News Updates

While acknowledging that the law is well intentioned, the opinion from a U.S. district court in Alabama said Congress lacked authority to enact the business ownership information reporting requirement.

CPA mobility offers CPAs flexibility to practice across state lines. Potential changes in state licensure requirements could disrupt mobility, with ramifications for organizations and CPAs in business and industry. An expert on business growth explains more in this blog post.

The Nebraska Sales and Tax Exemptions have been updated on the Nebraska Department of Revenue's website for exemptions passed in 2023. New exemptions in the webpage include the buyer-based exemption, exemption for baling wire and twine, expanded exemption for nonprofit organizations, and expanded exemption for governmental projects.

The 2022 act affected an array of retirement fund and pension plan provisions. This article highlights many of them, along with relevant IRS guidance and congressional plans for technical corrections.

The suggestion by State Auditor Mike Foley that a licensed CPA firm in public practice would inherently lack independence or expertise is a misunderstanding of the profession and its regulatory framework.

Compliance letters will start going out to high-income taxpayers in 125,000 cases where third-party information indicated federal tax returns have not been filed since 2017.

Practitioners must weigh applicable professional standards and exercise due diligence in assessing whether a taxpayer claiming an employee retention credit must amend one or more income tax returns to reduce deductions of wages for which the credit was claimed.

A state legislative committee began working Tuesday to craft a proposal to reduce property taxes statewide by another $1 billion, as called for by Gov. Jim Pillen. The Revenue Committee didn't vote out any bill on the issue, but its chair, State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, floated the idea of raising the state sales tax by 1-cent and using the $531 million generated to increase state aid to K-12 schools.

In 2017, Congress passed a permanent reduction to the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. To ensure that pass-through businesses like sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations (i.e., the overwhelming majority of small businesses) weren’t put at a tax disadvantage relative to C corporations, Congress created a new 20% deduction for qualified business income. This deduction is codified at section 199A of the Internal Revenue Code. Unlike the permanent reduction for C corporations, however, the 20% deduction for pass-through businesses is scheduled to expire at the end of 2025.

The EPIC Option drive has suspended its contract with a Florida company for paid signature-gathering and struggled to bring in donations in recent weeks, according to a drive organizer.

The spring cohort of the Experience, Learn & Earn program is underway with more than 200 firms expressing interest in participating in the program throughout 2024. Firms can join the program for the summer and fall 2024 semesters. The program is open to firms of all sizes as well as companies, not-for-profits, and government employers who hire CPA-track staff.

After decades of increased property taxes, Nebraskans deserve true tax reform, not a tax shift. In crafting a tax package this session, senators should focus on creating long-term fiscal solutions, not “solving” one problem by creating another, says John Gage.

The IRS issued the 2024 depreciation limitations for passenger automobiles, including those for which bonus depreciation is applied.

As the March 22 deadline for the ERC voluntary disclosure program approaches, the IRS alerted small businesses to seven red flags it is focusing on when reviewing claims.

The most sought-after remote job companies are hiring for isn’t in tech, as you might expect. Accountant is the hottest work-from-home job on the market right now.

The tax extenders legislation, known as the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, is currently stuck in the Senate as senators seek changes in provisions such as the expanded Child Tax Credit. The $78B bill, which includes various tax relief measures, was passed by the House but has not yet been marked up by the Senate Finance Committee. Resistance from senior Republican senators like Idaho's Mike Crapo and Iowa's Chuck Grassley has contributed to the delay. The bill aims to increase deductions, provide disaster tax relief, and make improvements to tax credits. It also addresses the Child Tax Credit, indexing it to inflation and incrementally increasing the refundable portion. The IRS has advised taxpayers not to wait to file their tax returns, as any necessary adjustments will be made automatically if the bill is passed. The legislation also addresses the state and local tax deduction, known as the SALT cap, which has been a point of contention between Democrats and Republicans. A bill to increase the cap has been introduced but has not made progress. Analysis suggests that the benefits of the legislation would primarily go to high-income taxpayers.

The Legislature has finished more than a third of the 2024 legislative session.

Homestead exemption applications for the 2024 application year may start being submitted to county assessors today, Feb. 2. Applications must be submitted on or before July 1, 2024, due to June 30 falling on a Sunday.

Four straight days of gathering public input on Gov. Jim Pillen’s plan to use higher and broader sales taxes to lower property taxes made it clear there’s more work to be done.

The bill, which now goes to the Senate, also delays amortization of research or experimental costs and restores tax breaks for companies from 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.