IRS offers Noncitizens filing reminder

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IRS reminds noncitizen taxpayers and withholding agents of filing obligations. The IRS issued a news release reminding non-U.S. citizens who have taxable income, such as international students who receive scholarship funds, of their potential filing obligations. The IRS also informed withholding agents that accurately filing Forms 1042-S, “Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding,” is required and will help speed any refunds to non-U.S. citizen taxpayers. For more on Form 1042-S requirements: http://bit.ly/2ml1vt3

Senior Citizens Major Target

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Tax fraud and scams targeting senior citizens are a major concern. Scams involving sweepstakes, lotteries, investments, phishing and thieves impersonating IRS employees are among the top 10 fraud schemes used by criminals to target seniors, according to Timothy Camus, Deputy Inspector general for investigations at the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Speaking to a congressional committee, Camus added that “financial scams often go unreported by senior citizens or can be difficult to prosecute, so they are considered a ‘low-risk’ crime.”

IRS denies business deductions

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IRS denies dental business deductions lacking substantiation. Two married dentists were largely denied deductions above amounts the IRS allowed for office and marketing expenses related to their dental practice. The couple claimed that ink on receipts had faded due to age or water damage, and instead offered credit card statements to substantiate the disputed items. However, those statements didn’t show the full amount of charges being claimed. Also, the doctors failed to prove that multiple expenses weren’t for nondeductible personal items. (TC Memo 2017-34)

Information about Health Care reform starts to be known

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Clues filter out about possible changes to health care plans. A recent policy brief given to members of Congress explains more about how Republicans plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Part of the proposed plan relies on “advanceable and refundable” tax credits, but also being proposed are changes to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Under this proposal, HSAs will be enhanced with changes, including increasing the annual amount individuals can contribute to them, and allowing the purchase of certain over-the-counter health products with HSA funds.

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