Obscure and Overlooked Tax Deductions, Credits, and Benefits

As tax time approaches, here are some tax issues that taxpayers frequently overlook, ranging from obscure deductions to overlooked tax credits and benefits. Of course, not everything can be included since the tax law has grown significantly…

Beware: These Tax Return Red Flags Could Catch the Eye of the IRS

Tax time can be one of the most hated times of the year. Just preparing the forms is enough to be an irritant, and if you owe the government money there’s a good chance that you’re downright annoyed. But neither of those things compare to…

4 Questions Business Owners Should Consider During the 2020 Tax Season

As if 2020 wasn’t challenging enough, this season’s tax-filing is going to be even more complicated than usual. Though the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program were put into place to help small businesses, the old adage about “no…

IRS Offers New Identity Protection for Taxpayers

In the past, the IRS has assigned verification numbers to victims of identity theft to file their tax returns, if requested by the victimized individual. These numbers are referred to as identity protection (IP) PINs. The IP PIN is a six-digit…
Hand Drawing Money

How Biden’s Rescue Plan Might Impact Your Taxes

President Biden released his “American Rescue Plan” on January 14. It is a wish list of proposals he wants Congress to enact to address the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic crisis. While some of the proposals are intended to be…
Credit Score

5 Ways a Higher Credit Score Could Benefit You in 2021

Your credit score is one of those mysterious statistics that you hear people talk about, but don’t really pay much attention to until you actually need it. That’s when you find out that you’ve been creating a credit history for as long…
Capital Building

Congress Has Authorized a Second Round of PPP Loans

Congress passed, and President Trump signed, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. Included in its approximately 5,600 pages is a second draw of forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The first round allowed loans to businesses…
Charitable Giving

Charitable Contributions Deduction Liberalized for 2021

As a means to stimulate charitable contributions during the COVID crisis, Congress made two notable changes for 2020—one allowing taxpayers that don’t itemize their deductions an above-the-line deduction for cash contributions of up to $300…

2021 Standard Mileage Rates Announced

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), each year, computes standard mileage rates for the use of a vehicle for business, medical and moving purposes based on a number of factors, to determine the standard mileage rates for the following year. As…