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Non-Stimulus Tax Rules You’ll Need This Year

Non-Stimulus Tax Rules You’ll Need This Year

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In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the IRS is taking some important measures but taxpayers could be under threat.

The United States Internal Revenue Service delayed tax day this year from April 15 to July 15, and perhaps that means many Americans aren’t thinking about taxes during this very strange time. Indeed, they seem understandably focused on the variety of new government programs that comprise part of the CARES Act, enacted to try to boost the slumped economy and put some needed dollars in people’s hands.

Related: IRS Delays Tax Day to July 15, Still Monitors Crypto

The CARES Act includes provisions for checks for consumers and benefits for businesses, with several types of loans, tax credits and other relief designed to help keep the economy alive and keep shuttered businesses from going under. Amid all the chaos and concern, it can be easy to lose sight of some basic tax rules.

But once we all start to look beyond the confines of remote work and have to start thinking about tax filings again, it is worth remembering these tax fundamentals, as they will be relevant again this year.

Whenever you start to think about taxes this year, whether for yourself or your business, these key tax rules could put dollars in your pocket and ease your interactions with the IRS.

First, remember that crypto transactions trigger income, and the IRS has made a point of pushing its enforcement efforts. It is getting harder and harder to claim ignorance, too. A new IRS question appears at the top of Schedule 1 to your 2019 Form 1040. It asks if you received, sold, sent, exchanged or otherwise acquired any financial interest in any virtual currency at any time during the year.

It is not asking for numbers or detail, although if you sold some, it should go elsewhere on your tax return. Since the IRS classifies crypto as property, any sale should produce gain or loss. Many other transfers do too, so when the IRS asks about cryptocurrency on your taxes, answer carefully.

Think about what information the IRS is getting about you too. Don’t forget about IRS Forms 1099, K-1, etc. These tax reporting forms that you may have received as early as January are keyed to your Social Security number, and the IRS always gets a copy. Pay attention to them — the IRS sure does. IRS Forms 1099 are critical, so keep track of each one.

Of course, just because you may not have received a Form 1099 does not mean a payment is not taxable. Regardless of whether you receive a Form 1099, almost everything is income. The IRS taxes all income from any source, whether in cash or in kind. Lottery? Taxed. Gambling? Taxed. You name it, it’s taxed. If you find a diamond ring, you pay tax on its fair market value, even if you don’t sell it.

Also, keep in mind that tax filing and tax payment obligations are often separated, and really are independent. So no matter how short of cash you might be, remember to file returns even if you can’t pay. Many taxpayers don’t file on time because they don’t have the tax money. They would be much better off if they filed on time. Payment can come later, and might be the subject of an IRS installment agreement. Penalties too will likely be smaller if you file on time.

Coloring within the lines is another useful concept when it comes to tax preparation. Tax returns should be concise. Don’t explain too much or attach too much to your tax returns. If an explanation or disclosure is needed, keep it succinct. Attachments to tax returns should be limited to tax forms and, where required, plain sheets of paper listing additional deductions, income, etc. Don’t attach other documents. If the IRS wants documents, it will ask.

Just as crypto activity seems to be a real hot button with the IRS right now, so are foreign bank accounts, so don’t forget about reporting them. Of course, they may generate income, but unlike interest from a U.S. bank, you won’t receive a Form 1099 from a foreign bank. Still, reporting them is key not only on your tax return.

If the total balances of all your foreign accounts exceed $10,000 at any time during the year, you must also file a Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, or FBAR. These separate forms are filed (online) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, another division of the U.S. Treasury Department. Even the name is a little scary. With FATCA, IRS scrutiny is high, and how you transition from failures to report in the past to present compliance can be delicate. Beware, so far, the IRS has collected $10 billion from offshore compliance.

Much of dealing with the IRS successfully lies in giving attention to detail, even when it might not seem important. So reply to every IRS letter, unless it expressly says not to. Often, fighting the IRS is about attrition, so you want to keep responding and trying to provide what the IRS wants you to explain or provide. Sometimes, that even means paying the IRS what they require. For example, if you get a small tax bill, it is usually wise to pay it even if the IRS is wrong. What’s “small” varies, but don’t risk an audit or dispute escalating by fighting over small dollars.

Speaking of audits, always remember how long the IRS can audit. The usual IRS statute of limitations is three years after you file your return, but there are lots of other IRS statute of limitations rules that everyone should know. For example, if you understate your income by 25% or more, the IRS gets six years. To be safe, keep tax records for seven years, and keep copies of your tax returns forever.

If you need to amend your return, don’t take amending tax returns lightly. Amended returns have a high audit rate, especially if they request a refund. The IRS says you “should” amend your return if you discover a mistake after it’s been filed, but the only time you really must amend is if you knew at the time you filed the original return that it was false. If you decide to amend, the amended return must correct everything, not just the items in your favor. Getting a big refund? Consider applying it to next year’s tax payments rather than asking for the cash, especially if it is large. If you are getting a tax refund, not asking for the money back can lower your profile with an initial or amended return.

