Wednesday August 24, 2022 – Today the IRS announces broad-based penalty relief for certain 2019 and 2020 returns due to the pandemic; $1.2 billion in penalties being refunded to 1.6 million taxpayers.

IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig said “Penalty relief is a complex issue for the IRS to administer. We’ve been working on this initiative for months following concerns we’ve heard from taxpayers, the tax community and others, including Congress. This is another major step to help taxpayers, and we encourage those affected by this to review the guidelines.”

As with most IRS tax relief plans – if you followed the rules and filed on time – there is nothing for you. Not even a thank you.

Attorney Steven A. Leahy looks over this new IRS plan on Today’s Tax Talk.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/covid-tax-relief-irs-provides-broad-based-penalty-relief-for-certain-2019-and-2020-returns-due-to-the-pandemic-1-point-2-billion-in-penalties-being-refunded-to-1-point-6-million-taxpayers

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-22-36.pdf

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxes/irs-to-refund-16-million-people-who-missed-tax-filing-deadlines/ar-AA113RCj?fromMaestro=true

Tuesday August 23, 2022 – Cryptocurrency has been all the rage since Satoshi Nakamoto’s famous Whitepaper “Bitcoin – a Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System.” Turns out, that famous whitepaper was really about the Blockchain.

Now, I’m not discounting Cryptocurrency – it has already changed the world – with much promise remaining. But, it sure looks like Blockchain Technolgy is leaving Crypto behind.

Blockchain is changing the Web (Facebook and Twitter will soon be obsolete thanks to blockchain technology), Insurance (Blockchain in Insurance: How Will it Change the Industry?), transportation (How blockchain can fix the transportation menace”, and Banking (Wall Street Bankers Tap Blockchain Use Beyond Crypto) – and those are just today’s stories.

Attorney Steven A. Leahy takes a look at how Blockchain is chang9ng how we do busiess in every sector.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/facebook-and-twitter-will-soon-be-obsolete-thanks-to-blockchain-technology

https://www.financialexpress.com/digital-currency/how-blockchain-can-fix-the-transportation-menace/2640456/

https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2022/wall-street-bankers-tap-blockchain-use-beyond-crypto/

https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/tracker-crypto-and-fintech-developments-in-the-biden-administration/

Thursday August 18, 2022 – Congress has awarded the IRS $80 Billion! It’s like winning the lottery! The recent problems with the IRS are well known: Huge backlog of tax return processing, delays in issuing refunds, answering only 1 in 9 phone calls, accusations of political bias, cybersecurity incurrsions, privacy breeches, and on and on.

Will this monumental infussion of cash solve all of those problems. That is the question Americans should be asking. We already fund the IRS to a tune of nearly $14 Billion a year. That aint hey. It’s not like they aren’t funded. Have you EVER heard a United States Government Agency say they are adequatley funded?

There are those already saying this IRS increase is not enough…the IRS needs more!

Attorney Steven A. Leahy looks at the IRS as it stands and asks the question – Will $80 Billion Fix the IRS? on Today’s Tax Talk.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-08-17/the-irs-has-problems-that-80-billion-won-t-solve

https://www.foxnews.com/media/wapo-fact-checker-glenn-kessler-claims-gop-preying-voters-fear-irs-twitter-lights-him-up

Wednesday August 17, 2022 – Well, President Bident signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law yesterday. The IRS just received an additional $80 Billion dollars over the next 10 years – a 75% increase in the IRS budget. Did you know the IRS budget, after all supplemental funding is close to $14 Billion dollars already!

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen promised “these investments will not result in households earning $400,000 per year or less or small businesses seeing an increase in the chances that they are audited relative to historical levels.”

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig have promised “These resources are absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans”

Attorney Steven A. Leahy measures these promises with the facts on Today’s Tax Talk.

https://mycbs4.com/news/nation-world/fact-check-team-how-the-irs-expansion-could-impact-middle-class-americans-new-spending-bill-provides-80b-to-irs-for-enforcement-audits-on-high-income-taxpayers-irs-expansion-democrats-reconciliation-bill-will-add-87000-employees-to-irs-to-improve-efficie

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dont-worry-about-a-beefier-irs-unless-youre-a-tax-cheat-202620223.html

https://news.yahoo.com/yellen-eyes-80b-boost-monumental-151335732.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/08/reconciliation-bill-includes-nearly-80-billion-for-irs-funding.html

Tuesday August 16, 2022 – President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act today. You may not know the Inflation Reduction Act allocates $4.6 billion dollars to “Enforcement.”

The Act also explictly directs the IRS to perform “digital asset monitoring and compliance activities.”

“(ii) ENFORCEMENT.—For necessary expenses for tax enforcement activities of the Internal Revenue Service to determine and collect owed taxes, to provide legal and litigation support, to conduct criminal investigations (including investigative technology), to provide digital asset monitoring and compliance activities,”

Attorney Steven A. Leahy reviews the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets.

https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2022/08/14/what-the-inflation-reduction-act-means-for-cryptocurrency-regulation/69430/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxnotes/2022/08/04/what-the-irs-funding-in-the-inflation-reduction-act-means-for-taxpayers/?sh=61ee2ddf374d

https://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/has-blockchain-found-a-use-beyond-crypto-trading/news-story/203a968b109c9929eccf8e58f9f54aed