A taxpayer’s filing status for the year is based upon his or her marital status at the close of the tax year. Thus, if you get married on the last day of the tax year, you are treated as married for the entire year. The options for married couples are to file jointly or separately. Both statuses can result in surprises – some pleasant and some unpleasant – for individuals who previously filed as unmarried.

Individuals filing jointly must combine their incomes, and if both spouses are working, combining income can trigger a number of unpleasant surprises, as many tax benefits are eliminated or reduced for higher-income taxpayers. The following are some of the more frequently encountered issues created by higher incomes:

• Being pushed into a higher tax bracket
• Causing capital gains to be taxed at higher rates
• Reducing the child care credit
• Limiting the deductible IRA amount
• Triggering a tax on net investment income that only applies to higher-income taxpayers
• Causing Social Security income to be taxed
• Reducing the Earned Income Tax Credit
• Reducing or eliminating medical deductions

Filing separately generally will not alleviate the aforementioned issues because the tax code includes provisions to prevent married taxpayers from circumventing the loss of tax benefits that apply to jointly filing higher-income taxpayers by filing separately.

On the other hand, if only one spouse has income, filing jointly will generally result in a lower tax because of the lower joint tax brackets and a higher standard deduction, double the amount for single individuals ($24,400 for 2019), if the couple does not itemize deductions. In addition, some of the higher-income limitations that might have applied to an unmarried individual with the same amount of income may be reduced or eliminated on a joint return.

Filing as married but separate will generally result in a higher combined income tax for married taxpayers. For instance, if a couple files separately, the tax code requires both to itemize their deductions if either does so, meaning that if one itemizes, the other cannot take the standard deduction. Another example relates to how a married couple’s Social Security (SS) benefits are taxed: on a joint return, none of the SS income is taxed until half of the SS benefits plus other income exceeds $32,000. On a married-but-separate return, and where the spouses have lived together at any time during the year, the taxable threshold is reduced to zero.

Aside from the amount of tax, another consideration that married couples need to be aware of when deciding on their filing status is that when married taxpayers file jointly, they become jointly and individually responsible (often referred to as “jointly and severally liable”) for the tax and interest or penalty due on their returns. This is true even if they later divorce. When using the married-but-separate filing status, each spouse is only responsible for his or her own tax liability.

Once a couple files as married filing jointly they cannot undo that. However, if they file separately, they can later amend that filing status to married filing jointly.

Once the knot is tied, the Social Security Administration should be notified of any name changes, and if they’ve moved, the IRS needs to be notified of the couple’s new address.

If either or both of the newlyweds purchased their health insurance through a government marketplace, the marketplace should be advised of the couple’s marriage so that any advance premium tax credit (APTC) being applied to pay the insurance premiums can be adjusted when necessary. Doing so could prevent having to repay some or all of the APTC when filing their federal return(s) for the year of the marriage.

Of course the couple needs to notify their employers of their new marital status so any affected benefits can be updated. Usually new W-4 forms should be prepared and given to their employers so income tax withholding can be revised for the new filing status.

Other issues that may come into play and should be considered are:

• If one of the spouses has an outstanding liability with the IRS or state taxing authority, that situation could jeopardize any future refund on a jointly filed return.
• It may be appropriate not to commingle income from assets a spouse wants to maintain as separate property or where the spouses want to name separate beneficiaries.
• Individuals marrying later in life may wish to keep their incomes separate or only pay the tax on their own income.

If you have questions or would like an appointment to evaluate the impact of marriage on your tax liability before saying “I do,” please give us a call.

The Treasury Department and the IRS have essentially shot down efforts by several states to help their residents circumvent the $10,000 cap on the itemized deduction for state and local taxes (SALT).

When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), aka tax reform, was passed, it imposed a $10,000 limit on the SALT deduction; this limitation had a greater impact on the residents of states that imposed the highest taxes on their residents. As it turns out, the states with the highest taxes – income or property taxes, or a combination of the two – are all blue (Democratic) states; thus, many saw it as political retribution, causing some state leaders to seek a workaround.

Ultimately, several affected states, including New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, came up with similar schemes to skirt the $10,000 limitation. Here is how their workarounds were supposed to have worked.

