Tax

Highlights of some of our favorite tax-related blogs from the past week.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state is expanding its network of free tax assistance sites, opening 80 new sites across the Empire State and offering 942 free sessions to New Yorkers, while also dedicating more money toward combating tax fraud.

H&R Block is warning that taxpayers in 12 states will be unable to use certain federal tax breaks on their state tax returns because of Congress’s late passage of tax extenders legislation, leading to lower state tax refunds.

A CPA has released what he is calling a “survival kit” for the Internal Revenue Service’s recently revised repair regulations for tangible property.

Ah, the emotions of tax season: the rising sense of intensity and excitement followed by the descent into exhaustion.

The Internal Revenue Service warned tax preparers and other tax professionals to be on guard against bogus emails seeking updated personal or professional information that in reality are phishing schemes.

A group of plaintiffs are suing the Treasury Department, the Social Security Administration, and the District of Columbia, claiming the federal government is continuing to hold onto their tax refunds to pay for supposed overpayments of Social Security benefits decades ago.

The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday it would begin a limited test at 10 of its Taxpayer Assistance Centers to determine whether an appointment-based service approach at its walk-in centers might help reduce taxpayer wait times during a time of severe budget cuts at the agency.

Tonya Keith typically spends four to eight hours doing her taxes each year. This year, she says, “I’ve got about 30 hours in, and I’m not done.” The reason: She and her wife got married last year in Seattle, but they live in Georgia, which doesn’t recognize their marriage.

Last Friday, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2015-20, which lessens the requirements for certain companies to file a Form 3115 while adopting the new repair regulations.