The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that the maximum amount of earnings subject to OASDI Social Security tax will rise to $127,200, in 2017 after holding at $118,500 for 2016 and 2015. The SSA cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are based on the rise in the average Consumer
Read more →As international compliance efforts pass several new milestones, the Internal Revenue Service reminds U.S. taxpayers with undisclosed offshore accounts that they should use existing paths to come into full compliance with their federal tax obligations. Updated data shows 55,800 taxpayers have come into the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure
Read more →Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act. Enacted last December, the new law means employers need to file their copies of Forms W-2 by Jan. 31. These forms also go to the Social Security Administration. The new deadline also applies to certain Forms 1099. Those reporting
Read more →House Ways and Means Committee Republicans sent a letter dated October 5 to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew again voicing concerns about the Obama administration’s proposed Code Sec. 385 regulations. The letter comes on the heels of the Treasury delivering final regulations under Code Sec. 385 to the
Read more →The IRS has provided the 2016-2017 special per diem rates for taxpayers to use in substantiating the amount of ordinary and necessary business expenses incurred while traveling away from home, specifically: (1) the special transportation industry meal and incidental expenses (M&IE) rates; (2) the rate for the
Read more →The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has released a report regarding the implementation of new tax return-related data elements based on the 2015 Security Summit, Protecting Taxpayers from Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud. TIGTA has concluded that tax-related identity thefts adversely affect the ability of
Read more →Every taxpayer that uses tangible real or personal property in a business needs to understand the tax rules relating to the distinction between a repair and capital expenditure, as well as the depreciation of those capitalized expenditures and other depreciable assets that are purchased or produced. This
Read more →Affirming a federal district court, the First Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down parts of Puerto Rico’s corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT). The court was not persuaded that the AMT did not discriminate against interstate commerce. The First Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming a U.S. district
Read more →The following Texas local sales and use tax rate changes take effect October 1, 2016. Adopted City Tax Dish (Denton County) adopted a 2% city sales tax rate, resulting in a combined (state, county, city, transit, and special purpose district) tax rate of 8.25%. City Tax Rate
Read more →Senate Finance Committee (SFC) Chair Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced two bipartisan bills on July 12 intended to protect taxpayers: the Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Prevention Bill (Sen 3157) and the Taxpayer Protection Bill of 2016 (Sen 3156). Sen 3157 would implement guidelines for the IRS in handling
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