The Internal Revenue Service recently awarded $51 million in Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) grants to organizations that provide free federal tax return preparation. This year, the IRS awarded grants to 45 TCE and 300 VITA applicants. The IRS received 429 applications requesting over [...]

The jobs market remains robust by all outward measures, but that is not translating into higher wages for most American workers, according to a report by the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP). LISEP issued its monthly True Rate of Unemployment (TRU) for September in conjunction with the third quarter True Weekly [...]

The Internal Revenue Service released new tax gap projections for tax years 2020 and 2021 showing the projected gross tax gap increased to $688 billion in tax year 2021, a significant jump from previous estimates. The new estimate reflects a rise of more than $192 billion from the prior estimates [...]

Taxpayers can authorize a third-party representative to work with the IRS on their behalf. Sometimes this person is an unpaid family member or friend, and sometimes this is a tax professional hired by the taxpayer. Different types of representatives need different authorizations before they can represent the taxpayer to the IRS. [...]

It is never too early to begin planning for retirement. Individual retirement accounts provide tax incentives for people to make investments that can provide financial security when they retire. These accounts can be with a bank or other financial institution, a life insurance company, a mutual fund, or a stockbroker. [...]

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but when scammers pose as the IRS it means trouble for taxpayers. Identity thieves may contact taxpayers through fraudulent calls, emails, texts, or social media messages pretending to be the IRS. Here are tips to help taxpayers know when the IRS is [...]