The federal Saver’s Credit program was created by Congress in 2001 in an effort to encourage low- and moderate-income workers to save for retirement. It provided a tax credit (a dollar-for-dollar reduction of the income tax owed) worth up to 50 percent of the first $2,000 of voluntary retirement contributions made during the tax year.…
Among other things, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) passed by Congress in July 2025 changed the rules relating to deducting gambling losses on individual tax returns. The new law’s provisions became effective on January 1, 2026, so we wanted to let you know what the changes are. Let’s talk about what gambling income…
When you hire someone to do work in your home, they may be considered a household employee, and you might have some tax withholding responsibility when you pay them. You may have heard of this tax referred to as the “nanny tax.” These taxes are actually employment taxes and include social security, Medicare, and sometimes…
Do you have a child under the age of 18? They most likely have a Trump Account now, whether or not you signed them up for one. The US Department of Treasury recently began automatically enrolling eligible children in the program rather than waiting for parents or guardians to apply. Even though your child may…
If you are an employee, you know that various taxes are withheld from your paychecks. While you generally can’t change the amount of social security and Medicare taxes withheld, you can change the withholding amounts of federal and state income tax. In fact, the IRS encourages taxpayers to review their income tax withholding at least…
At R&A CPAs, we often find ourselves counselling individuals or businesses that are overwhelmed by large tax liabilities or mired in IRS bureaucracy. Like you, we see ads promising amazing “pennies on the dollar” settlement deals with the IRS touted by “professionals,” backed up by dramatic testimonials of success. These settlements refer to the IRS’s…
The IRS’s Automatic Exemption from Penalty (AEP) program simplifies tax relief by automatically waiving failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, and failure-to-deposit penalties for compliant taxpayers. Replacing the manual First Time Abate process, the automated system evaluates eligibility during return processing—waiving penalties for individuals and businesses with three years of clean compliance history—without requiring formal requests or phone calls.
A break for many who have been hit by high gas prices: The IRS has quietly announced a revision to the optional standard mileage rates for computing the allowable deductible costs of operating an automobile. Click through to see what has changed—and what hasn’t.
Poor recordkeeping can create costs that include problems with tax compliance, reporting, and planning—among others. Click for details and avoid these errors.
To close loopholes, Congress added Section 170(f)(8)(A) to the Internal Revenue Code to create strict substantiation rules for charitable contribution deductions. Click through for the specifics, so you don’t get caught without proper substantiation for your charitable donations.