IR-2018-191, Sept. 24, 2018

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.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Rep. Stephen
Fincher, R-Tenn., on September 3 announced their intention to introduce
legislation following Congress’s return to session on September 9 requiring the
federal government to notify taxpayers whenever the IRS has accessed their tax
returns or other information. Read the rest of this entry »

By Blake Ellis | CNNMoney.com

More than three months after rushing to file their taxes early, some filers still haven’t received refunds from the IRS.

Taxpayers claiming education credits on Form 8863 encountered their first delay when the IRS said it wouldn’t be able to start processing the forms until mid-February because it needed to update its systems. Then, on March 12, the IRS said several tax software providers erroneously filed more than 600,000 returns containing the 8863 form –resulting in delays of up to six weeks from the date they were filed. Read the rest of this entry »

By Kay Bell | Bankrate.com

The goal of every taxpayer is to make sure the Internal Revenue Service gets as little as possible. For that to happen, you need to take every tax deduction, credit or other income adjustment you can.

Here are 10 tax breaks — some for itemizers only, others that any filer can claim — that often get overlooked but could save you some tax dollars.

1. Additional charitable gifts

Everyone remembers to count the monetary gifts they make to their favorite charities. But expenses incurred while doing charitable work often aren’t counted on tax returns. Read the rest of this entry »

By Rachel Louise Ensign | The Wall Street Journal

What’s a more valuable tax deduction, a deadbeat boyfriend or a vicious guard dog? It depends on how big a deadbeat the boyfriend is.

No, this isn’t a bad joke.

It’s among the things taxpayers ask each year as they try to squeeze out whatever deductions they can. Read the rest of this entry »

By Sharon Epperson | CNBC

If you’re an early bird, you’ll be able to start filing your federal income in less than a week – and you’ll want to make sure you can claim all of the tax breaks you deserve.

Read the rest of this entry »

By The Associated Press

Key numbers to know when filing your 2012 tax returns, according to the Internal Revenue Service:

PERSONAL EXEMPTION:

—Each personal or dependent exemption is worth $3,800. Read the rest of this entry »

By Derek Thompson | The Atlantic

No, the U.S. is not a high-tax country. But saying exactly how not-high-tax we are gets a little tricky.

The graph at the top of this article comes from a KPMG report excavated by Henry Blodget. It shows personal tax rates on $100,000 around the world. The U.S. comes in at 55th out of 114. Read the rest of this entry »

By Serena Ng | The Wall Street Journal

American workers are opening their first paychecks of the year and finding an unpleasant surprise: The government’s take has gone up.

A temporary cut in Social Security withholdings gave Americans hundreds of extra dollars to spend over the past
two years. But Congress allowed that break to expire during the wrangling over the fiscal cliff, meaning that Social Security taxes have reverted to 6.2% of
salary from the temporary 4.2%. Read the rest of this entry »

By Laura Saunders
| The Wall Street Journal

The annual scramble to make smart tax moves before Dec. 31 is proving especially vexing this year.

Congress still hasn’t settled 2013 tax rates on income, investments, large gifts and estates. Deductions and other
breaks are also in doubt, now that politicians from both parties are calling
for cutbacks—although in different ways. Read the rest of this entry »