Prior to 2020, a "Stretch IRA" was used to extend the tax-deferred status of an inherited IRA when it passed to a non-spouse beneficiary (i.e. children and/or grandchildren). This way you could pass an IRA down to the next generation and beneficiaries would enjoy the tax benefits of an IRA over their respective lifetimes.
Most of the revenue collected by the IRS doesn't come from payments submitted with tax returns. It comes from amounts withheld from employees' wages (income tax and payroll tax). Since they represent around 70% of the IRS's revenue, unpaid payroll taxes are taken very seriously.
If you have unpaid payroll taxes, you should address them as quickly as possible before the IRS assesses penalties. You should also be aware that the liability for these taxes is different than almost any other tax — the IRS has broad powers to collect some unpaid payroll taxes from multiple people affiliated with a business.
Payroll taxes are a common name that refers to amounts withheld from employees' paychecks to fund Medicare and Social Security. They are also called FICA taxes (FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, the law that created these taxes).
Although scams can happen any time of the year, they tend to be more prevalent during tax season. Scammers use tax refund time to target victims through various email phishing attempts, fraud schemes, phony phone calls and other deceptive activities. Here are four common tax season scams:
Beware of phone calls from anyone claiming to be an IRS employee or law enforcement officer. Fraudsters impersonate government officials to intimidate you, which is a form of social engineering commonly used by scammers. Some tricks scammers use are:
The retirement planning changes in a nutshell:
The person we know as Saint Nicholas (Saint Nick) was born around ad270 to a wealthy Grecian family. Tragically, his parents died when he was a boy, and he lived with his uncle who loved him and taught him to follow God. When Nicholas was a young man, legend says that he heard of three sisters who didn’t have a dowry for marriage and would soon be destitute. Wanting to follow Jesus’ teaching about giving to those in need, he took his inheritance and gave each sister a bag of gold coins. Over the years, Nicholas gave the rest of his money away feeding the poor and caring for others. In the following centuries, Nicholas was honored for his lavish generosity, and he inspired the character we know as Santa Claus.
The Treasury Department and IRS have issued proposed regulations regarding the sale of a taxpayer’s property that the IRS seizes by levy. They actually make a lot of sense.
Eco activists such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates have thrown their weight, and checkbooks, behind the practice of cutting down trees and burying them to address fears over carbon emissions. Gates is well known for his attempts of addressing his climate concerns—from buying up vast swaths of U.S. farmland to backing wild-card experiments such as solar geo-engineering and his latest rant is criticizing tree planting as a viable means of reducing CO2.
In an interview with NY Times reporter David Gelles, Mr. Gates responded dismissively to the idea that planting more trees can reverse adverse climate effects. "That's complete nonsense ... I mean, are we the science people, or are we the idiots?" Mr. Gates asked rhetorically.
Those that can afford to buy high priced art pieces can properly claim donations of art on their taxes. But some unscrupulous promoters may use direct solicitation to promise values of art that are too good to be true. These promoters persuade taxpayers, usually high-income taxpayers, to purchase the art, wait to donate the art and then take an incorrect deduction for the art donated. Be aware though, the IRS has active promoter investigations and taxpayer audits underway in this area.