The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) includes increased Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding in the amount of approximately $80 billion over ten years. According to a Congressional Research Service report, the law includes $45.6 billion for tax enforcement (an increase of 69%), $25.3 billion for operations support (an increase of 53%), $3.2 billion for taxpayer services (an increase of 9%) and $4.8 billion for business systems modernization (an increase of 153%). For most taxpayers, the enforcement and operations funding is likely to most affect how they interact with the IRS in the future. We detail those provisions below:

President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday, August 24th, that student loan debt will be forgiven for many borrowers, and repayments will be paused until the end of 2022. Forgiveness includes $20,000 in student loan debt for borrowers who received Pell Grants and $10,000 for those who didn't.

The IRS recently published Revenue Procedure 2022-32 to provide certain taxpayers a more simplified method to make a “portability” election under Section 2010(c)(5)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code. Taxpayers who qualify for this new simplified method will be able to elect portability of a Deceased Spouse’s Unused Exemption (“DSUE”) up to five years after the decedent’s date of death. This new procedure is an amazing federal estate tax savings opportunity for certain surviving spouses.

Earlier this month, we wrote about the tax provisions included in the draft version of the Inflation Reduction Act as it was going through the negotiations process and making its way through Congress. On August 16th, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Real-time data is transforming our lives. The days of being caught in a rainstorm without an umbrella or in a bulky sweater on an unseasonably warm day are long gone. Similarly, accounting systems that provide an up-to-the-minute look at a company’s condition mean businesses are better prepared to avert a potential cash flow drought or capitalize on a pending windfall.

Small-business owners often find themselves in a dilemma: they want to grow their business to meet demand, but tight financial circumstances can make it difficult to expand. Or if they do have adequate resources, uncertain situations, such as the one created by the COVID-19 pandemic, can make expansion a risky proposition for a small business. Even if it may not seem like the time to expand, the opportunity may exist. There are several tax credits, grants, and incentives that can encourage growth. Read on to learn how small business incentives can help you create jobs, train staff, and even open a new location.

Risks abound in today’s uncertain marketplace. Nearly two-thirds of senior finance leaders said that the volume and complexity of corporate risks have changed “mostly” or “extensively” in the past five years, according to a new report published by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and North Carolina State University.

The penalty for underpaying your taxes is about to sting a bit more than in the past.

The IRS announced last week that the interest rates it charges for underpayments will rise for the last quarter of 2022 — Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.

The rates the agency pays for overpayments also will rise. (Yes, if you pay more in federal income taxes than you owed, the government owes you interest on the excess.)

For the first time in 44 years, Pennsylvania has updated the rules affecting tipped workers and salaried workers who have fluctuating work-week schedules. These changes went into effect on Aug. 5, 2022, and a summary of these regulations can be found below.