We are now in the thick of the Atlantic hurricane season, something many of us in Texas have to be concerned about, particularly if we own property along the Gulf. Of course, summer also frequently brings severe thunderstorms to our state, complete with damaging hail, straight-line winds, tornadoes and devastating […]
Category: Audits
In many cases, if someone is told that they will be audited, it can lead to a lot of stress. Not only was the whole process of filing taxes stressful and tedious, but now you have to go through all of the numbers again and be able to prove that they […]
The Earned Income Tax Credit, known as the EITC, is an important tax benefit for working taxpayers with low or moderate income levels. But complicated rules, regarding income limits and in many cases, qualifying children, must be closely followed. Because the EITC has a direct impact on the amount of […]
The IRS announced on Monday that it had started accepting and processing returns. You are probably starting to get appointments from early filer – refund clients. Preparing tax returns with Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refunds comes with delays this year. The IRS has taken a multi prong approach to […]
The earned income tax credit (EITC) is supposed to help people with low income, especially those with children, by providing a refundable tax credit. In recent years, however, the IRS has stepped up audits of returns that claim the EITC, after critics contended that the credit was awarded too freely. […]
Audits by the taxman are scary things. No Texas business or resident likes the idea of facing off with the IRS. However, what readers may be surprised to learn is that the IRS doesn’t much care for audits, either. Its own studies reveal that audits are time consuming for the agency […]
“Follow the money” is a well-worn cliché of political life. Of course, tax collection isn’t supposed to be political. But is the IRS evenhanded when it comes to deciding which tax returns get audited? In this post, we will explore that question. Recent data from the IRS itself suggests that […]
David Bowie’s recent death has revived interest in his work, including the classic song “Changes.” “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes / (Turn and face the strange),” the Thin White Duke crooned in 1971. He wasn’t singing about tax law, but U.S. taxpayers certainly face plenty of tax law changes every year. In this post, […]
In the first part of this post, we noted the function of the W-2 form for reporting income from wages. With tax filing season now underway, now is the time to look for this form from your employer, if you have employee status. If you do not have employee status, […]
It is of course important to keep good records for tax compliance purposes. But what kinds of records should you keep and for how long? In this post, we will provide some basic answers to these questions. Last spring, we discussed the time limits that apply to tax audits. As […]