1. Federal tax law names state and local governments as qualified charities, thus allowing gifts to them to be deducted as a charitable itemized deduction.
2. The states created charitable funds; in turn, a contributor to the fund would receive tax credits.
3. The tax credits could then be used against contributors’ SALT liabilities on their state income tax returns or, in some cases, property tax bills. Effectively, taxpayers would get a charitable deduction for their tax payments.

However, the fly in the- ointment for these arrangements has turned out to be a 1986 Supreme Court ruling that says that if the taxpayer receives something in return (referred to as “quid pro quo” in legalese) for a contribution, the deductible portion of the contribution is reduced by the fair market value (FMV) of what is received in return for making the contribution.

This concept has been applied uniformly to all charitable contributions since the Supreme Court ruling, which is why many written substantiations from charities will include the FMV of items provided to the donor in return for the donor’s charitable contribution.

As a result, when the final tax regulations for the SALT limitation were issued, they followed the Supreme Court ruling and treated the tax credits provided in return for the contribution as “quid pro quo” and not allowable to deduct as a charitable contribution.

Since the states only allowed tax credits for a portion of the contribution, typically 85% to 90%, the portion not allowed as a tax credit on the state return can be deducted as a charitable contribution on the taxpayer’s federal return.

Fortunately for taxpayers, in the preamble to the final regulations, the Treasury indicated its concern that the regulations could create unfair consequences for individuals who had made a charitable contribution in return for tax credits. Consequently, simultaneously with releasing the final regulations, the IRS published Notice 2019-12 saying it intends to publish a proposed regulation to provide a safe harbor for certain individuals who make a charitable contribution in return for tax credits. Under the safe harbor, an individual may treat the portion of a state or local tax payment that is or will be disallowed as “quid pro quo” contributions. To qualify for the safe harbor, taxpayers must itemize deductions for federal tax purposes, and their total state and local tax liability for the year must be less than $10,000. Until the proposed regulations are issued, taxpayers may rely on Notice 2019-12. The following examples are based on those in Notice 2019-12.

If you have questions related to this issue or about the $10,000 limit on SALT deductions, please give us a call at 562-404-7996.

On June 5, 2019, The IRS released and article urging taxpayers to be on the lookout for a spring surge of evolving phishing emails and telephone scams.

The IRS is seeing signs of two new variations of tax-related scams. One involves Social Security numbers related to tax issues and another threatens people with a tax bill from a fictional government agency. Here are some details:

• The SSN hustle. The latest twist includes scammers claiming to be able to suspend or cancel the victim’s Social Security number. In this variation, the Social Security cancellation threat scam is similar to and often associated with the IRS impersonation scam. It is yet another attempt by con artists to frighten people into returning ‘robocall’ voicemails. Scammers may mention overdue taxes in addition to threatening to cancel the person’s SSN.
• Fake tax agency. This scheme involves the mailing of a letter threatening an IRS lien or levy. The lien or levy is based on bogus delinquent taxes owed to a non-existent agency, “Bureau of Tax Enforcement.” There is no such agency. The lien notification scam also likely references the IRS to confuse potential victims into thinking the letter is from a legitimate organization.
  Both display classic signs of being scams. The IRS and its Security Summit partners – the state tax agencies and the tax industry – remind everyone to stay alert to scams that use the IRS or reference taxes, especially in late spring and early summer as tax bills and refunds arrive.

As a reminder the IRS will never:

Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. The IRS does not use these methods for tax payments. Generally, the IRS will first mail a bill to any taxpayer who owes taxes. All tax payments should only be made payable to the U.S. Treasury and checks should never be made payable to third parties.
Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have the taxpayer arrested for not paying.
Demand that taxes be paid without giving the taxpayer the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.
Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
Report the caller ID and/or callback number to the IRS by sending it to [email protected] (Subject: IRS Phone Scam)

Every year, the IRS, starved of funds after years of budget cuts, loses hundreds more agents to retirement. And every year, the news gets better for the rich — especially those prone to go bold on their taxes. According to data released by the IRS last week, millionaires in 2018 were about 80% less likely to be audited than they were in 2011.

