Robin Ardinger CPA

08/24/2026

TIGTA did a review of the IRS's compliance with the rules related to seizing taxpayers' property. It's concerning to me that the report says that the IRS employees ". . . generally complied with applicable laws, regulations and procedures. However . . ."
TIGTA found issues where the IRS had to give $377,000 back to taxpayers. Imagine what occurred between the time the IRS seized the property and when the taxpayers got it back! Don't mess with the IRS. That said, there are MANY notices before the IRS does this, so OPEN your MAIL, and be sure the IRS has your current address!! 🤓

08/13/2026

TIGTA - Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is the oversight for the IRS. "Federal agencies are required BY LAW to develop a plan to achieve a drug-free workforce." TIGTA received 78 allegations of illegal drug issues, opened investigations into 22 of those and referred 11 employees to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for PROSECUTION. DOJ declined. HHHHmmmmm. I wonder if any of those alleged drug-users were the ones who programmed the IRS computers to send out notices???? 🤔🤓

07/30/2026

TIGTA - Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration - is the oversight for the IRS. For Fiscal Year 2025, TIGTA found that the IRS did not meet the goal of keeping improper payments to less than 10% for four types of highly-scrutinized payments: the Additional Child Tax Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit (tuition), the Earned Income Tax Credit (low-income), and the Net Premium Tax Credit (health insurance). The IRS's overall improper payment rate is up to 26.5%. What does this mean for law-abiding taxpayers? YOUR refunds may be delayed for the IRS to verify your refund correctness. Once again, the law-breakers are making life more difficult for the honest taxpayers. 🤓
How do they come up with these "estimates" if they are not actually catching these overpayments? 🤔😕 Interesting!
FYI: Estimated improper refunds = $28.1 BILLION!

07/22/2026

OH - IRS, You've done it again! MID-YEAR CHANGE!! 🥳
Internal Revenue Bulletin #2026-29 issued July 13, 2026 announced a change effective July 1, 2026, in the Standard Mileage Rate:
76 cents per BUSINESS mile July - Dec. 2026 (Jan - June = 72.5)
23.5 cents per MEDICAL or moving mile July - Dec 2026 (Jan - June = 20.5)
Charitable 14 cents per mile is "permanent" in the Code and doesn't change. 🤓

07/22/2026

Are you thinking about retiring to another state? Kiplinger has this handy-dandy summary of how each state taxes retirement income. Know how to plan for a change in income tax if you're budgeting the retirement income!

Find out how income taxes in retirement stack up in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

07/12/2026

Taxes. Taxes. Taxes.
It seems that the ones that apply TO someone are the ones that are too high, and the ones that apply to someone ELSE aren't high enough. 🤓

07/01/2026

IRS Revenue Procedure 2026-25 addressed the IRS's concerns that they might get millions of Gift Tax Returns filed (without tax revenue coming in with those returns). Since the beneficiary of those accounts can't get the money out until the year in which they turn 18, it is a gift of a future interest, which would not normally be eligible for the $19,000 annual gift limit (2026), therefore requiring the filing of a gift tax return. BUT, no gift tax is actually DUE until you give away more than $15 million. That's during lifetime AND at death, so annual gifts over $19,000 would whittle away that $15 million.
(Luckily, I am not in danger of ultimately giving more than $15 million away during my lifetime OR at my death!😁)

Here's what I found interesting . . . this is entirely to keep the IRS workload down, because if you do NOT fall under the $19,000 for all gifts, you must report ALL the gifts, and the Trump account contributions must be reported as a gift of a future interest for ALL recipients, which would therefore reduce the $15 million give-away limit. So, if you make the IRS work, you have to reduce it, but if the IRS doesn't have to look at anything, there's no reduction to the $15 million under this new Rev. Proc.!

Remember that this $15 million was in danger of being reduced to a few million under prior proposals. When I began working in tax, the limit was only $650,000 before incurring Estate/Gift Tax. But then, that WAS a long time ago . . . when $650,000 was A LOT of money!! 🤓

06/16/2026

To homeowners: If/when your property is reassessed, take a look at the report as soon as you get it. DON'T wait until your tax bill arrives in another year. If all the information is accurate, there's nothing you need to do. If you have a question of whether or not a small discrepancy matters (for example: is a slab porch assessed differently that a wood deck?), contact the Property Assessment Office. There is most likely contact information on the notice you received. Be informed.🤓

06/11/2026

The IRS website is hiccupping!! If you are trying to Make a Payment and the web-site tells you your name doesn't match their records, take a break. Walk away. Try again later. We don't know WHY this is happening, but it seems to work eventually. Trying to figure out what is wrong with the site is useless. . . they seem to be testing our sanity and patience levels. 🤓

06/10/2026

Your 2nd quarter estimated tax payments are due June 15. It is best to make these payments online. The federal may be paid at irs.gov/payments. (Some state and local governments have different due dates.)

IF you're in Pennsylvania, you may make your payments online at MyPath.pa.gov. When you get to the end of the process, there is a feedback option. PLEASE give PA one star (zero is not an option) and tell them the confirmation should state your name, the bank and last 4 digits of your account, as well as the date the payment is scheduled to be paid. That information is woefully missing! It IS available through other procedures, but it should be in the confirmation (as it is on the IRS site AND other states' sites). The PA Dept. of Revenue agents have told tax professionals that they DO take that feedback into consideration when they update the program.

Also remember that if you are mailing a check, it is deemed paid on the date the IRS RECEIVES it, NOT the postmark, unless it is hand stamped or sent by certified mail.
Be careful out there!!🤓

Make payments, view your account or apply for a payment plan with the IRS.