News

Have you been affected by Hurricane Laura? Are the impacts of this storm affecting your ability to timely address your tax return obligations? Depending on your location, you may be entitled to an extension. The IRS recently announced that any area designated by FEMA as a Federal Disaster area now has until December 31, 2020 to file individual and business tax returns and make tax payments due to hurricane Laura.

President Trump has recently signed several new executive orders that were created to implement the newest economic stimulus package prepared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Here’s what we know:

Every year, the IRS sends millions of letters and notices to Taxpayers for a variety of reasons – collections, audits, requests for tax returns or additional information, tax refund matters, and more. It our experience here at Bryson Law Firm, LLC, in the weeks and months that follow the tax deadline (this year, as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, this Falls in late Summer), we see an influx of Taxpayers contact our office for assistance in response to these letters. Listed below are some “Dos” and “Don’ts” when it comes to how you should react to letters from the IRS.

Being scammed can happen to any of us. Scammers view anyone as an easy target, which is why each year, the IRS releases a list of 12 of the most prevalent and threatening Tax Scams. Let’s see what made the list on the IRS’ 2020 “Dirty Dozen”.

On July 13th, Governor John Bel Edwards signed Act 12 of the 2020 First Extraordinary Session of the Louisiana Legislature, which provides for a one-time hazard pay rebate of $250 to essential Louisiana workers. The Department of Revenue will start accepting applications on Wednesday, July 15th through October 31, 2020. However, applicants are not guaranteed a payment because it is first come first serve.

In March of 2020, the IRS sent most of its employees home to work remotely due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This has caused a string of challenges for this upcoming tax deadline. Even though the IRS continued to process electronic returns and issue tax refunds through direct deposits while operating remotely, paper correspondence came to an abrupt halt. This has created a tremendous overflow of paper documents – both in the form of incoming mail and mail to be sent to Taxpayers.

Heads up! The Internal Revenue Service has announced that the due dates on “balance due” notices recently and currently being received by Taxpayers are now extended. The Covid-19 pandemic forced IRS offices to close abruptly, causing IRS Staff to be unable to send out preprinted letters to Taxpayers timely. Upon realizing that many Taxpayers are now receiving notices with due dates that have already passed, the IRS has announced this extension.

Welcome back to the Bryson Blog! Today, we have an update for you on just when you can expect to be able to electronically file AMENDED tax returns with the IRS!

Are you still waiting for your $1200 stimulus check to be deposited in your account? If so, there is probably a reason why it has been delayed. The simplest explanation is that your check may be coming in the mail. This would happen if the IRS had already begun to process your paper check when you submitted your direct deposit information, or if you failed to submit any direct deposit information.

Recently, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the individual mandate requirement of the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. It also ruled that the Individual Shared Responsibility Payment imposed on taxpayers who did not meet the requirement is also unconstitutional.