Tax news and information - Journal of Accountancy

TOPICS

August 1, 2021

Dependent care assistance unused balances are excluded from income

Pandemic relief for 2021 also includes a temporary increase in the exclusion amount.

August 1, 2021

Articles on risk assessment and home office deduction win JofA awards

Two articles received the JofA’s Lawler Award for the best articles of 2020.

July 27, 2021

COBRA premium assistance credit clarified further

The IRS has supplemented its guidance on COBRA premium payment assistance and the corresponding business tax credit under the American Rescue Plan Act.

July 20, 2021

IRS launches ‘Tax Pro Account’ feature

A new online portal automates the submission of powers of attorney and tax information authorizations, and there are plans to expand its functionality over time.

July 8, 2021

Why single-audit demand is rising; an update on tax preparer legislation

A CPA shares advice for organizations and practitioners on single audits and why more expertise is needed, and an AICPA vice president explains the reasons behind the organization’s support of a bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives.

July 1, 2021

Line items

COVID-19 sick and family leave credits may be claimed for vaccination paid time off … IRS extends e-signature authorization for 6 months … Receipt of bitcoin cash as a result of a hard fork is gross income to taxpayer

July 1, 2021

Last of the ‘Dirty Dozen’: Schemes peddled by tax promoters

The IRS warns taxpayers of unscrupulous tax promoters in the fourth installment of its annual list of common tax scams.

July 1, 2021

Accounting as a STEM career; more on ‘Dirty Dozen’ tax scams

Hear why the AICPA is backing proposed legislation that would categorize accounting as a STEM career; also, get the scoop on the “Dirty Dozen” tax scams.

July 1, 2021

Farm businesses receive guidance on tax treatment of losses

The IRS in Rev. Proc. 2021-14 specifies procedures regarding limitation and carryback of net operating losses from farming in light of CARES Act provisions.

July 1, 2021

Bank information can now be updated on child tax credit portal

The IRS announced that is has added a new feature to its Child Tax Credit Update Portal to allow individuals to enter bank information so they can receive advance child tax credit payments by direct deposit.

July 1, 2021

Tax deductions prevent discharge of school debt

The debtor’s argument that a loan wasn’t shown to have been used solely to pay higher education expenses is unavailing.

July 1, 2021

2021 child tax credit, EITC, and premium tax credit limits updated

ARPA temporary measures are quantified in a revenue procedure.

July 1, 2021

When is food and drink ‘provided by a restaurant’?

The IRS explains which meals qualify for a temporary 100% expense deduction.

July 1, 2021

Certified professional employer organizations: The first four years

Learn about the important role some CPAs play in the success of the IRS’s certified professional employer organizations program.

July 1, 2021

Safe harbor for deducting PPP loan expenses

Congress clarified that business expenses resulting in loan forgiveness are deductible, but some taxpayers had followed earlier, contrary IRS guidance.

June 30, 2021

Proposed bill to regulate tax preparers has AICPA support

A bill recently proposed in Congress would authorize Treasury to regulate paid tax return preparers, and the AICPA strongly supports it.

June 30, 2021

More ‘Dirty Dozen’: Fake charities, ‘ghost’ preparers, and other ploys

The IRS warns of tax-related scams in a third of four installments.

June 29, 2021

Next batch of ‘Dirty Dozen’ warns of personal info scams

In the second installment of this year’s “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams, the IRS warns taxpayers to be vigilant for fraudulent schemes in the form of emails, text or social media messages, and phone calls.

June 28, 2021

Supreme Court declines to take up remote worker taxation case

The US Supreme Court declined to allow New Hampshire to sue Massachusetts over a pandemic-related regulation that allows Massachusetts to continue to collect state income tax from remote workers who normally work in Massachusetts.

June 28, 2021

IRS warns of pandemic-related tax scams in ‘Dirty Dozen’ for 2021

Hijacking of economic impact payments and unemployment checks are spotlighted in the IRS’s annual alert, which warns taxpayers of the most prevalent scams and schemes the Service has identified.

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Build reusable Skills in Anthropic’s Claude AI

Instead of rewriting prompts each time, CPAs can turn routine tasks into reusable AI Skills. This Technology Q&A walks through how to build Claude Skills that process files, ask setup questions, and export clean Excel outputs.