Americans continue to lose money from fraud at alarming rates. According to a recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report, they reported losing more than $12.5 billion from fraud in 2025 (an increase of 25% from the prior year). The actual losses are almost certainly much higher. In addition to the loss itself, Americans suffer from confusion concerning whether they may claim deductions as a result of the fraud. Indeed, there are a multitude of complex tax issues that arise from theft losses, such as timing and the limitations imposed on these losses after passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs…

Many of the tax cuts in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 are set to expire this year. If you’re a parent, you may be wondering what the Child Tax Credit (CTC) looks like for 2025. As lawmakers wrestle with tax policy, the CTC sits at a crossroads—caught between the TCJA, stalled efforts for reform in 2024, and a political landscape with an uncertain appetite for extension. The 2025 Status Quo For tax year 2025, the CTC remains unchanged from its TCJA-enhanced version. That means parents can still claim $2,000 per qualifying child under age 17, enjoy…

Ah, tax season. The annual ritual of number crunching, receipt hoarding, and caffeine-fueled panic as the April deadline creeps closer. If the thought of filing your taxes on time makes you break out in hives, don’t worry—you’ve got an escape route. For many, the dread of tax season is often amplified by the looming deadline, adding extra stress. For those in need, Form 4868 is the unsung hero of spring, granting you an automatic six-month extension to file your tax return. But before you pop the champagne and push your filing worries to October, let’s unpack what the Form 4868…

For retirement savers, particularly those over 50, you should evaluate ways to reach the 2025 Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA Contribution Limits. As you may know Roth accounts provide tax-free growth and withdrawals in retirement. However, income limits may prevent some high earners from contributing directly. In 2025, contribution limits have increased, and retirement savers have multiple ways to optimize their savings—including leveraging pre-tax 401(k) contributions to reduce taxable income or maximizing a Designated Roth Account (aka Roth 401(k) ) to maximize their tax-free retirement accounts. This article explores how high income savers can leverage a 401(k) and possibly a…

In this episode of Tax Notes Talk, Melissa Wiley of Kostelanetz LLP provides an update on the Corporate Transparency Act’s legal status after Treasury announced it would not enforce penalties against domestic companies. 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: off again. The Corporate Transparency Act was scheduled to go into effect on January 1 of this year, before it was sidelined by constitutional challenges. Now, the CTA is facing…

IRS data from the sixth week of the tax filing season—the week ending March 7, 2025—continues to suggest a sluggish tax season. Numbers for tax filing and processing of tax returns dipped again, a trend that hasn’t changed since the season opened on January 27, 2025. Filing and Processing Dips Early filing data reflects a continued downturn in tax returns received compared to the prior year. The IRS received 62,761,000 individual income tax returns as of March 7, 2025, compared to 61,429,000 as of March 8, 2024. That’s a drop of 2.1 % fewer returns and part of a bigger…

Tax Day is just around the corner—and statistics suggest that taxpayers are not excited about filing their tax returns this tax filing season. While some taxpayers may be waiting until the last minute to file (no judgment), others may not be ready. Tax preparers on social media have noted that some Forms 1099 appear to be delayed, while others suggest that taxpayers simply aren’t ready to file. If you’re one of the millions of taxpayers who still needs to file—but you don’t feel ready to file, there’s no need to panic. Simply file for an extension. It’s free and easy—and…

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 made sweeping changes throughout the tax code, but many provisions were temporary and are set to expire at the end of 2025. The Trump administration has been on a desperate hunt for cuts to fund an extension, which raises the question: what’s worth risking the continued operation of the government to preserve? What Isn’t Expiring? It is worth noting, right off the bat, that the TCJA was only a temporary tax cut for provisions that benefited individuals and families—corporate tax cuts were permanent right from the start. Prior to the TCJA,…

The Trump administration’s latest tax policy quasi-proposal, announced by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in an interview with CBS News, is for the elimination of taxes for folks making less than $150,000 per year. Trump’s previous major tax initiative, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and provided rate reductions across the board, but a closer examination reveals who really won with the new policy: corporations and the wealthy. High-income earners benefited massively, with the top 1% seeing a 2.2% increase in after-tax income, while all other taxpayers got some…

For cybercriminals, tax season means open season. And in 2025, they’ve upgraded their playbook. AI-generated phishing emails. Deepfake IRS agents. Voice-cloned tax professionals threatening you with arrest. What used to be laughably obvious scams are now chillingly realistic. If you’re still expecting scams to come in broken English from a sketchy Gmail address, you’re behind the times. According to IRS statistics, more than $37 billion in tax and financial crimes were identified in fiscal year 2023. And that’s just what they caught. Behind those numbers is a growing wave of fraud that’s smarter, faster and ruthlessly effective. Cybercriminals are tapping…