On the seventh day of Taxmas, my accountant gave to me an annual reminder to review beneficiary designations for retirement accounts, annuities, and life insurance contracts.

On the sixth day of Taxmas, my accountant gave to me information for the Child Tax Credit (CTC). The CTC is fully refundable in 2021 and is $3,000 for children over six years old and $3,600 for children under six years old. However, these amounts are reduced for any advances received from July 2021 through December 2021.

On the fifth day of Taxmas, my accountant gave to me a tip to donate stock and repurchase it. Charitable giving has intrinsic rewards and immediate (and future) tax benefits. You can maximize your charitable giving deduction by donating appreciated securities instead of cash.

On the fourth day of Taxmas, my accountant gave to me a reminder that Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are required in 2021 for anyone who has reached age 72 during the year or reached 70 ½ before 2020.  In 2020, RMDs were not required due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On the third day of Taxmas, my accountant gave to me a backdoor Roth IRA conversion before they are disallowed in the Biden Administration’s proposed legislation, the Build Back Better Act.  Under current law, if you contribute to non-deductible traditional IRA accounts, you can wait a few days then convert that contribution to a Roth IRA account. Therefore, the only taxable income would be any income earned when the funds were in the Traditional IRA.    

For the period January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2022, businesses may claim 100% of food and beverage expenses paid to restaurants (if certain conditions are met). This is an increase from the historical 50% allowable deduction.  This temporary deduction was introduced in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 to increase economic recovery in the food and beverage industry.

Taxpayers who do not itemize can take advantage of the charitable donation deduction – those filing single or married filing separately can claim a deduction of up to $300 for cash contributions. Married individuals filing joint returns can deduct up to $600 of cash contributions on their 2021 tax returns.

Life happens – and fast. For many of us, before we can even register that it happened, we’ve — Sold a home Received an inheritance Had a new grandchild Started a business Moved across the country Got a promotion — or had any number of exciting new experiences. It’s important to track these major life […]

Every year, businesses submit thousands of research and development (R&D) claims to the IRS and state taxing authorities for tax credits in the hundreds of millions of dollars.  Both corporations and individuals benefit from credits for research. Claims are filed in accordance with Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 41. If substantial, they can be subject to examination by the IRS and states, often using significant resources for both taxing authorities and taxpayers.  To improve tax administration and reduce the number of disputes over claims, the IRS released Notice 2021-203 on October 15, 2021.

The Biden Administration’s Build Back Better Act (the Act) is designed to reduce costs, create new jobs, and cut taxes for working families. In addition, there are proposed investments in health and childcare, higher education, workforce training, and teachers and schools. The cost of the legislation, which is estimated at $3.5T, will be paid for by increased taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans.