If you’re a Minnesota snowbird, you may have been watching Hurricane Dorian with special attention. Was your second home or vacation property damaged? Or, you may have a farm or agricultural property that was damaged in the spring flooding. Either way, you might have a casualty loss deduction to claim on your federal tax return.continue reading…
IRS
Got an unsolicited email claiming to be from the IRS? It’s not.
The IRS doesn’t send unsolicited emails at all, and it certainly doesn’t email taxpayers about the status of their refunds. That’s the first thing you need to know if you receive an email that looks like it came from the IRS. The agency and its Security Summit partners just announced a new email phishing scamcontinue reading…
Burned by failing to withhold enough? IRS announces new estimator
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changed a number of things, eliminating many traditional tax exemptions and raising the standard deduction so that itemizing was much less common. As a result, the IRS recommended that people reconsider their 2018 tax withholdings and offered an online calculator to help. That calculator, however, was difficult tocontinue reading…
IRS issues draft updates to Form 1040, Form 1040-SR, schedules
The proposed updates for the 2019 tax returns have been released, including a new Form 1040-SR for seniors. The new form for seniors was required by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. The new 1040-SR will look visually different from past forms. The font size is larger and it is designed with high contrast in mind,continue reading…
Need to pay estimated taxes? A couple of tips
The middle of July is a good time to talk about paying your quarterly estimated taxes because the need to file is not imminent. Estimated taxes are required for many people who own small businesses or are self-employed, including those working as independent contractors for an established company. They also may be required for peoplecontinue reading…