The Internal Revenue Service has been turning up its scrutiny on cryptocurrency investors in recent years, and as that happens, more investors have been turning to the tax code’s rules on investment l...
Tag: Finance/Treasury Department
U.S. Treasury says currency-market intervention should be reserved for ‘very exceptional circumstances’ in response to Japan’s September move
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday said it expects currency-market interventions, like Japan’s in September, should be reserved for exceptional circumstances, as it kept Tokyo on a list of partn...
IRS releases new federal tax brackets and standard deductions. Here’s how they affect your family’s tax bill.
America’s high inflation rate will produce a 7% increase in the size of the standard deduction when workers file their taxes on their 2023 income, according to new inflation adjustments from the Inter...
Do you have problems with the IRS — or does the IRS have a problem with you? Read this before you act.
How do you deal with a problem like the Internal Revenue Service? And how do you deal with your own tax problems as they pertain to the IRS? To be clear, I’m not talking about major problems like righ...
IRS sets new 401(k) limits — investors can save a lot more money in 2023
People can contribute up to $22,500 in 401(k) accounts and $6,500 in IRAs in 2023, the IRS said Friday. For 401(k)s, that’s an almost 10% increase from 2022’s contribution limit of $20,500. For IRAs, ...
That Sky-High I Bond Interest Rate Will Be Coming Down to Earth
Inflation-adjusted Series I savings bonds have been the most enticing place to park your cash this year—nearly 10% interest, backed by the U.S. government, the safest investment around. In a few weeks...
Citigroup Joins Industry Effort to Lend to People Without Credit Scores
Citigroup is joining a government-sponsored effort to expand access to credit in underserved communities. The bank is launching two pilot programs early next year under the Office of the Comptroller o...
Compounding a disastrous year for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency: IRS proposes controversial new question about digital assets
The Internal Revenue Service could have a potential head-scratcher of a question about your crypto investments and what’s taxable, according to a major accountants’ association. For two years, the IRS...
IRS Says It Exposed Some Confidential Taxpayer Data on Website
WASHINGTON—The Internal Revenue Service inadvertently posted what is normally confidential information involving about 120,000 individuals before discovering the error and removing the data from its w...
What $80 Billion More for the IRS Means for Your Taxes
The last Tax Report came out just as Congress took up the Inflation Reduction Act, and it discussed the bill’s $80 billion in proposed new Internal Revenue Service funding. Over half the new dollars w...
Yellen tells IRS to develop modernization plan in 6 months
Now that President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ expansive climate, tax and health care bill into law, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has directed the IRS to develop a plan within six months outli...
More IRS Audits Are on the Way for Taxpayers. How to Respond if You’re Targeted.
Taxpayers, be forewarned. A new era of IRS scrutiny is looming. The Internal Revenue Service is due to receive an infusion of $80 billion over 10 years under the Inflation Reduction Act—the tax, clima...
Inflation Reduction Act would send $80 billion to the IRS. Tax experts say it may not be enough to help the backlogged agency.
For roughly a year, Jonathan Baer watched a paper folder full of tax-related paperwork slowly grow as he chronicled his effort to claim his 2020 tax refund. The attempts included upwards of 40 phone c...
Got Hidden Income? The IRS May Get More Money to Find You
If Congress passes the Inflation Reduction Act, Americans should expect more IRS audits—especially on filers making more than $400,000 a year. The surprise agreement between Sens. Chuck Schumer (D., N...
IRS Changes Guidelines for Inherited IRAs, Causing Confusion and Pushback
Figuring out the most efficient way to navigate the tax impact of inheriting individual retirement accounts has become more complicated since the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed new rules in ...
IRS, Lawmakers Seek Review of Comey, McCabe Audits
WASHINGTON—The Internal Revenue Service and members of Congress have asked the agency’s inspector general to investigate the circumstances surrounding intensive audits of James Comey and Andrew McCabe...
The IRS audited ex-FBI director James Comey and former deputy Andrew McCabe. What are the odds?
In recent years, the Internal Revenue Service has been processing around 150 million to over 160 million tax returns annually, doing the work with a shrinking staff and an inflation-adjusted budget th...
Treasury Secretary Yellen Says She Was Wrong About Inflation
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday her inflation projections were wrong in statements she made last year as consumer prices began a surge to their highest level in decades. “I think I was wr...
Proposed IRS Rule Could Penalize Some Heirs of Retirement Accounts
Proposed new regulations from the Internal Revenue Service for inherited retirement accounts would require many heirs to make minimum annual withdrawals from the accounts—leaving less room for the sav...
‘The issues with the IRS are still present and very real’: Millions of Americans are racing to file their tax returns, and filing extensions
Tax Day came and went earlier this week, so if your upcoming weekend plans are just chilling after the last-minute tax time bustle, you might have company. April 18 marked the deadline in most states ...
Warren Tells IRS to Focus Audits on the Rich, Not Low-Income Taxpayers
Lawmakers are calling on the IRS to stop disproportionately auditing low-income taxpayers, who they say are far more likely than other taxpayers to face IRS scrutiny, with audit rates for poorer filer...
You Made $700 From an Online Side Hustle. Now the IRS Will Know.
Now that your 2021 taxes are done—or at least under way—it’s time to focus on a key tax change for 2022 affecting millions of Americans making money through platforms like eBay , Etsy , Airbnb , Venmo...
Recession is `the most likely’ outcome for U.S. economy, says Larry Summers
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, whose out-of-consensus views about the risks of persistent inflation have come true, is reiterating his concerns about a potential U.S. downturn: He now says a...
The Safe Investment That Will Soon Yield Almost 10%
There’s no such thing as a free lunch in finance. Except maybe this: The interest rate on inflation-adjusted U.S. savings bonds will approach 10% beginning in May. U.S. Treasury Series I Bonds, or I B...
Why Russia Doesn’t Want to Default—Even in a Time of War
Behind the fight over whether Russia should be allowed to pay off its debts is an age-old issue: Borrowers, even in times of war, want to keep their reputations for making investors whole. The U.S. Tr...
Worried About Getting Audited? Here Are Red Flags for the IRS.
Even though the Internal Revenue Service is auditing fewer taxpayers these days, you still don’t want to put a target on your back. Among those more likely to get audited: Small-business owners with l...
IRS to activate second ‘surge’ team to handle millions of backlogged tax returns
Two weeks ago, the Internal Revenue Service said it was reassigning 1,200 staffers as a “surge team” of reinforcements tasked with cutting into a backlog that included millions of unprocessed returns ...
U.S. Treasury sweetens the pot on I-bonds by adding a fixed rate
After record-breaking sales of I-bonds in October, the U.S. Treasury is dangling another good deal in front of savers for the next six months. Starting Nov. 2, when I-bonds will be available again af...