Lige Financial Consulting

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service successfully opened the 2024 tax season today by accepting and processing federal individual tax returns as the agency continues focusing on expanding options to help taxpayers.

The IRS expects more than 146 million individual tax returns for 2023 to be filed this filing season, which has a deadline of April 15, 2024.

With the start of the 2024 filing season, the IRS will be extending hours of service in nearly 250 Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) across the country, providing additional help to people. The IRS will also be working to continue improvements on its phone service as well as expanding online tools. The Where’s My Refund? tool on IRS.gov will add more details for taxpayers checking on the status of their tax refund.

Building off the success of the 2023 tax season that saw significant improvements following passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the 2024 filing season will continue reflecting the focus on improving services to taxpayers.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2024-tax-filing-season-starts-as-irs-begins-accepting-tax-returns-today-taxpayer-help-expands-this-year-with-more-in-person-hours-better-service-improved-tools

Internal Revenue Service | An official website of the United States government Pay your taxes. Get your refund status. Find IRS forms and answers to tax questions. We help you understand and meet your federal tax responsibilities.

Directly from the IRS

Make sure you qualify to avoid delaying your refund.

For working people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, filing a tax return often carries an added bonus—getting an refund based on various tax benefits, especially the Earned Income Tax Credit or : www.irs.gov/eitc

For 2024, the credit is worth up to $7,830 (up from $7,430 for 2023) with three qualifying children, $6,960 (up from $6,604) with two qualifying children, $4,213 (up from $3,995) with one qualifying child, and $632 (up from $600) with no qualifying children.

Claiming the EITC requires that you have earned income (such as from wages, business income, investments, etc.). Additionally, your income cannot exceed the thresholds set for the 2024 tax year.

https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/how-much-is-the-child-tax-credit-for-2024 #:~:text=For%202024%2C%20the%20credit%20is,%24600)%20with%20no%20qualifying%20children.

Child Tax Credit: How Much Is It for 2024? The IRS has announced inflation-adjusted amounts for several family tax credits and deductions. Which will you qualify for in 2024? And how much are they worth?

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is within its right to access Coinbase user data, in a case which sought to block the tax agency on constitutional grounds.

Plaintiff James Harper filed suit in Aug. 2020 against the IRS, its then-commissioner Charles Rettig and 10 IRS agents. It alleged they had violated his rights to obtain trading records through what’s known as a “John Doe” summons.

John Doe summons — a common tactic used by multiple government agencies — essentially affords the legal right to request a third party hand over data belonging to an individual or group of individuals for tax evasion checks.

The US District Court of New Hampshire, citing a May Supreme Court ruling, said the agency’s powers afforded to it by Congress meant Harper was not entitled to protections or relief beyond existing “checks on the IRS’ powers,” according to court documents hosted by Law360.

Harper, who maintained his innocence, had previously attempted to argue that such a request for his internal Coinbase trading records violated his Fourth and Fifth amendment rights.

An early-era crypto trader and former in-house legal consultant for the Bitcoin Foundation, Harper filed an amicus brief in 2016, fighting against the agency’s initial request for Coinbase to hand over all user trading records.

Despite ignoring requests from the agency, Coinbase was reportedly forced to hand over some of its largest user’s information, including Harper’s, following a separate summons against the Delaware-registered exchange a year later.

IRS Can Access Coinbase User Trading Data, Court Rules A Coinbase user had attempted to argue the IRS violated his constitutional rights when it sought his trading data.

FILE YOUR TAXES OR FILE AN EXTENSION!

This is the final day of tax season 2023 for tax year 2022.

About Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return | Internal Revenue Service Form 4868 is used by individuals to apply for six (6) more months to file Form 1040, 1040NR, or 1040NR-EZ. A U.S. citizen or resident files this form to request an automatic extension of time to file a U.S. individual income tax return.

The SBA is lifting a 40-year moratorium that prevented the agency from bringing in new lenders to its flagship 7(a) and 504 loan programs. While the agency works with a number of banks, the SBA has constrained its lending network to just 14 non-bank small business lending companies since 1982. Read the full article below.

SBA Expands Its Lending Network to Spur Access to Capital for Underrepresented Founders The measure could draw in more financial technology companies and other alternative lenders.

AND JUST LIKE THAT TAX SEASON 2023 IS COMING TO AN END!!! If you need an extension you can click the link below to see which form you will need to file. Happy Humpday!

"Need more time to prepare your federal tax return? This page provides information on how to apply for an extension of time to file. Please be aware that:

An extension of time to file your return does not grant you any extension of time to pay your taxes.
You should estimate and pay any owed taxes by your regular deadline to help avoid possible penalties.
You must file your extension request no later than the regular due date of your return.
Taxpayers in certain disaster areas do not need to submit an extension electronically or on paper. Check to see if you qualify and the due date of your return."

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/extension-of-time-to-file-your-tax-return #:~:text=Individual%20tax%20filers%2C%20regardless%20of,15%20to%20file%20a%20return.

Extension of Time To File Your Tax Return | Internal Revenue Service How to get an extension of time to file your tax return.

Ends 4-18-2023 (Spoiler alert- there are lots of great information and tips in the article.)

IRS announces deadline for filing your return - Tax Payment Deadline IRS announces that the end of Tax Season is very near and that taxpayers should send in their tax returns before it ends

The shares aren’t trading anymore, so it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare to buy the shares if you don’t already own them to satisfy the contract. There aren’t a lot of people looking to buy the contracts right now given that the stocks are already on the operating room table and there’s not much, if any, downside left to capitalize on.

Robinhood isn’t the only exchange that isn’t following through, according to retail options traders. Fidelity, which didn’t immediately return requests for comment, has also taken a social-media beatdown for its failure to pay up. Unsurprisingly, given its history, Robinhood seems to be the punching bag of choice.

Robinhood Users Say The Trading App Won’t Cash In Their Profitable Bets Against Silicon Valley Bank They wagered correctly that the bank and others would collapse. Now they’re blowing up social media with complaints that they aren’t getting their money.

I understand what the IRS said, but it still doesn't make sense why those 4 specifically. The same word manipulation can be used by them on the other 17 states to force a federally taxable event on citizens that received a refund from those 17 states.

At the same time the responsibility to word it correctly falls on the states offering the deduction/credit.

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"Although the decision to tax these refunds is technically correct, Walczak questioned why the IRS insisted on the refund distinction “given their willingness to disregard rules in 17 other states,” he said.

Another issue is the agency’s lack of instruction for affected taxpayers who already submitted their tax return without reporting the state stimulus amount.

“Presumably,” Walczak said, “any affected taxpayers who have already filed and did not include their tax refunds as taxable income will be required to file an amended return.”

IRS singles out tax payments 4 states sent last year as taxable Most residents in states that distributed some kind of stimulus payments last year don’t have to report them on their federal returns — but there are exceptions.

https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free

Free File: Do your Federal Taxes for Free | Internal Revenue Service IRS Free File lets you prepare and file your federal income tax online for free. File at an IRS partner site with the IRS Free File Program or use Free File Fillable Forms. It's safe, easy and no cost to you.

As of January 1, 2023, the following updates will go into effect for the standard mileage rates for the 2023 tax season:

14 cents per mile driven for charities (unchanged from 2022)

65.5 cents per mile driven for businesses (up 3 cents from the second half of 2022)

22 cents per mile for medical or moving purposes for active-duty Armed Forces.
membershttps://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/irs-announces-standard-mileage-deductions-for-2023-tax-season-010323.html

IRS announces standard mileage deductions for 2023 tax season While many Americans are preparing to file their 2022 taxes, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is announcing new updates for 2023 taxes. The agency ha