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04/12/2023

PLEASE NOTE: THE FOLLOWING DEADLINE FOR TAX FORMS, PAYMENTS, AND EXTENSIONS IS DUE ON OR BEFORE APRIL 18, 2023.

04/05/2023

For most Americans, the deadline to file federal tax returns is Tuesday, April 18, 2023. That's because April 15 is on a Saturday and the next weekday, April 17, is recognized as Emancipation Day in Washington, DC.5 days ago

01/24/2022

New Exclusion of up to $10,200 of Unemployment Compensation

If your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is less than $150,000, the American Rescue Plan enacted on March 11, 2021, excludes from income up to $10,200 of unemployment compensation paid in 2020, which means you don’t have to pay tax on unemployment compensation of up to $10,200. If you are married, each spouse receiving unemployment compensation doesn’t have to pay tax on unemployment compensation of up to $10,200. Amounts over $10,200 for each individual are still taxable. If your modified AGI is $150,000 or more, you can’t exclude any unemployment compensation. If you file Form 1040-NR, you can’t exclude any unemployment compensation for your spouse.

The exclusion should be reported separately from your unemployment compensation. See the updated instructions and the Unemployment Compensation Exclusion Worksheet to figure your exclusion and the amount to enter on Schedule 1, line 8.

When figuring the following deductions or exclusions from income, if you are asked to enter an amount from Schedule 1, line 7 enter the total amount of unemployment compensation reported on line 7 (unreduced by any exclusion amount) and if you are asked to enter an amount from Schedule 1, line 8, enter the amount from line 3 of the Unemployment Compensation Exclusion Worksheet. See the specific form or instructions for more information. If you file Form 1040-NR, you aren’t eligible for all of these deductions. See the Instructions for Form 1040-NR for details.

06/01/2021

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced today that the first monthly payment of the expanded and newly-advanceable Child Tax Credit (CTC) from the American Rescue Plan will be made on July 15. Roughly 39 million households — covering 88% of children in the United States — are slated to begin receiving monthly payments without any further action required.

IRS and Treasury also announced the increased CTC payments will be made on the 15th of each month unless the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday. Families who receive the credit by direct deposit can plan their budgets around receipt of the benefit. Eligible families will receive a payment of up to $300 per month for each child under age 6 and up to $250 per month for each child age 6 and above.

The American Rescue Plan increased the maximum Child Tax Credit in 2021 to $3,600 for children under the age of 6 and to $3,000 per child for children between ages 6 and 17. The American Rescue Plan is projected to lift more than five million children out of poverty this year, cutting child poverty by more than half.

Households covering more than 65 million children will receive the monthly CTC payments through direct deposit, paper check, or debit cards, and IRS and Treasury are committed to maximizing the use of direct deposit to ensure fast and secure delivery. While most taxpayers will not be required to take any action to receive their payments, Treasury and the IRS will continue outreach efforts with partner organizations over the coming months to make more families aware of their eligibility.

Today's announcement represents the latest collaboration between the IRS and Bureau of the Fiscal Service—and between Treasury and the White House American Rescue Plan Implementation Team—to ensure help quickly reaches Americans in need as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 12, the IRS has also distributed approximately 165 million Economic Impact Payments with a value of approximately $388 billion as a part of the American Rescue Plan.

Additional information for taxpayers on how they can access the Child Tax Credit will be available soon at IRS.gov/childtaxcredit2021.

Information for taxpayers who may receive advance Child Tax Credit payments in 2021.

04/10/2021

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien, the rules for filing income, estate, and gift tax returns and paying estimated tax are generally the same whether you are in the United States or abroad. Your worldwide income is subject to U.S. income tax, regardless of where you reside.

When to File
If you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien residing overseas, or are in the military on duty outside the U.S., on the regular due date of your return, you are allowed an automatic 2-month extension to file your return without requesting an extension. For a calendar year return, the automatic 2-month extension is to June 15. Note that you must pay any tax due by April 15 or interest will be charged starting from April 15.