But poor taxpayers continue to bear the brunt of the IRS’ remaining force. As we reported last year, Americans who receive the earned income tax credit, one of the country’s largest anti-poverty programs, are audited at a higher rate than all but the richest taxpayers. The new data shows that the trend has only grown stronger.

Audits of the rich continue to plunge while those of the poor hold steady, and the two audit rates are converging. Last year, the top 1% of taxpayers by income were audited at a rate of 1.56%. EITC recipients, who typically have annual income under $20,000, were audited at 1.41%.

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The IRS issued a statement confirming that “the Treasury Department and the IRS will incorporate important changes into a new version of the Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, for 2020.”

Here’s what the draft form W-4 for 2020 looks like:

You can see a full-sized version on the IRS website here (downloads as a PDF).

The new draft reflects changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). In addition to the new tax rates, the TJCA made significant changes to itemized deductions normally claimed on a Schedule A and eliminated personal exemptions. As a result, current withholding schemes were not adequate for all taxpayers, causing the General Accounting Office (GAO) to warn taxpayers that unless they adjusted their withholding, they would owe taxes.

The concern eventually resulted in an announcement from the IRS that penalty relief might be available. In March of 2019, the IRS expanded the relief for those taxpayers making payments of at least 80% of the tax shown on the return for the 2018 taxable year. (You can find more from Ashlea Ebeling here.) Despite the penalty relief, concerns about withholding remained. That’s why the form W-4 revisions remained a priority.

Read more about this article HERE. 

Generally speaking, tax return mistakes are a lot more common than you probably realize. Taxes are naturally complicated, and the paperwork required to file them properly is often convoluted. This is especially true if you’re filing your taxes yourself — and all of this is in reference to a fairly normal year as far as the IRS is concerned.

The 2018 tax year, however, certainly does not qualify as a “normal year.”

With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, even seasoned financial professionals are having a hard time digesting all of the changes that they and their clients are now dealing with. All of this is to say that if you’ve just discovered that you’ve made a BIG mistake on your tax return this year, the first thing you should do is stop and take a deep breath. It happens. It’s understandable. There ARE steps that you can take to correct the situation quickly — you just have to keep a few key things in mind.

Fixing Tax Return Mistakes: Here’s What You Need to Do

All told, you have three years from the date that you originally filed your tax return (or two years from the date you paid the tax bill in question) to make any corrections necessary to fix your mistakes. If nothing about your return ultimately changes, you probably don’t have anything to worry about — in fact, there’s a good chance that the IRS will catch the mistake and fix it themselves. This is especially true in terms of math errors, or if you’ve left out an important document. The IRS will probably send you a letter letting you know what happened and what you need to do to correct it.

If fixing the mistake ultimately results in you owing more taxes, you should pay that difference as quickly as possible. Penalties and interest will keep accruing on that unpaid portion of your bill for as long as it takes for you to pay it, so it’s in your best interest to take care of this as soon as you can afford to do so.

If you’ve made a much larger mistake (like if you understated or overstated your income, for example), you’ll need to file what is called an amended tax return. This is essentially your “second chance” at getting things right, and the timetable above still applies. Understand, however, that ALL errors must be corrected in the amended return. This means that if you find three errors that will reduce your tax liability and two that actually increase it, you are legally required to correct all five. You can’t correct only the mistakes that benefit you.

An amended return can be used to correct a variety of issues, including but not limited to ones like:

• Overstating or understating your income
• Changing an incorrect filing status
• Accounting for dependents
• Taking care of discrepancies in terms of deductions or tax credits

If any of the above apply to the error you’ve just discovered, you can — and absolutely should — file an amended return.

A sudden increase in your tax liability notwithstanding, it’s again important to understand that even “major” errors on your income taxes aren’t really worth stressing out about. The IRS understands that sometimes mistakes happen, and they have a variety of processes in place designed to help make things right.

This does, however, underline how valuable it can be to partner with the right financial professional to do your taxes next year. You’ve got a career and a life to lead — you’re probably not going to be up to date on every small change that rolls out in the tax code. A financial professional will, as it is literally their job to do so.