Speaking of your profile, don’t talk to the IRS if they visit. If the IRS comes to your home or business, decline to speak and tell them your lawyer will call. Take their card and be polite but firm. If you say anything to the IRS, do not lie. Consider getting professional tax advice too. You can prepare your own returns with software if you wish, but if you have an audit or dispute, consider hiring an accountant or tax lawyer to handle it. Even simple audits can go off the rails or extend into other areas if you aren’t careful.

Amazingly, most criminal tax cases start with civil audits. Whether you need practical procedural advice or technical help on particular issues, find someone with experience in your issue. And don't wait until the last minute.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Robert W. Wood is a tax lawyer representing clients worldwide from the office of Wood LLP in San Francisco. He is the author of numerous tax books and writes frequently about taxes for Forbes, Tax Notes and other publications.

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Mike Pompeo Doesn’t Rule Out Serving In 2nd Trump Administration

Mike Pompeo Doesn’t Rule Out Serving In 2nd Trump Administration

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Former Secretary…

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Mike Pompeo Doesn't Rule Out Serving In 2nd Trump Administration

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a new interview that he’s not ruling out accepting a White House position if former President Donald Trump is reelected in November.

“If I get a chance to serve and think that I can make a difference ... I’m almost certainly going to say yes to that opportunity to try and deliver on behalf of the American people,” he told Fox News, when asked during a interview if he would work for President Trump again.

I’m confident President Trump will be looking for people who will faithfully execute what it is he asked them to do,” Mr. Pompeo said during the interview, which aired on March 8. “I think as a president, you should always want that from everyone.”

Then-President Donald Trump (C), then- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L), and then-Vice President Mike Pence, take a question during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus at the White House in Washington on April 8, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

He said that as a former secretary of state, “I certainly wanted my team to do what I was asking them to do and was enormously frustrated when I found that I couldn’t get them to do that.”

Mr. Pompeo, a former U.S. representative from Kansas, served as Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2018 before he was secretary of state from 2018 to 2021. After he left office, there was speculation that he could mount a Republican presidential bid in 2024, but announced that he wouldn’t be running.

President Trump hasn’t publicly commented about Mr. Pompeo’s remarks.

In 2023, amid speculation that he would make a run for the White House, Mr. Pompeo took a swipe at his former boss, telling Fox News at the time that “the Trump administration spent $6 trillion more than it took in, adding to the deficit.”

“That’s never the right direction for the country,” he said.

In a public appearance last year, Mr. Pompeo also appeared to take a shot at the 45th president by criticizing “celebrity leaders” when urging GOP voters to choose ahead of the 2024 election.

2024 Race

Mr. Pompeo’s interview comes as the former president was named the “presumptive nominee” by the Republican National Committee (RNC) last week after his last major Republican challenger, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, dropped out of the 2024 race after failing to secure enough delegates. President Trump won 14 out of 15 states on Super Tuesday, with only Vermont—which notably has an open primary—going for Ms. Haley, who served as President Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

On March 8, the RNC held a meeting in Houston during which committee members voted in favor of President Trump’s nomination.

“Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump on his huge primary victory!” the organization said in a statement last week. “I’d also like to congratulate Nikki Haley for running a hard-fought campaign and becoming the first woman to win a Republican presidential contest.”

Earlier this year, the former president criticized the idea of being named the presumptive nominee after reports suggested that the RNC would do so before the Super Tuesday contests and while Ms. Haley was still in the race.

Also on March 8, the RNC voted to name Trump-endorsed officials to head the organization. Michael Whatley, a North Carolina Republican, was elected the party’s new national chairman in a vote in Houston, and Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, was voted in as co-chair.

“The RNC is going to be the vanguard of a movement that will work tirelessly every single day to elect our nominee, Donald J. Trump, as the 47th President of the United States,” Mr. Whatley told RNC members in a speech after being elected, replacing former chair Ronna McDaniel. Ms. Trump is expected to focus largely on fundraising and media appearances.

President Trump hasn’t signaled whom he would appoint to various federal agencies if he’s reelected in November. He also hasn’t said who his pick for a running mate would be, but has offered several suggestions in recent interviews.

In various interviews, the former president has mentioned Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, among others.

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/13/2024 - 17:00

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Riley Gaines Explains How Women’s Sports Are Rigged To Promote The Trans Agenda

Riley Gaines Explains How Women’s Sports Are Rigged To Promote The Trans Agenda

Is there a light forming when it comes to the long, dark and…

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Riley Gaines Explains How Women's Sports Are Rigged To Promote The Trans Agenda

Is there a light forming when it comes to the long, dark and bewildering tunnel of social justice cultism?  Global events have been so frenetic that many people might not remember, but only a couple years ago Big Tech companies and numerous governments were openly aligned in favor of mass censorship.  Not just to prevent the public from investigating the facts surrounding the pandemic farce, but to silence anyone questioning the validity of woke concepts like trans ideology. 

