Dmosley TAX

Taxpayers can now instantly get tax info on Instagram Taxpayers can now get tax tips and helpful news from the IRS on Instagram. The agency just debuted it’s official Instagram account, IRSNews, which users can access at www.instagram.com/irsnews or on their smartphone using the Instagram app. Last year’s tax reform law brought many tax law changes that will affect virtually every taxpayer. The IRS Instagram account will share taxpayer-friendly information to help people bett...er understand these changes. The IRS will use its new Instagram account it to: Provide the latest tax scam information to help taxpayers keep their personal data secure. Better serve young adults, the majority of whom use Instagram. Share information in Spanish and other languages. Reinforce messages the IRS promotes on its other social accounts. The IRS will use Instagram along with several other social media tools to communicate with taxpayers: YouTube: The IRS offers video tax tips in English, Spanish and American Sign Language. Twitter: Taxpayers can follow @IRSnews for tax-related announcements and tips. @IRStaxpros tweets news and guidance for tax professionals. Tweets from @IRSenEspanol have and the latest tax information in Spanish. @IRSTaxSecurity tweets tax scam alerts. Facebook. News and information for taxpayers and tax return preparers. LinkedIn. The IRS shares agency updates and job opportunities. The IRS also has their own app, IRS2Go. Taxpayers can use this free mobile app to check their refund status, pay taxes, find free tax help, watch IRS YouTube videos and get IRS Tax Tips by email. Like Instagram, the IRS2Go app is available from the Google Play Store for Android devices, or from the Apple App Store for Apple devices. IRS2Go is available in both English and Spanish. See more

Tax reform brings changes to qualified moving expenses For businesses that have employees, there are changes to fringe benefits that can affect a business’s bottom line and their employee’s tax liabilities. One of these changes is to qualified moving expenses. Under previous law, payment or reimbursement of an employee’s qualified moving expenses were not subject to income or employment taxes. Under last year’s tax reform legislation, employers must include all moving expense...s, in employees’ wages, subject to income and employment taxes. Exception Generally, members of the U.S. Armed Forces can still exclude qualified moving expense reimbursements from their income if: They are on active duty They move pursuant to a military order and incident to a permanent change of station The moving expenses would qualify as a deduction if the employee didn’t get a reimbursement Transition rule There is a transition rule under the new law. Under this rule, certain payments or reimbursements aren’t subject to federal income or employment taxes. This includes amounts that: An employer pays a third party in 2018 for qualified moving services provided to an employee prior to 2018. An employer reimburses an employee in 2018 for qualified moving expenses incurred prior to 2018. To qualify for the transition rule, the payments or reimbursements must be for qualified expenses which would have been deductible by the employee if the employee had directly paid them before Jan. 1, 2018. The employee must not have deducted them in 2017. Corrections Employers who have included amounts covered by the exception or the transition rule in individuals’ wages or compensation can take steps to correct taxable wages and employment taxes. More information: Circular E: Employer’s Tax Guide Instructions for Form 941-X, Adjusted Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund See more

IRS reminder: Deadline Dec. 31 for most retirees who must make required retirement plan distributions WASHINGTON The Internal Revenue Service today reminded retirees born before July 1, 1948, that they usually must take distributions from their individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) and workplace retirement plans by Dec. 31. The payments, called required minimum distributions (RMDs), are normally made by the end of the year. Those who reached age 70 during 2018 are cove...Continue reading

Tax reform law makes changes to employee achievement award rules The IRS reminds employers that last year’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made changes to several programs that can affect an employer's bottom line and its employees' deductions. This includes employee achievement awards. Here are some facts about these changes: Under previous law: Employers could deduct the cost of certain employee achievement awards. Deductible awards were excludible from employee income.... Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: There is now a prohibition on cash, gift cards and other non-tangible personal property as employee achievement awards. Special rules allow an employee to exclude certain achievement awards from their wages if the awards are tangible personal property. The new law clarifies that tangible personal property doesn’t include cash, cash equivalents, gift cards, gift coupons, certain gift certificates, tickets to theater or sporting events, vacations, meals, lodging, stocks, bonds, securities, and other similar items. More information: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: A Comparison for businesses Employer Update

IRS, Security Summit Partners warn public: It’s shopping season for identity thieves, too; Tax Security Awareness Week offers tips WASHINGTON With the holiday shopping season in full swing, the Internal Revenue Service and Security Summit partners warn taxpayers to take extra steps to protect their tax and financial data from identity thieves. The holidays offer cybercriminals a chance to steal financial account information, Social Security numbers, credit card information...Continue reading

