IRS & Enforcement
Audit triggers, enforcement actions, compliance requirements, reporting thresholds, IRS technology changes, and taxpayer rights.
Latest in IRS & Enforcement
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...
The 1099-K tax form now kicks in at $20,000 again, not the $600 once planned
Payment apps and online marketplaces will again send a tax form only to sellers who clear more than $20,000 in payments and more than 200...
Miss a required IRA withdrawal and the penalty is 25%, or 10% if you fix it fast
Forgetting to take a required withdrawal from a retirement account is one of the more expensive mistakes a retiree can make, but the penalty is...
A surviving spouse can still file a joint tax return for the year a partner dies, often at a lower rate
When a spouse dies, the survivor faces a stack of financial decisions at the worst possible moment, and one of the more valuable ones is...
A proposed IRS rule would require proof of citizenship to collect the refundable part of the child tax credit
The IRS has floated a rule that would attach a new condition to one of the most widely claimed tax benefits in the country: a...
Skip direct deposit and the IRS can now freeze your tax refund for weeks under its new paper-check phase-out
The default way millions of retirees receive a tax refund is being switched off. Under Executive Order 14247, the IRS is phasing out paper refund...
Homeowners who miss the October 15 extension deadline face a 5%-a-month late-filing penalty
Taxpayers who requested a six-month extension have until October 15, 2026, to file their 2025 federal return, and missing that date can be expensive. The...
Seniors can deduct out-of-pocket medical costs above 7.5% of income, including long-term-care premiums
Seniors carrying heavy medical costs can turn part of that burden into a tax deduction, but only for the dollars that climb above 7.5% of...
A donor-advised fund lets you claim a big charitable deduction now and give the money to charities later
A donor-advised fund lets a giver take a full charitable tax deduction in the year money goes into the account, even when the actual gifts...
Holding an investment over a year taxes the gain at the lower capital-gains rate
Two investors can sell the same stock for the same profit and owe sharply different amounts of tax, and the deciding factor is often just...
Selling a losing investment can offset gains and cut up to $3,000 off your income
A stock or fund sold at a loss stings, but the federal tax code turns part of that setback into a deduction. When investment losses...
A widow or widower can still file a joint tax return for the year their spouse dies, often at a lower rate
Losing a spouse rarely arrives with a tax plan attached, yet the filing status chosen in that first year can quietly change how much a...
Forgiven debt usually counts as taxable income unless you qualify for an exclusion
A canceled credit-card balance, a settled medical bill, or a forgiven personal loan can feel like a clean break, yet the Internal Revenue Service often...
A retiree in the 0% capital-gains bracket can sell winning investments and owe no federal tax
A retiree whose taxable income stays low enough can sell appreciated stocks, funds, or other investments and owe nothing in federal capital-gains tax. The zero-percent...
You can give a family member about $19,000 a year without touching your lifetime gift-tax exemption
The federal gift-tax rules let a person hand over as much as $19,000 to another individual in a single year without filing a gift-tax return...
Retirees can have federal tax withheld from Social Security with Form W-4V to avoid an April surprise
Many retirees discover only at tax time that Social Security can be taxable, and by then the bill has already grown into a lump sum...
Heirs inherit your home at its value the day you die, erasing the gains tax
One of the largest tax breaks in the code is one heirs rarely have to ask for. When someone inherits a home, its cost basis...
Filed a tax extension? Your 2025 return is due October 15, though any tax owed was due back in April
The federal extension gave most calendar-year individual filers six additional months to finish a 2025 return, but it did not provide six interest-free months to...