Once again, the most popular names for babies born in the United States are Liam and Olivia—2024 marks the sixth consecutive year both names topped the lists. The second most popular names, Emma and Noah, also didn’t budge. The rankings are measured by the Social Security Administration (SSA) data based on applications for Social Security cards. According to agency data, Social Security numbers were recorded for 3,612,777 new babies, with male births (1,845,330) edging out female births (1,767,447) in 2024. That reflects an increase over 2023, which recorded 3,595,309 new babies. It reverses—just slightly—a trend of fewer births in the…

It is reported that Trump seeks to pay for his proposed tax cuts by increasing the top tax rate on individuals from 37% to 39.6%. This article provides an overview of his proposal as well as 3 important considerations for this 2.6% tax rate increase on the top income individuals. Overview The current top tax rate for individuals is 37%. In 2025, this tax rate applies to single individuals with income over $626,350 and married individuals with income over $751,600. While cutting taxes has been a long-standing part of Trump’s platform, his recent social media post on Truth Social suggests…

Recent academic research explores a United Kingdom reform mandating large companies to disclose reports on tax strategy. The study finds that while the mandate leads to more disclosure, it does not increase overall tax transparency. It concludes that the enhanced tax disclosure requirements may not positively affect tax disclosures as intended. Beginning in 2025, Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2023-09, titled Income Taxes Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, will radically change the information public companies must publicly disclose in their financial statements. The main provisions in this standard update require affected companies to provide more detailed income tax rate reconciliations, disclose…

Forbes compared more than 950 locales in America on everything from housing costs and taxes to healthcare, air quality, crime and climate change and natural hazard risk. These are the top 25 cities for retirees. After years spent enduring high taxes and four-hour-long round-trip commutes to his job in Los Angeles as an insurance adjuster for large commercial claims, Andy Costa wanted to escape in retirement from the costs and hectic pace of Southern California. And like many folks contemplating retirement, Andy and his wife, Doreen, a retired middle school teacher, also wanted to be near family. So last year,…

While the House Ways and Means Committee has indicated reviewing President Trump’s massive tax package on Tuesday next week, there has been further information released regarding how the bill could address the ability to exclude overtime wages, the expansion of the state and local tax deduction limitation, and the elimination of personal electric vehicle credits. Overtime Wages On May 6th, Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced Overtime Wages Tax Relief Act (S. 1606) as the first framework publicly provided on how President Trump’s campaign promise of not taxing overtime wages would be applied. Based on the proposal, if an individual qualifies,…

On May 1, President Donald Trump signed an executive order cutting federal funding for NPR and PBS. The order specifically directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to “cease direct funding to NPR and PBS,” which the President says is consistent with his administration’s policy “to ensure that Federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage.” In addition, the President has directed the CPB Board to decline to provide future funding and to “cease indirect funding to NPR and PBS, including by ensuring that licensees and permittees of public radio and television stations, as well as any other…

Many foreign persons are employed in America and are given stock options as an incentive by the companies for which they work. When a foreign national works in the U.S. and is granted stock options, the taxation of these options can become complex, especially if the individual later leaves the U.S. and becomes a nonresident alien for tax purposes. This article examines how the U.S. taxes foreign individuals on stock options received for work carried out in America and the tax issues they face after leaving the U.S. and becoming NRAs. Grant of The Stock Option, Usually No Immediate Tax…

In this episode of Tax Notes Talk, Professors Joshua Blank and Leigh Osofsky, authors of Automated Agencies: The Transformation of Government Guidance, discuss the IRS and other federal agencies’ use of artificial intelligence and chatbots in providing legal guidance to the public. Tax Notes Talk is a podcast produced by Tax Notes. This transcript has been edited for clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today International. This week: I, taxbot. As automation and artificial intelligence become ubiquitous, U.S. government agencies like the IRS have been incorporating automated tools into…

In February 2025, the Internal Revenue Service had approximately 103,000 employees. By March, more than 11,400 of those workers had received termination notices as probationary employees or voluntarily resigned under the so-called “Fork in the Road” or Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). That’s 11% of the workforce, with more cuts on the way. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for significant reductions in the size and scope of the federal government workforce. But the tax agency has been a particular target. As part of the early IRS cuts, 7,315 probationary employees received…

Removing The Tax On Sex Abuse Victims Survivors of sexual abuse have long faced an unjust burden: taxation of their financial recoveries. Bipartisan legislation was recently introduced to change that. Representatives Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) introduced the Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act, which would exempt from tax most financial recoveries for sexual assault and sexual abuse. The House GOP is in the midst of proposing a sweeping tax and spending package, with significant haggling to be had. Narrow policy changes may make it in, but the priority seems to be the extension of soon-to-expire provisions from the…