IRS & Enforcement
Audit triggers, enforcement actions, compliance requirements, reporting thresholds, IRS technology changes, and taxpayer rights.
Latest in IRS & Enforcement
An IRS offer in compromise can settle a tax debt for less than the full amount
An IRS offer in compromise lets a taxpayer settle a federal tax debt for less than the full balance owed, but the number that gets...
An IRS installment plan lets you pay a tax bill over time instead of all at once
A tax bill larger than expected does not have to be paid in a single lump sum. The IRS runs a formal payment plan program...
IRS Free File offers free federal tax filing to most taxpayers under an income limit
Filing a federal tax return doesn’t have to cost anything for the large majority of taxpayers, yet the program that makes that true remains one...
Selling an inherited home uses its date-of-death value, erasing most of the taxable gain
When someone inherits a home, federal tax law resets the property’s cost basis to its fair market value on the date the original owner died,...
Selling too soon after a spouse dies can forfeit a big home-sale tax break
A surviving spouse who sells the family home can still shield up to $500,000 of profit from federal tax, but only if the sale closes...
The IRS is ending paper refund checks, so refunds now require a bank account
The Internal Revenue Service stopped issuing most individual paper refund checks after Sept. 30, 2025, carrying out Executive Order 14247’s mandate to move federal payments...
The new tax law lets workers deduct tip and overtime pay, though the break shrinks at higher incomes
The tax law that took effect for 2025 does not erase federal income tax on tips and overtime pay, despite the “no tax on tips”...
Who qualifies for the new $6,000 senior deduction, and why it disappears once income tops $175,000
A new federal deduction worth up to $6,000 is now open to anyone 65 or older, but qualifying for the full amount depends on rules...
The IRS will keep charging 7% interest on unpaid taxes starting in October, raising the cost of falling behind
Taxpayers who owe the IRS money and have not paid in full will keep facing a 7% annual interest rate for the fourth quarter of...
The IRS clarified in August that only the premium half of overtime pay counts toward the new deduction
A worker earning $20 an hour who logs ten hours of overtime and receives double pay — $400 instead of $300 — might assume the...
Treasury and the IRS want to cut off refundable child tax credit and earned income credit payments to non-citizens, with a hearing set for October 14
On August 19, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service proposed a rule that would treat the refunded share of four tax credits as...
The IRS can pause collection when paying would leave you short on basic living costs
When a tax debt collides with the cost of rent, food, and utilities, the Internal Revenue Service has a formal way to stand down. It...
The IRS will settle some tax debts for less than owed through an Offer in Compromise
The Internal Revenue Service does accept less than the full balance on some tax debts, settling the account through a program called an Offer in...
A free VITA program prepares taxes at no cost for lower-income and older filers
Paying a preparer to file a simple return can cost more than the refund is worth, and for many older and lower-income households that fee...
Retirees can dodge an underpayment penalty by using a quarterly \”safe harbor\”
An underpayment penalty is one of the easier tax charges to trigger in retirement, because income can jump in a year without any employer automatically...
The IRS often waives a first-time penalty if you simply ask
A penalty notice from the IRS can land in a retiree’s mailbox for a single late return or a payment that slipped past the deadline,...
A defaulted federal debt can cost you a chunk of a tax refund through the Treasury Offset Program
A tax refund can vanish before it ever arrives. Through a federal collection system called the Treasury Offset Program, the government can intercept a refund...
Millions of paper tax refunds are running weeks late as the IRS phases out mailed checks
More than 14 million tax returns were flagged for manual review this filing season, and over a million taxpayers waited about five and a half...
A surviving spouse can keep filing taxes jointly for the year a spouse dies
Losing a spouse is followed, often within weeks, by a stack of financial paperwork nobody wants to think about — and buried in it is...
A step-up in basis can erase capital-gains tax for heirs who inherit appreciated assets
An investment held for decades carries a hidden tax the whole time it grows. The gap between what was paid and what the asset is...