03/30/2021

IR-2021-70, March 30, 2021

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service issued frequently asked questions today on how students and higher education institutions should report pandemic-related emergency financial aid grants.

Students
Emergency financial aid grants made by a federal agency, state, Indian tribe, higher education institution or scholarship-granting organization (including a tribal organization) to a student because of an event related to the COVID-19 pandemic are not included in the student's gross income.

Also, students should not reduce an amount of qualified tuition and related expenses by the amount of an emergency financial aid grant. If students used any portion of the grants to pay for qualified tuition and related expenses on or before December 31, 2020, they may be eligible to claim a tuition and fees deduction or the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit on their 2020 tax return. See Higher Education Emergency Grants Frequently Asked Questions.

The tuition and fees deduction is not available for tax years beginning after December 31, 2020. For additional information on these credits and the tuition and fees deduction, see Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education.

Higher Education Institutions
Because students don't include emergency financial aid grants in their gross income, higher education institutions are not required to file or furnish Forms 1099-MISC reporting the grants made available by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) or the COVID-related Tax Relief Act (COVID Relief Act) and do not need to report the grants in Box 5 of Form 1098-T.

But any amounts that qualify for the tuition and fees deduction or the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit are considered "qualified tuition and related expenses" and trigger the reporting requirements of Internal Revenue Code section 6050S. Higher education institutions must include qualified tuition and related expenses paid by emergency financial aid grants awarded to students in Box 1 of Form 1098-T.

03/19/2021

f your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is less than $150,000 (regardless of filing status), the new law excludes from income up to $10,200 of unemployment compensation paid in 2020, which means you don’t have to pay tax on unemployment compensation of up to $10,200.

If you are married, each spouse receiving unemployment compensation doesn’t have to pay tax on unemployment compensation of up to $10,200. Amounts over $10,200 for each individual are still taxable. If your modified AGI is $150,000 or more, you cannot exclude any unemployment compensation. The exclusion should be reported separately from your unemployment compensation.

For taxpayers that have not yet filed their 2020 tax return, our software has been updated to reflect the changes to the Form 1040, Schedule 1 - Additional Income and Adjustments to Income and you may file your 2020 tax return (software version 2021.25 required).

For those who received unemployment benefits last year and have already filed their 2020 tax return, the IRS emphasizes they should not file an amended return at this time, until the IRS issues additional guidance.

03/13/2021

payments worth $1,400 per person will be distributed over the coming weeks, with the vast majority zapped out by direct deposit.
The IRS will also begin sending paper checks and prepaid debt cards by the end of this month to those for whom it does not have banking information on file.

Eligibility will generally be based on what people report in their 2020 tax returns, if those have already been processed by the IRS. If not, the agency will look to people’s 2019 return or, for nonfilers, to information they’ve previously provided the department to receive earlier rounds of stimulus checks.

Beginning Monday, people can check the status of their payments on the IRS’s Web site, using the “Get My Payment” tool.

03/12/2021

IR-2021-54, March 12, 2021

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the third round of Economic Impact Payments will begin reaching Americans over the next week.

Following approval of the American Rescue Plan Act, the first batch of payments will be sent by direct deposit, which some recipients will start receiving as early as this weekend, and with more receiving this coming week.

Additional batches of payments will be sent in the coming weeks by direct deposit and through the mail as a check or debit card. The vast majority of these payments will be by direct deposit.

No action is needed by most taxpayers; the payments will be automatic and, in many cases, similar to how people received the first and second round of Economic Impact Payments in 2020. People can check the Get My Payment tool on IRS.gov on Monday to see the payment status of the third stimulus payment.

"Even though the tax season is in full swing, IRS employees again worked around the clock to quickly deliver help to millions of Americans struggling to cope with this historic pandemic," said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "The payments will be delivered automatically to taxpayers even as the IRS continues delivering regular tax refunds. We urge people to visit IRS.gov for the latest details on the stimulus payments, other new tax law provisions and tax season updates."