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Tax Tip Tuesday: Coupling Federal Tax Law Updates

Tax Tip Tuesday: Coupling Federal Tax Law Updates

The Iowa Legislature's decision on whether or not to couple federal tax law changes will have a major impact on many people's tax returns this year. Here's a previous Tax Tip Tuesday blog on this issue. And this has left many Iowans wondering if they should wait to file. Unfortunately, at this time, there has not been any conclusion to this issue. The good news is that the Senate and governor are now willing to discuss how to pass this for 2015 tax returns. The bad news is t

Tax Tip Tuesday: Should You Wait to File?

Tax Tip Tuesday: Should You Wait to File?

You may want to wait to file your tax return. In the January 19th Tax Tip Tuesday, I indicated that the 2016 tax season was now open. That was correct for federal returns. Unfortunately, as we noted in last week’s edition, some state returns are still in limbo of when they should be filed. Because the Iowa Legislature has not passed the bill that couples the Iowa tax law with the federal tax code, it might be wise to wait to file for any return that contains any of the item

Tax Tip Tuesday: A Crucial Time

Tax Tip Tuesday: A Crucial Time

As you open this email, you are probably saying to yourself, wait a minute, it’s not Tuesday! You are correct, but the content this week is very time sensitive so we are here early. The first item today is the Iowa Caucus tonight. We have a great opportunity to influence who will be on the ballot for president this November. There are many different approaches to tax policy from the various candidates so this is going to be very important. Please be sure to participate to

Special Edition Tax Tip Tuesday: Extenders Tax Law to Pass

Special Edition Tax Tip Tuesday: Extenders Tax Law to Pass

Today’s special edition will address the tax package that the House passed yesterday, the Senate is expected to pass today, and the president has indicated he will sign. In the recently passed “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015” Congress has once again dealt with the expired or expiring provisions commonly known as “extenders”. These are the 50 or so temporary tax provisions that are routinely extended by Congress on a one or two year basis and have been

Tax Tip Tuesday: Tax Extenders Bill Update

Tax Tip Tuesday: Tax Extenders Bill Update

Today we will discuss the status of the annual tax extenders bill. Once again, Congress needs to pass legislation to extend over 50 different items that expired at the end of 2014. Unless Congress acts, taxpayers will be unable to use these provisions on their 2015 returns. Historically, they have extended these items for one or two years at a time. They are trying to make some of the provisions permanent, but have not had any success yet. The Senate plans to adjourn for Chr

Tax Tip Tuesday: De Minimis Business Expenses

Tax Tip Tuesday: De Minimis Business Expenses

Congress has yet to pass the extenders legislation so we still do not know if bonus depreciation or section 179 will go above its current limit of $25,000 for 2015. However the IRS released a notice last week that does offer some relief in this area going forward. As an alternative to the general capitalization rule, the final regulations permits businesses to elect to expense their outlays for “de minimis” business expenses. The IRS has announced an increase, from $500 to $2

Tax Tip Tuesday: Current Status of the Tax Extender Legislation

Tax Tip Tuesday: Current Status of the Tax Extender Legislation

Today we will revisit an important topic that affects many of our clients — the current status of the tax extender legislation. Unfortunately, it is still in limbo. The New Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady was called on by major industry groups to address tax extenders less than a day after he won the position, which was recently vacated by new House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-W). This year, like last, these temporary tax provisions have been expired for almost a year.

Tax Tip Tuesday: Extender Tax Bills

Tax Tip Tuesday: Extender Tax Bills

We have been keeping you updated on the status of the extenders bill, which Congress has yet to pass. But as a start, at least the Ways & Means Committee has approved some tax bills. On September 17, the Ways & Means Committee approved the following tax-related bills: H.R. 2940: the “Educator Tax Relief Act of 2015” — would make the above-the-line deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers permanent and annually adjust the $250 amount for infl

Tax Tip Tuesday: Tax Law Update

Tax Tip Tuesday: Tax Law Update

On July 21, the Senate Finance Committee approved the extenders bill. This bill includes the extension of 52 tax provisions that usually get extended each year. It includes reinstating the section 179 expense amount back to $500,000 and also includes the 50% bonus depreciation. Will this bill become law? The answer is maybe. And while we don’t know when this could happen, the good news is Congress is working on this extenders bill early in the year. Tax Tip Tuesday will be

Start of 2015 Filing Season

Start of 2015 Filing Season

The IRS announced that it anticipates opening the 2015 filing season in January as scheduled. This follows the late passage of the extenders legislation.The IRS will begin accepting tax returns electronically on January 20th. Paper tax returns will begin processing at the same time. The decision follows Congress renewing a number of "extender" provisions of the tax law that expired at the end of 2013. These provisions were renewed by Congress through the end of 2014. The fina

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