News Updates

Congress will have until early March to finish work it was supposed to complete last fall — and will avert a partial government shutdown — under a bill both chambers approved Thursday with broad bipartisan support. The 77-18 vote in the Senate and 314-108 vote in the House sent the bill to President Joe Biden, and he is expected to sign it before a Friday midnight deadline.

— Gov. Jim Pillen pitched his proposal for "transformative" property tax relief on Thursday, calling for a broader sales tax, a "hard cap" on local school spending and the elimination of tax breaks won "by the best lobbyist." "We must lower our overall tax burden, widen our tax base, and end the era of special interest tax breaks," the first-term Republican said in his "State of the State" address.

The proposed Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 includes disallowing employee retention credit (ERC) claims filed after Jan. 31, 2024. The ERC provision will offset other items in the bill including restoring Sec. 174 (R&E) expensing, enhancements to the child tax credit, and other tax relief provisions. It will also allow the IRS to take meaningful action against the pervasive fraud that has plagued the ERC program. While there is a chance that this tax package will not pass and be signed into law, members may want to consider filing any outstanding claims immediately since there is enough congressional concern about the ERC program that lawmakers could pass a stand-alone bill to end the program early.

The self-reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act will affect many small and midsize businesses as well as sole practitioners — the bread-and-butter client base for most CPA firms.

Linehan proposes 1-cent increase, but hopes it will be less; other bills would hike taxes on cigarettes, vaping products and remove exemptions.

While the proposal may succeed in reducing property tax bills, some of its broader implications would be undesirable, says the Tax Foundation.

While a prefilled tax return may sound like it would make filing season less stressful, the current U.S. tax code is too complicated for it to work, says the Tax Foundation. Lawmakers should focus first on simplifying the tax code and strengthening existing taxpayer service before implementing a direct file program, the Foundation states.

Businesses do not have to report the receipt of digital assets as cash in determining whether cash received in a single transaction is over the $10,000 threshold for purposes of reporting under Sec. 6050I until the IRS issues final regulations.

Sen. Linehan proposes 1-cent increase, but hopes it will be less; other bills would hike taxes on cigarettes, vaping products, and remove exemptions

The leaders of the House and Senate have come up with a new budget deal, and many people aren’t happy. It still needs passing by January 19th, or else the government, evidently, may shutdown. We doubt that this will happen, but the fight over government spending seems to drag on year after year after year.

By Former Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton: "It seems to be a fundamental point of fairness that the party collecting taxes should not be the same party preparing the return. Individuals should be able to trust that their tax advisor seeks their best interests, and for taxpayers’ best interests to be served is it not evident that independence from the taxing entity is required?"

What some savers might not realize until a 1099 form pops up is that interest earned on their CDs and high-yield savings accounts will be taxable on their 2023 federal income tax returns.

It’s Day 9 at the Nebraska Legislature. Click here for the Weekly Legislative Report from Radcliffe Gilbertson & Brady! Please let me know if you have any concerns with the bills that are listed.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue (NDOR) estimates that $620 million of $631 million of revenue exceeding the forecast in December is a result of the Pass-Through Entities Election to be Subject to Income Tax (PTET), which will all be refunded during fiscal year 2023-24 and 2024-25. NDOR estimates the $620 million in PTET included $220 million from individual income tax and $400 million from corporation income tax.

With the IRS challenging the validity of many employee retention credit claims, what should practitioners do if they come across such claims during audit engagements? Experts Robert Durak and Michael Westervelt provide answers.

A final U.S. Department of Labor rule returns to an “economic reality test” for determining whether workers are employees or independent contractors. The rule could have tax and other implications for workers and employers alike.

It’s Day 7 at the Nebraska Legislature. We are over the halfway point for state senators to introduce bills. Committee hearings will be Jan. 22-Feb. 29.

Americans were on the move in 2023, and many chose low-tax states over high-tax ones. That’s the finding of recent U.S. Census Bureau interstate migration data and commercial datasets released last week by U-Haul and United Van Lines.

He voices support for broadening the sales tax base but would not say which sales tax exemptions should be eliminated.

IRS commissioner Danny Werfel promised “marked improvement” for the upcoming tax season, when almost 129 million individual tax returns are expected to be filed.