From Our Blog…

Take care when choosing a tax return professional

Carefully choosing a tax professional to prepare a tax return is vital to ensuring your
personal and financial information is safe and secure and treated with care.
Another reason to choose a tax preparer carefully is because taxpayers are ultimately
legally responsible for all the information on their income tax return, regardless of who
prepares it. […]

Tax relief for Connecticut victims affected by storms, flooding

Individuals and businesses in parts of Connecticut affected by severe storms, flooding and a potential dam breach that began on Jan. 10 now have until June 17, 2024, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. Currently, this includes New London County, including  […]

Taxpayers should continue to report all cryptocurrency digital asset income

Taxpayers, you must again must again answer a digital asset question and report all digital asset-related income when you file your 2023 federal income tax return, as you did for your 2022 federal tax returns. Everyone who files Forms 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-NR, 1041, 1065, 1120, 1120 and 1120S must check one box  […]

Dirty Dozen: Watch out for scammers using email and text messages to try tricking people during tax season

Email and text scams are relentless, and scammers frequently use tax season as a way of tricking people. With people anxious to receive the latest information about a refund or other tax issue, scammers will regularly pose as the IRS, a state tax agency or others in the tax industry in emails and texts. Phish […]

Reporting foreign income and filing a tax return when living abroad

U.S. citizen and resident aliens living abroad should know their tax obligations. Their worldwide income — including wages, unearned income and tips — is subject to U.S. income tax, regardless of where they live or where they earn their income. They also have the same income tax filing requirements as U.S. citizens or resident aliens […]

Gig economy earnings are taxable

Generally, income earned from the gig economy is taxable and must be reported to the IRS on tax returns. The gig economy is activity where people earn income providing on demand work, services or goods, such as selling goods online, driving a car for deliveries or renting out property. Often, it’s through a digital platform […]

Here are the different ways people can pay their federal taxes

The April 18 deadline for individuals to file and pay their federal income tax is just around the corner. While paying taxes is not optional, the IRS offers a variety of ways for people to pay their taxes. Some taxpayers must make quarterly estimated tax payments throughout the year. […]

Reasons why some tax refunds filed electronically take longer than 21 days

Different factors can affect the timing of a refund after the IRS receives a return. A manual review may be necessary when a return has errors, is incomplete or is affected by identity theft or fraud. […]

Trouble Anticipated on Tax Returns Due to Advanced Child Tax Credit

To combat anticipated complications and questions on how to report the ACTC on tax returns, the IRS announced on December 21, 2021, that a letter would be sent to ACTC recipients starting in December and to recipients of the third round of the Economic Impact Payments at the end of January. […]

The N.C. Department of Revenue announced that it will begin processing 2021 tax year returns in mid-February

The N.C. Department of Revenue announced that it will begin processing 2021 tax year returns in mid-February, which is several weeks after the start of the nation’s tax season on Monday, January 24, 2022. […]

All taxpayers have the right to challenge the IRS’s position and be heard

Taxpayers have the right to challenge the IRS’s position and be heard. This is part of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which clearly outlines the fundamental rights every taxpayer has when working with the IRS. […]

Taxpayers can protect themselves from scammers by knowing how the IRS communicates

Here are: some facts about how the IRS communicates with taxpayers: The IRS doesn’t normally initiate contact with taxpayers by email. […]

Things people do during the summer that might affect their tax return next year

Whether it’s a life change or a typical summer event, it could affect incomes taxes. Here are a few summertime activities and tips on how taxpayers should consider them during filing season. […]

Many Families with Children to Get Monthly Payment of Refundable Child Tax Credit

A provision of the American Rescue Plan is being readied for action, targeting nearly 90 percent of American households with children to receive monthly payments of the Child Tax Credit.[…]

Do’s and don’ts for taxpayers who get a letter or notice from the IRS

The IRS mails letters or notices to taxpayers for a variety of reasons including if: They have a balance due. They are due a larger or smaller refund. The agency has a question about their tax return.[…]

Those experiencing homelessness can get Economic Impact Payments and other tax benefits; permanent address not required

The Internal Revenue Service today continued an ongoing effort to help those experiencing homelessness during the pandemic by reminding people who don’t have a permanent address […]

IRS has refunds totaling $1.3 billion for people who have not filed a 2017 federal income tax return

Unclaimed income tax refunds worth more than $1.3 billion await an estimated 1.3 million taxpayers who did not file a 2017 Form 1040 federal income tax return, according to the Internal Revenue Service.[…]

IRS to recalculate taxes on unemployment benefits; refunds to start in May

To help taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service announced today that it will take steps to automatically refund money this spring and summer to people who filed their tax return reporting unemployment compensation before the recent changes made by the American Rescue Plan. […]

IRS begins delivering third round of Economic Impact Payments to Americans

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the third round of Economic Impact Payments will begin reaching Americans over the next week. […]

Third Stimulus Package

On March 11, 2021, the third COVID stimulus package was signed into law, including direct payments. The IRS emphasizes that there is no action required by eligible individuals to receive this third payment. Payments are automatic. Additional information related to eligibility or timing of these payments has not been made available. Who qualifies for this […]

Pending Legislation

The president is expected to sign a bill this week which will provide relief for the continued impact of COVID-19. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 extends unemployment benefits, provides funding for state and local governments, supports vaccine rollouts, expands the child tax credit, makes a portion of unemployment compensation nontaxable for certain filers, […]

Tax Time Guide: Select a tax return preparer with care

The Internal Revenue Service today reminded taxpayers to choose a tax return preparer with care. Even though the vast majority of tax return preparers provide honest, quality service, some cause great harm through fraud, identity theft and other scams every year. It’s very important to select the right tax professional. After all, people trust them […]

People should be on the lookout for identity theft involving unemployment benefits

Taxpayers whose identities may have been used by thieves to steal unemployment benefits to file a tax return claiming only the income they actually received. Some taxpayers applied for and received unemployment compensation from their state. By law, unemployment benefits are taxable. Scammers also took advantage of the pandemic by filing fraudulent claims for unemployment […]

Is the NC Extra Credit Grant payment ($335-) taxable?

Many of us have had some reasons to believe that it is taxable. And perhaps some are also swayed to think that it is taxable since NC DOR has a subtraction for it on D-440 Sch. S line 33. However, please consider the following information. A “qualified disaster relief payment” is defined by section 139(b) […]

Taxpayers should beware of ghost preparers

As people begin to file their 2020 tax returns, taxpayers are reminded to avoid unethical ghost tax return preparers. A ghost preparer is someone who doesn’t sign tax returns they prepare. Unscrupulous ghost preparers often print the return and have the taxpayer to sign and mail it to the IRS. For e-filed returns, the ghost […]

As required by law, all first and second Economic Impact Payments issued; eligible people can claim Recovery Rebate Credit

The IRS announced today that, as required by law, all legally permitted first and second round of Economic Impact Payments have been issued and the IRS now turns its full attention to the 2021 filing season. Most people who are eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit have already received it, in advance, in these two […]

What taxpayers need to know about claiming the credit for other dependents

Taxpayers with dependents who don’t qualify for the child tax credit may be able to claim the credit for other dependents. The maximum credit amount is $500 for each dependent who meets certain conditions. These include: Dependents who are age 17 or older. Dependents who have individual taxpayer identification numbers. Dependent parents or other qualifying […]