There are said to be two certainties in life: death and taxes. The latter has apparently become a cash cow for all sorts of thieves, including sophisticated criminal enterprises. Tax-related scams tend to peak during filing season, but they are a pervasive and constantly evolving threat, cheating individuals and the federal government out of millions…
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WASHINGTON — As the holidays approach, the Internal Revenue Service today reminded taxpayers to remember that a new law requires the IRS to hold refunds until mid-February in 2017 for people claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit. In addition, new identity theft and refund fraud safeguards put in place…
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WASHINGTON — As a senator, Jeff Sessions became Congress’ leading advocate not only for a cracking down on illegal immigration, but also for slowing all immigration, increasing mass deportations and scrutinizing more strictly those entering the U.S. As attorney general, he’d be well positioned to turn those ideas into reality. Immigration laws are enforced by…
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The Internal Revenue Service is looking for information on bitcoin users from Coinbase, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the U.S., as part of its efforts to uncover possible tax evasion. The IRS sent a broad request known as a John Doe summons to Coinbase last week seeking information on all of the San…
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Now that Donald Trump has been elected as the next U.S. president, taxpayers should start thinking about tax code changes his administration could make. According to a September analysis of Trump’s tax plan by the nonprofit Tax Foundation, some changes could affect your tax planning — if they make it through Congress. Here’s a brief…
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The nation’s most influential business lobby urged President-elect Donald Trump Monday to take a “balanced” approach to immigration and to expand international trade, two areas where the Republican has promised a hard line. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce told Mr. Trump that U.S. companies need to attract immigrants to grow. “We hope you and Congress…
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Come Jan. 20, President-elect Donald J. Trump will start carrying out his agenda. How does he expect to turn promises into policy? Do his plans make sense? If not, what should he do? Finally, given the political realities of Washington, what’s most likely to happen? This is part of a series of editorials that try to…
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Nov. 17 — Internal Revenue Service employees sent hundreds of unencrypted e-mails containing sensitive taxpayer information, and some used personal e-mail accounts for official agency business, its watchdog said. Unprotected e-mails put taxpayers at risk of identity theft, or inappropriate disclosure of information about their identity and tax returns, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax…
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Mayors in at least seven major U.S. cities reaffirmed their commitments to shelter undocumented immigrants from federal immigration authorities after Republican president-elect Donald Trump said he would block federal funding for “sanctuary cities.” Sanctuary policies vary by city. Typically, local police refrain from helping federal authorities identify undocumented immigrants for deportation, unless they have committed serious crimes. The San…
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With control of Congress and the White House in hand, Republicans say they will embark next year on an ambitious effort to lower taxes for businesses and individuals through an overhaul of the tax code. But signs are already emerging that it could be one of the first Republican policy fights during the Trump administration…
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