Be sure to watch for urgent requests, pressure to act quickly, and offers that seem too good to be true. This would include unsolicited contact, requests for personal information and unusual payment methods (wire transfers, gift cards). Recent scams include the following: (1) Impersonation scams, where the scammer pretends to be from a trusted entity… [keep reading…]
Category: Tax Tip Tuesday
Tax Tip Tuesday – Verifying Federal and New York Refund Status
If you are anticipating a refund from either the IRS or the State of New York and you want to determine the status, you can access online tools via the agencies’ websites to obtain a status update. 1. Federal Refund Status Use the ‘Where’s My Refund? tool at IRS.gov. Required information: Social Security Number, filing… [keep reading…]
Tax Tip Tuesday – Home Sale? Know Your Tax Exclusions
If you sell your primary residence, you may exclude up to $500,000 of gain if filing jointly or $250,000 if filing single. To qualify for the $500,000 exclusion, one spouse must meet the ownership test, and both must meet the use test. If your spouse dies and you have not remarried, you may claim up… [keep reading…]
Tax Tip Tuesday – Claiming Gambling Losses: What’s New for 2026
For Tax Year 2025, you can deduct 100% of your gambling losses up to the total amount of your gambling winnings. Any excess losses cannot be carried forward to future years. To claim your losses, you must itemize your deductions on Schedule A of Form 1040. If you take the standard deduction, you cannot deduct… [keep reading…]
Tax Tip Tuesday – Estate Tax Thresholds for 2025 & 2026
An estate tax return must be filed if the total value of a decedent’s estate is greater than $13,990,000 in 2025 and greater than $15,000,000 in 2026. The return must be filed within nine months of the decedent’s date of death unless a six-month extension to file the return was approved by the IRS. In… [keep reading…]
Tax Tip Tuesday – Child Tax Credit Increased + New Trump Accounts
Child Tax Credit The child tax credit increased to $2,200 per qualifying child for the 2025 tax year. A qualifying child is a child younger than 17 years old by the end of the year, lived with his or her parents/guardians for more than half the year, claimed as a dependent on the taxpayer’s return,… [keep reading…]
Tax Tip Tuesday – Give Generously Without Tax Surprises
For tax year 2025 and 2026, the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000. It is important to note that a taxpayer paying for medical care directly to a healthcare provider/institution on behalf of another and/or education expenses directly to an educational establishment on behalf of another (i.e. tuition) does not need to file a gift… [keep reading…]
Tax Tip Tuesday – New Standard Deduction Amounts for 2025
The standard deduction amounts for all filing statuses increased for the 2025 tax year because of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Couples filing their return using the married filing jointly status qualify for the standard deduction of $31,500. Taxpayers using the single and married filing separately statuses qualify for the standard deduction of $15,750…. [keep reading…]
Tax Tip Tuesday – Donate Smarter: QCDs Explained
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) are taxable distributions that a taxpayer, age 70 ½ and older, would ordinarily receive from their IRA that instead are directed to a charitable organization at the taxpayer’s request. The main benefit of a QCD is providing significant tax savings for retirees (age 70.5+) by allowing direct, tax-free transfers from an… [keep reading…]
Tax Tip Tuesday – Should You Convert to a Roth IRA?
If you have a significant balance in your traditional IRA, you may want to consider Roth IRA conversions. This can be done gradually over several years to manage tax brackets. If done properly, a multiyear approach could allow you to convert a sizable portion of your savings to a Roth IRA while limiting the tax… [keep reading…]