Proposed hardship withdrawal regulations include relief for disaster victims: Retirement plans can now make loans, hardship distributions to victims of Hurricanes Michael and Florence WASHINGTON The Internal Revenue Service recently announced that 401(k) plans and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans can make loans and hardship distributions to victims of Hurricane Michael and Hurricane Florence and to members of their families. This relief was included in the preamb...Continue reading

IRS issues proposed regulations on foreign tax credits WASHINGTON The Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations today on foreign tax credits for businesses and individuals. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), legislation passed in December 2017, made major changes to the way the U.S. taxes foreign activities. Significant new provisions include a dividends-received deduction for dividends from foreign subsidiaries and the addition of Global Intangible Low-Taxed... Income rules, which subject to current U.S. taxation certain foreign earnings that would have been deferred under previous law. The TCJA also modified the foreign tax credit rules, which allow U.S. taxpayers to offset their taxes by the amount of foreign income taxes paid or accrued, in several important ways to reflect the new international tax rules. These changes include repeal of rules for computing deemed-paid foreign tax credits on dividends on the basis of foreign subsidiaries’ cumulative pools of earnings and foreign taxes, and the addition of two separate foreign tax credit limitation categories for foreign branch income and amounts includible under the new Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income provisions. The TCJA also modified how taxable income is calculated for the foreign tax credit limitation by disregarding certain expenses related to income eligible for the dividends-received deduction and repealing the use of the fair market value method for allocating interest expense. The new foreign tax credit rules apply to 2018 and future years. Treasury and IRS welcome public comments on these proposed regulations. For details on submitting comments, see the proposed regulations.

What’s new with the child tax credit after tax reform Many people claim the child tax credit to help offset the cost of raising children. Tax reform legislation enacted last year made changes to that credit. Here are some important things for taxpayers to know about the changes to the credit. Credit amount. The new law increases the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000. Eligibility for the credit has not changed. As in past years, the credit applies if all of these apply...: o the child is younger than 17 at the end of the tax year, December 31, 2018 o the taxpayer claims the child as a dependent o the child lives with the taxpayer for at least six months of the year Credit refunds. The credit is refundable, now up to $1,400. If a taxpayer doesn’t owe any tax before claiming the credit, they will receive up to $1,400 as part of their refund. Earned income threshold. The income threshold to claim the credit has been lowered to $2,500 per family. This means a family must earn a minimum of $2,500 to claim the credit. Phaseout. The income threshold at which the child tax credit begins to phase out is increased to $200,000, or $400,000 if married filing jointly. This means that more families with children younger than 17 qualify for the larger credit. Dependents who can’t be claimed for the child tax credit may still qualify the taxpayer for the credit for other dependents. This is a non-refundable credit of up to $500 per qualifying person. These dependents may also be dependent children who are age 17 or older at the end of 2018. It also includes parents or other qualifying relatives supported by the taxpayer. See more

Tool on IRS.gov helps taxpayers research charities before making donations When people are done giving thanks at the dinner table, many start another kind of giving. The annual Giving Tuesday happens the week after Thanksgiving to kick off the season of charitable giving. This year, Giving Tuesday falls on Tuesday, November 27. Taxpayers may be able to deduct donations to tax-exempt organizations on their tax return. As people are deciding where to make their donations, the I...RS has a tool that may help. Tax Exempt Organization Search on IRS.gov is a tool that allows users to search for charities. It provides information about an organization’s federal tax status and filings. Here are four facts about the Tax Exempt Organization Search tool: Donors can use it to confirm an organization is tax exempt and eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. Users can find out if an organization had its tax-exempt status revoked. A common reason for revocation is when an organization does not file its Form 990-series return for three consecutive years. EO Select Check does not list certain organizations that may be eligible to receive tax-deductible donations, including churches, organizations in a group ruling, and governmental entities. Organizations are listed under the legal name or a doing business as name on file with the IRS. No separate listing of common or popular names is searchable. Taxpayers can also use the Interactive Tax Assistant, Can I Deduct my Charitable Contributions? to help determine if a charitable contribution is deductible. Taxpayers may also want to decide now if they’ll itemize their deductions when they file next year. Last year’s tax reform legislation made changes to the standard deductions and itemized deductions. Many individuals who formerly itemized may now find it more beneficial to take the standard deduction. So, taxpayers should check their 2017 itemized deductions to make sure they understand what these changes mean to their tax situation for 2018. More information about these changes is on IRS.gov/taxreform. See more