If nothing else, this will help generate some much-needed peace-of-mind regarding the accuracy of your return. You won’t have to worry about whether or not the IRS is going to find some big mistake down the road because you’ve dramatically reduced the chances of those mistakes happening in the first place.

If you’re reading this, the chances are high that you’re one of the many, many people who have received a notice from the Internal Revenue Service. Some level of correspondence with the IRS is natural ‒ particularly leading up to and in the immediate aftermath of tax season. But if you’ve received notification that the government is about to file a tax lien or tax levy against you, suddenly you’re talking about an entirely different ballgame.

But the most important thing you can do at this point is stay calm. Yes, both of these notices mean that your financial situation has just gotten significantly more complicated. But you do have rights in each scenario that you would do well to protect at all costs.

What Is an IRS Tax Lien?

An IRS tax lien is a very specific type of claim that the government (in this case, the Internal Revenue Service) makes on your property. That property can include but is not limited to real estate and other types of assets. Typically, this is something that occurs when you’re past due on your income taxes and you’ve failed to make proper arrangements to get yourself back up to date again.

A tax lien can affect you in a number of different ways, all of which are less than ideal. Even though tax liens no longer appear on your credit report, your credit rating will still suffer ‒ thus harming your ability to get a loan or secure new credit for your business. Tax liens also usually appear during title searches, which can impact your ability to sell your house or refinance the mortgage you already have.

What Is an IRS Tax Levy?

A tax lien is essentially the first part in a two-step process. That second step takes the form of a tax levy, which involves the actual seizure of the property in question in an effort to pay the tax money you owe. Via a tax levy, the IRS can do everything from garnish your wages, seize assets like real estate or even take control of your bank accounts to get their money.

At the very least, you’re likely to go through wage garnishment ‒ meaning that you’ll be taking home far less money at the end of the week in your paycheck. A 21-day hold might be placed on your bank account in an effort to encourage you to “work things out,” and if you don’t, they may even try to seize your home as a last resort.

Luckily, there are a few things that the IRS CAN’T seize even by way of a tax levy. These include things like unemployment benefits, certain pension benefits, disability payments, workers’ compensation and others.

What Can I Do About Them?

Thankfully, even in the unfortunate event of a lien or levy, you do still have some options available to you.

More than anything, if you CAN pay your tax bill, you SHOULD pay your tax bill. If necessary, get on an IRS payment plan to help you get back up to date. Yes, your past due balance will continue to accrue both interest and penalties until you’ve paid it off. But the choice between paying interest and losing your house isn’t really a choice at all.

It’s also important for you to actively work to protect your rights if you feel it necessary to do so. After receiving either a lien or a levy notice, you can always file an appeal with the IRS Office of Appeals if you feel you’re being treated unfairly. It is within your right to ask for a conference with the IRS agent’s manager so that your case can be reviewed by a fresh set of eyes. If nothing else, this is a great way to make sure that your side of the story is known.

You can also apply for a Withdrawal of the Notice of Federal Tax Lien, which will remove the public notice of a tax lien filing. If the IRS has notified you that any of your property is about to be seized, you can file something called a Certificate of Discharge. This will remove the property in question from the effects of the tax lien, allowing you to sell something like your home (or another asset) without worrying.

All of this can be confusing and stressful. Working with a seasoned tax professional can take negotiating with the IRS off your hands.

Avoid these mistakes so you don’t end up owing the IRS more than the minimum you’re required to pay.

Taxes are very complicated — and unfortunately the stakes are high when you’re submitting info to the IRS. If you make an error, you could end up being audited and potentially owing penalties for back taxes. Or you could find yourself paying more than you actually should given your situation.

You don’t want to be out any more money than necessary when dealing with the IRS, so it’s a good idea to be aware of some common errors. By avoiding these three big tax mistakes, hopefully you can keep more of your hard-earned money instead of sending extra to the tax man.

1.  Choosing the wrong filing status 
2.  Not claiming all your deductions and credits 
3.  Paying for filing late 

Don’t make these tax mistakes

Now you know a few key errors you should avoid unless you want to end up increasing your tax bill. By learning as much as you can about income taxes, you can make smart choices to ensure the IRS is happy while the maximum amount of money is left in your wallet.

Read more about these tax mistakes HERE.