Income Tax

After the Japan earthquake three years ago, the Santa Monica, Calif., accounting firm Gumbiner Savett decided to help raise funds to support the victims of that disaster, as well as some of the firm’s affiliates and former staff in the country.

New legislation passed by the House tying the “doc fix” to Obamacare is expected to meet its demise on the Senate floor. Thus, a once-promising solution to a long-term problem is likely to turn into another victim of bipartisan politics.

This topic has been coming up a lot in the past week or so. And it’s a bit disconcerting to tax professionals who invest time with new clients like this.

With the announcement by the IRS that it will now allow electronic signatures on Form 8879, which authorizes electronic filing of tax returns, a cumbersome, time-consuming step in the tax preparation process has been eliminated.

The Internal Revenue Service seeks civic-minded volunteers to serve on the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP), a federal advisory committee that listens to taxpayers, identifies major taxpayer concerns, and makes recommendations for improving IRS services.

Income tax filing deadlines for most small business are coming up soon, and the Internal Revenue Service is reminding small employers who offer health insurance to their employees to check out the small business health care tax credit and then claim it if they qualify.

The Obama administration is relying on various federal agencies and organizations to help implement the complex rules under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the comprehensive health care legislation otherwise known as “Obamacare.” Naturally, the IRS is expected to play a major role, including enforcement of the penalties for failing to obtain minimum coverage and imposition of the 3.8% Medicare surtax on “net investment income” (NII) for certain upper-income investors.

After a divorce, if both spouses stay on title, they can both take advantage of their full personal residence exclusion of $250,000 – as long as one of them continue to use it as a personal residence AND this is specified in the divorce decree (a good reason to get along during the divorce negotiations).