Businesses can take these steps after a disaster When disaster strikes, many business owners might find themselves needing to reconstruct records. This will help them prove a loss, which may be essential for tax purposes, getting federal assistance, or insurance reimbursement. Here are tips for businesses that need to reconstruct their records: To create a list of lost inventories, business owners can get copies of invoices from suppliers. Whenever possible, the invoices sh...ould date back at least one calendar year. For information about income, business owners can get copies of last year’s federal, state and local tax returns. These include sales tax reports, payroll tax returns, and business licenses from the city or county. These will reflect gross sales for a given period. Owners should check their mobile phone or other cameras for pictures and videos of their building, equipment and inventory. Business owners who don’t have photographs or videos can simply sketch an outline of the inside and outside of their location. For example, for the inside the building, they can draw out where equipment and inventory was located. For the outside of the building, they can map out the locations of items such as shrubs, parking, signs, and awnings. See more

Tax Reform changes depreciation limits on luxury automobiles The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changed depreciation limits for passenger vehicles placed in service after Dec. 31, 2017. If the taxpayer doesn’t claim bonus depreciation, the greatest allowable depreciation deduction is: $10,000 for the first year $16,000 for the second year $9,600 for the third year... $5,760 for each later taxable year in the recovery period If a taxpayer claims 100 percent bonus depreciation, the greatest allowable depreciation deduction is: $18,000 for the first year $16,000 for the second year $9,600 for the third year $5,760 for each later taxable year in the recovery period This change applies to property placed in service after Dec. 31, 2017. See more

New employer tax credit for paid family and medical leave available for 2018 and 2019 WASHINGTON Today the IRS announced that eligible employers who provide paid family and medical leave to their employees may qualify for a new business credit for tax years 2018 and 2019. In addition, eligible employers who set up qualifying paid family leave programs or amend existing programs by Dec. 31, 2018, will be eligible to claim the employer credit for paid family and medical leave..., retroactive to the beginning of the employer’s 2018 tax year, for qualifying leave already provided. In Notice 2018-71, posted today on IRS.gov, the IRS provided detailed guidance on the new credit in a question and answer format. The credit was enacted by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The notice released today clarifies how to calculate the credit including the application of special rules and limitations. Only paid family and medical leave provided to employees whose prior-year compensation was at or below a certain amount qualify for the credit. Generally, for tax year 2018, the employee’s 2017 compensation from the employer must have been $72,000 or less. Updates on the implementation of the TCJA can be found on the Tax Reform page of IRS.gov. See more

Here’s how tax reform changed accounting methods for small businesses The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act better known simply as tax reform allows more small business taxpayers to use the cash method of accounting. Tax reform now defines a small business taxpayer as a taxpayer that has average annual gross receipts of $25 million or less for the three prior tax years and is not a tax shelter. Here’s how last year’s legislation changed the rules for small business taxpayers. The law...: Expands the number of small business taxpayers eligible to use the cash method of accounting by increasing the average annual gross receipts threshold from $5 million to $25 million, indexed for inflation. Allows small business taxpayers with average annual gross receipts of $25 million or less for the three prior tax years to use the cash method of accounting. Exempts small business taxpayers from certain accounting rules for inventories, cost capitalization and long-term contracts. Allows more small business taxpayers to use the cash method of accounting for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2017. Revenue Procedure 2018-40 provides the procedures that a small business taxpayer may use to obtain automatic consent to change its methods of accounting to reflect these statutory changes. More information: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: A comparison for businesses See more

The IRS issued a new publication to help taxpayers learn about tax reform and how it affects their taxes. Taxpayers can access Publication 5307, Tax Reform Basics for Individuals and Families, on IRS.gov/getready. While last year’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes tax changes for both individuals and businesses, this publication is specifically geared to individual taxpayers. It breaks down the law in easy-to-understand language. The publication highlights the changes that taxp...ayers will see on their 2018 federal tax returns they file in 2019. This new publication provides important information about: Increasing the standard deduction Suspending personal exemptions Increasing the child tax credit Adding a new credit for other dependents Limiting or discontinuing certain deductions Taxpayers can also go to IRS.gov/getready to find other information about tax reform. This includes the steps taxpayers can take now to help make filing their taxes smoother next year. Following these steps will also help taxpayers avoid surprises when they file their returns. See more