over $23,000, which she kept. The dealership sent her Fo…

Transfer of IRA Costs Recipient Taxes

A wife was ordered by a divorce decree to transfer $10,000 from her retirement account  to her former husband. She instructed her broker to transfer this amount to an IRA set up for the former husband at the same brokerage firm. Within a week, he took…

Rental Real Estate Safe Harbor for the QBI Deduction

For owners of pass-through entities to claim the 20% qualified business income (QBI) deduction, they must be in a trade or business. When it comes to real estate activities, it’s sometimes difficult to determine whether they are a business or merely i…

New Withholding Calculator

Employees can file a revised Form W-4 to change their wage withholding for 2020. The IRS announced the release of a new online withholding calculator estimator to make it easier for an employee to figure the most accurate withholding needed to cover t…

Deduction for DNA Collection Kit

It’s increasingly common for individuals to have their DNA tested through Ancestry.com and other sites in order to learn more about their family background. One site—23andMe—also offers DNA testing to determine familial risks for certain medical condi…

IRS Waives Estimated Tax Penalties for 2018 Filers

Because of changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, many taxpayers didn’t pay enough in income taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments to satisfy the safe harbors for avoiding  estimated tax penalties. The IRS announced it would waive a…

Uncashed Retirement Plan Distribution Check Is Taxable

In certain situations, an employer is required to distribute funds held in the company’s retirement plan, after withholding 20%. But what happens if the individual fails to cash the check?
The IRS considered the situation in which an employer was requ…