Ken Berry, Esq., is a nationally-known writer and editor specializing in tax and financial planning matters. During a career of more than 35 years, he has served as managing editor of a publisher of content-based marketing tools and vice president of an online continuing education company in the financial services industry. As a freelance writer, Ken has authored thousands of articles for a wide variety of newsletters, magazines and other periodicals, emphasizing a sense of wit and clarity.
July 19, 2015
National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson has released a report on the state of affairs at the IRS. There was plenty to complain about during the first half of 2015, but it remains to be seen how much the IRS can improve.
July 16, 2015
The tax law provides some "tax insurance” for gambling activities. Generally, you can deduct the amount of your losses up to the amount of your winnings if you keep the proper records. But you can’t deduct an overall loss or related business expense.
July 16, 2015
One of the groups working on tax reform for the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) has just recommended that the two higher education credits and the tuition deduction be combined into a single credit. But significant tax reform is still in its infancy.
July 7, 2015
Effective midway through this year -- July 1, 2015, to be exact – certain employers that pay the health insurance premiums of its employees will be assessed hefty fines for their generosity.
July 7, 2015
The provision for so-called Cadillac plans doesn’t take effect until January 1, 2018. But employers are already exploring the available options or at least they should be. Reason: If a plan exceeds certain limits, it is subject to a stiff penalty in ...
July 1, 2015
The tax break for “net unrealized appreciation” (NUA) is one of the biggest tax breaks on the books for retirement-savers, but it is often overlooked.
July 1, 2015
Practically every Roth IRA owner knows that you can take qualified distributions from the account without paying any tax on the withdrawals. That’s why many of your clients set up the Roth in the first place. But it’s not as well-known that ...
July 1, 2015
For many years, self-employed individuals shied away from 401(k) plans. It was usually too costly and cumbersome to administer such a plan for just a single participant. But now the “solo 401(k)” is a more viable alternative for this segment of the ...
July 1, 2015
According to a new report by the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC), the IRS has made significant strides on the electronic frontier, but the mission is far from complete.
June 30, 2015
The 2015 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums offers seminars over three days featuring up-to-date information from the IRS and professional experts in the areas of tax law, compliance and ethics. It also provides continuing education credits to ...
June 29, 2015
Three specialized groups were established with members from the IRS, states and private industry co-chairing and serving on each team. During the past 12 weeks, the three teams focused on developing ways to validate the authenticity of taxpayers ...
June 28, 2015
The best advice that tax practitioners and business advisers can give their clients in the wake of the new Supreme Court decision on Obamacare is actually pretty simple: Keep doing what you’re doing.