From 2020-2022 was the closest the west has come in a long time to a complete erasure of freedom of speech.  Even today there are still countries and Europe and places like Canada or Australia that are charging forward with draconian speech laws.  The phrase "radical speech" is starting to circulate within pro-censorship circles in reference to any platform where people are allowed to talk critically.  What is radical speech?  Basically, it's any discussion that runs contrary to the beliefs of the political left.

Open hatred of moderate or conservative ideals is perfectly acceptable, but don't ever shine a negative light on woke activism, or you might be a terrorist.

Riley Gaines has experienced this double standard first hand.  She was even assaulted and taken hostage at an event in 2023 at San Francisco State University when leftists protester tried to trap her in a room and demanded she "pay them to let her go."  Campus police allegedly witnessed the incident but charges were never filed and surveillance footage from the college was never released.  

It's probably the last thing a champion female swimmer ever expects, but her head-on collision with the trans movement and the institutional conspiracy to push it on the public forced her to become a counter-culture voice of reason rather than just an athlete.

For years the independent media argued that no matter how much we expose the insanity of men posing as women to compete and dominate women's sports, nothing will really change until the real female athletes speak up and fight back.  Riley Gaines and those like her represent that necessary rebellion and a desperately needed return to common sense and reason.

In a recent interview on the Joe Rogan Podcast, Gaines related some interesting information on the inner workings of the NCAA and the subversive schemes surrounding trans athletes.  Not only were women participants essentially strong-armed by colleges and officials into quietly going along with the program, there was also a concerted propaganda effort.  Competition ceremonies were rigged as vehicles for promoting trans athletes over everyone else. 

The bottom line?  The competitions didn't matter.  The real women and their achievements didn't matter.  The only thing that mattered to officials were the photo ops; dudes pretending to be chicks posing with awards for the gushing corporate media.  The agenda took precedence.

Lia Thomas, formerly known as William Thomas, was more than an activist invading female sports, he was also apparently a science project fostered and protected by the athletic establishment.  It's important to understand that the political left does not care about female athletes.  They do not care about women's sports.  They don't care about the integrity of the environments they co-opt.  Their only goal is to identify viable platforms with social impact and take control of them.  Women's sports are seen as a vehicle for public indoctrination, nothing more.

The reasons why they covet women's sports are varied, but a primary motive is the desire to assert the fallacy that men and women are "the same" psychologically as well as physically.  They want the deconstruction of biological sex and identity as nothing more than "social constructs" subject to personal preference.  If they can destroy what it means to be a man or a woman, they can destroy the very foundations of relationships, families and even procreation.  

For now it seems as though the trans agenda is hitting a wall with much of the public aware of it and less afraid to criticize it.  Social media companies might be able to silence some people, but they can't silence everyone.  However, there is still a significant threat as the movement continues to target children through the public education system and women's sports are not out of the woods yet.   

The ultimate solution is for women athletes around the world to organize and widely refuse to participate in any competitions in which biological men are allowed.  The only way to save women's sports is for women to be willing to end them, at least until institutions that put doctrine ahead of logic are made irrelevant.          

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/13/2024 - 17:20

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Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-March 2024

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-March 2024
A brief excerpt: This 2-part overview for mid-March provides a snapshot of the current housing market.

I always like to star…

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Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-March 2024

A brief excerpt:
This 2-part overview for mid-March provides a snapshot of the current housing market.

I always like to start with inventory, since inventory usually tells the tale!
...
Here is a graph of new listing from Realtor.com’s February 2024 Monthly Housing Market Trends Report showing new listings were up 11.3% year-over-year in February. This is still well below pre-pandemic levels. From Realtor.com:

However, providing a boost to overall inventory, sellers turned out in higher numbers this February as newly listed homes were 11.3% above last year’s levels. This marked the fourth month of increasing listing activity after a 17-month streak of decline.
Note the seasonality for new listings. December and January are seasonally the weakest months of the year for new listings, followed by February and November. New listings will be up year-over-year in 2024, but we will have to wait for the March and April data to see how close new listings are to normal levels.

There are always people that need to sell due to the so-called 3 D’s: Death, Divorce, and Disease. Also, in certain times, some homeowners will need to sell due to unemployment or excessive debt (neither is much of an issue right now).

And there are homeowners who want to sell for a number of reasons: upsizing (more babies), downsizing, moving for a new job, or moving to a nicer home or location (move-up buyers). It is some of the “want to sell” group that has been locked in with the golden handcuffs over the last couple of years, since it is financially difficult to move when your current mortgage rate is around 3%, and your new mortgage rate will be in the 6 1/2% to 7% range.

But time is a factor for this “want to sell” group, and eventually some of them will take the plunge. That is probably why we are seeing more new listings now.
There is much more in the article.

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