Theresa Arndt, CPA

  If you have a child 17 years old or younger, you may soon be seeing a payment from the IRS ! In fact, you may be seeing a payment from the IRS every 15 th of the month from July through December 2021. These are not more of your typical economic impact payments (aka “stimulus checks”). They are actually advanced payments of the Child Tax Credit…a credit you usually receive when you file your tax return.   WHAT EXACTLY ARE THESE PAYMENTS, AND HOW MUCH WILL THEY BE? The “advance Child Tax Credit payments” are early payments of the Child Tax Credit you usually would have on your tax return. The payments will be paid once per month from July 15 th – December 15 th and will equal ½ of the estimated total you would receive on your 2021 tax return for that credit. For 2021 only, the Child Tax Credit has been increased to $3,600 for each qualifying child 5 years old or younger , and $3,000 for each qualifying child between 6 years old to 17 years old . (For reference, f...

As usual, this year brings a new batch of tax laws for business and individual tax returns.  This post will outline some of the major changes for individuals .  If you are looking for business tax changes you can go here. Article Highlights Economic Impact Payments - First and Second Round Educator Expense  Unemployment Assistance  Earned Income Tax Credit & Child Tax Credit Cash Charitable Contributions for Non-Itemizers  Charitable Contributions for Itemizers Flexible Spending Arrangements Carryover  Reduction in Medical Deduction AGI Floor  Education Credits   Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Medical Responders Discharge of Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness Student Loans Mortgage Insurance Premiums Housing Relief  Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit  2-Wheeled Plug-In Electric Vehicle Credit (Motorcycles) Alterative Fuel Vehicle Refueling E...

 As usual, this year brings a new batch of tax laws for business and individual tax returns. This post will outline some of the major changes for businesses . If you are looking for individual tax changes you can go here. Article Highlights Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Frequently Asked Questions Employee Retention Tax Credit Business Meals Employer-Provided Educational Assistance  Extension o Deferred Payroll Taxes Depreciation for Residential Rental Property NOL Rules for Farming Losses Work Opportunity Tax Credit Credit for Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Equipment Credit for Fuel Cell Vehicles On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) into law.  The CAA contains both the COVID-Related Tax Relief Act of 2020 (COVIDTRA) and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (TCDTR).  The entire text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021--all 5,593 pages--can be found  here . This po...

Back in 2020, Congress passed the Cares Act in order to provide relief for those businesses and individuals suffering from the negative effects that COVID was having on the economy. Within the Cares Act there was a credit called the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). Many taxpayers ignored this credit because they were prohibited from claiming the ERC if they applied for and received a Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan.  Packed inside the thousands of pages of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) passed December 20, 2020 were some favorable updates to the ERC. Two of the most notable changes are... The ERC is extended through June 20, 2021. The ERC is now available retroactively in 2020 to businesses that took a PPP whereas previously it wasn't.  This means that if you did not consider the ERC in 2020 (or were not eligible to consider the ERC because you took a PPP loan), you now have an opportunity to go back and claim the ERC on 2020 wages and receive a refundab...