There are a few situations in life that instantly give you that feeling of sickness in the pit of your stomach. For example, when you are driving down the road, not paying much attention, then out of nowhere those blue and red lights appear, or when you receive a letter in the mail from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Maybe the amount is accurate, inflated with interest and penalties but otherwise reflective of the amount that you owe. What are your options if your financ

Last week, the White House signaled that they intend to nominate Danny Werfel to become the new commissioner of the IRS. Mr. Werfel served under the Obama Administration as the acting commissioner from May 2013 to December 2013, after a scathing report by the Inspector General highlighting mismanagement and bias concerning non-profit organizations. In a statement released by the White House, they commended Mr. Werfel on being able to provide “immediate stability to the IRS,

Another week, more news about student debt cancellation. Last week a federal judge in Texas determined that the relief plan from President Biden was unlawful. U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, in a 26-page ruling, said the HEROES Act that was relied on for the relief plan did not authorize the nearly $400 billion student loan program. “The Program is thus an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power and must be vacated.” Mark Pittman wrote in his ruling. Fu

Say you just got your new Cricut and want to start making shirts, cups, etc., on it, and someone comes up and says, “Wow, I love your designs, you should totally sell these!” and so you start selling shirts for $10. Did you just become a business, or are you just doing something you enjoy? Well, that depends. The IRS classifies a hobby as, “any activity a person pursues because they enjoy it and with no intention of making a profit.” Factors to consider if their activity i

As we get closer to the end of the year, many people start looking for ways to minimize their tax liability. One popular way is by selling a stock or security that may have lost value. That in and of itself is a perfectly fine way to harvest losses on that stock or security. But what if you want that stock in your portfolio long-term because you believe in the company? You can just buy it back the day after selling it right because you took a loss on it right? No, that i

President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget includes several tax law changes. These changes include an increase in both personal and corporate tax rates. Increase In the Corporate Income Tax Rate · Current Law o Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the graduated tax schedule was replaced with a flat tax. o Most corporate income was taxed at a marginal and average rate of 35 percent. o After the TCJA, that tax was reduced to 21 percent for all C corporations. ·

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet this week, and the most likely thing to come from that meeting is the announcement of another interest rate hike. This year, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates during its five previous meetings beginning in March of 2022. Below is a table showing the meeting date, rate change, and target interest range. As you can see, the last three meetings have resulted in rate hikes of 75 basis points. Many economists predict another