In her introductory remarks to her Annual Report to Congress, Erin Collins, the National Taxpayer Advocate, touted IRS successes following the pandemic, suggesting that the most recent filing season was the “smoothest yet.” For most Americans, she notes, the annual filing season is the only time they interact with the IRS—that makes it imperative for the IRS to get it right. Collins says that IRS employees did get it right this year, collecting approximately $5 trillion in revenue, processing around 180 million income tax returns, and over five billion information forms. Most taxpayers filed their returns, paid their taxes, or…

President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly considering an executive order to open the $9 trillion U.S. retirement market to private equity and alternative investments, a transformative shift for 401(k) plans. This directive would task the Department of Labor, Treasury, and Securities and Exchange Commission with exploring ways to integrate private funds into retirement plans, as reported by Pensions & Investments, benefiting firms like Blackstone and Apollo Global Management. Empower, the nation’s second-largest retirement plan provider, has already partnered with Apollo, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs, Neuberger Berman, PIMCO, Partners Group and Sagard to offer private market investments via collective investment trusts.…