As we begin the month of April, please be assured your 2020 income tax return has been prepared and is awaiting CPA review. You should expect to hear from us soon.

With some of the tax law changes that happened in 2021 that affected 2020, we have been awaiting guidance from the IRS for updated forms and how to report certain items correctly the first time. The tax returns become more complex (e.g., reconciling stimulus payments, cryptocurrency, due diligence reporting for tax credits, etc.) each year and we are attempting to keep everyone in compliance.

You can check the status of both your payments by using the IRS Get My Payment tool. If you have not received your full payment by the time you file your 2020 tax return, you may claim the Recovery Rebate Credit.

For more information, click HERE.

Here is a review of significant changes that may impact you for the tax year 2020 filing season from the:

• Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act
• Families First Coronavirus Response Act
• Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act
• Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019.

Do you have an employer 401(k) plan or other retirement plan assets? Should you consolidate accounts? Here are some ideas and recommendations to consider.

Benefits of Company 401(k) plans

• If you leave your money in a company 401(k) plan rather than rolling it into an IRA) is no required minimum distributions (RMDs) if the account owner is still working.  Generally, account holders must start withdrawing from their retirement accounts at age 72. The RMDs at age 72 apply only to traditional IRA accounts and not to Roth IRA accounts.
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You probably already know these things, but it is always a good reminder to remember the following items to minimize the risk of your identity being stolen.  The time and money you will spend in recovery is expensive – and potentially avoidable.

• Passwords - Using passwords that include a mix of letters, numbers and special characters makes it harder for identity thieves to crack these codes. Consider a phrase instead of a password and intertwine numbers and/or characters (e.g. Lov3MyK!d5).  Another trick is to use three unrelated words (e.g. LatteSleepFrog).
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The U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released guidance yesterday (November 18, 2020) clarifying the tax treatment of expenses where a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan has not been forgiven by the end of the year the loan was received. 

Since businesses are not taxed on the proceeds of a forgiven PPP loan, the expenses are not deductible. This results in neither a tax benefit nor tax harm since the taxpayer has not paid anything out of pocket.

Generally, if you rent out a vacation home while you not using it personally, you can deduct expenses to offset taxable income from the rental.  This includes mortgage interest, property taxes, repairs, utilities, insurance, etc. (Mortgage interest and property taxes are subject to additional rules for a qualified personal residence). 

You might even be able to deduct a loss on your income tax return in that year if your personal use of the vacation home does not exceed the greater of (a) 14 days or (b) 10% of the time the home is rented out.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) advised lenders on July 23 that the PPP Forgiveness Platform will not begin accepting Forgiveness Applications until August 10, 2020, and this date will be subject to extension if any new legislative amendments to the forgiveness process necessitate changes to the system. Final Treasury guidance concerning PPP Forgiveness Applications (which was expected in early July) is now not expected until after related federal legislation is resolved. Banks, accountants and others are being advised not to process PPP Forgiveness Applications until this legislation is enacted and related Treasury and SBA guidance is finalized.

The original tax filing deadline has passed.  Here are a couple of resources available for individual tax payers to get quick answers for yourself for free.

Refund Status
You can check on your refund using the IRS Where’s My Refund? tool. It is available on IRS.gov and the IRS2Go app.   If you do not have access to a computer can call 800-829-1954.  The tool updates once daily, so there’s no need to check more often.  You will need:

On May 6, 2020, the IRS came out with the following guidance for Economic Stimulus checks sent to dead people.  The whole answer is at www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payment-information-center#more (See question 41)

In summary,

A Payment made to someone who died before receipt of the Payment should be returned to the IRS in full.  For payments made to joint filers and one spouse had not died before receipt of the Payment, you only need to return the portion of the Payment made on account of the decedent. This amount will be $1,200 unless adjusted gross income exceeded $150,000.