The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, enacted December 27, 2020, made several changes to employee retention tax credits. These tax credits were previously made available under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The most notable change was the modification of the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). Several of the changes apply only to 2021, while others apply to both 2020 and 2021. As such, employers can take advantage of the newly-extended...
Posts by Caras & Shulman
What’s New for 2020 Tax Returns
What to be Aware of for your Tax Returns As always, taxpayers should be aware of several key items involving credits, deductions, and refunds when filing their tax returns. Let's take a look: 1. Recovery Rebate Credit/Economic Impact Payment. In January, the Treasury Department and the IRS began sending the second round of Economic Impact Payments (EIP2) to millions of Americans as part of the implementation of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. As with the...
Tax Filing Season Starts February 12
Although tax season usually starts in late January, this year, the tax filing season is delayed until February 12, 2021. The delayed start date for individual tax return filers allowed the IRS time to do additional programming and testing of IRS systems following the December 27, 2020, tax law changes that provided a second round of Economic Impact Payments and other benefits to many taxpayers. This programming work is critical to ensuring IRS systems run smoothly to minimize refund delays and...
Integra International Audit & Accounting Alert – January 2021 (Issue 1)
AT-A-GLANCE For the past quarter century, every two years the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) has issued a comprehensive analysis of the impact of financial fraud. However, with the rise of the coronavirus pandemic this past year, the ACFE has supplemented the biennial report with quarterly updates assessing specifically the impact of COVID-19 on fraud within organizations. This issue of the Audit & Accounting Alert summarizes the latest findings. Our Worldwide Update is...
Tax Tips for January 2021
Click on the links below to jump to each section in this article: Standard Mileage Rates for 2021 Understanding the Excise Tax Protecting Business Taxpayers From Identity Theft Employee Business Expense Deductions: Who Qualifies? Standard Mileage Rates for 2021 Starting January 1, 2021, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car, van, pickup, or panel truck are as follows: 56 cents per mile driven for business use, down 1.5 cents from the rate for 2020 16 cents per mile driven for...
The COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020
What You Need to Know About the COVID Tax Relief Act of 2020 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, H.R. 133 included funding for the government, extensions for expiring tax extenders, tax relief under the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020, and many more items. Passed by both the House and Senate, it was signed into law by President Trump on December 27, 2020. Let's take a look at a few of the highlights related to pandemic taxpayer relief under the COVID-Related Tax Relief Act of 2020:...
Credit Reports: What You Should Know
Creditors keep their evaluation standards secret, making it difficult to know just how to improve your credit rating. Nonetheless, it is still important to understand the factors that determine creditworthiness. Periodically reviewing your credit report can also help you protect your credit rating from fraud - and you from identity theft. Credit Evaluation Factors Many factors are used in determining credit decisions. Here are some of them: Payment history/late payments Bankruptcy Charge-offs...
Identity Protection PIN Available To All Taxpayers
What You Need to Know Starting in January 2021, the IRS Identity Protection PIN Opt-In Program will be expanded to all taxpayers who can properly verify their identity. Previously, IP PINs were only available to identity theft victims. What is an Identity Protection PIN? An identity protection personal identification number (IP PIN) is a six-digit number assigned to eligible taxpayers to help prevent their Social Security number from being used to file fraudulent federal income tax returns....
Important Tax Changes for Individuals and Businesses
What You Need to Know About Changes to Your Taxes in 2021 Every year, it's a sure bet that there will be changes to current tax law and this year is no different. From standard deductions to health savings accounts and tax rate schedules, here's a checklist of tax changes to help you plan the year ahead. Individuals In 2021, a number of tax provisions are affected by inflation adjustments, including Health Savings Accounts, retirement contribution limits, and the foreign earned income...
Applying for Tax-Exempt Status as a Nonprofit
What You Should Know When Starting a Nonprofit Organization If you're thinking of starting a nonprofit organization, there are a few things you should know before you get started. First, is understanding how nonprofits work under state and federal law. For example, two things you should understand is that state law governs nonprofit status. Nonprofit status is determined by an organization's articles of incorporation or trust documents while federal law governs tax-exempt status (i.e.,...