The Blog
Tax cases & IRS updates, in plain English.
What the latest court decisions and agency announcements actually mean for you — written by Alex Volkov, NY-licensed CPA. No jargon, no hype.
The IRS’s 2026 “Dirty Dozen” scam list is out — and AI is the new trick.
Every filing season the IRS publishes its Dirty Dozen — the twelve scams most likely to cost you money or your identity. This year’s list has a new star: AI-generated voice calls that sound exactly like a federal agent.
Read the breakdown →No tax on tips and overtime: what the new 2026 deductions actually say.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act — signed July 4, 2025 — created brand-new deductions for tipped workers, hourly workers earning overtime, seniors, and car buyers. Here’s what the tips and overtime breaks really cover, and what they don’t.
Read the breakdown →Your receipts aren’t enough: a Tax Court lesson for the self-employed.
A licensed real estate agent claimed big Schedule C deductions for travel, meals, and his car. The Tax Court threw out nearly all of them — and added a 20% penalty. The problem wasn’t that the expenses were fake. The problem was the records.
Read the breakdown →First-time IRS penalty relief is now automatic.
Missed a filing or payment deadline on your 2025 return? The IRS’s new Automatic Exemption from Penalty program means qualifying taxpayers get first-time penalty relief without calling, writing, or asking. Here’s who qualifies — and what it doesn’t cover.
Read the breakdown →$1,000 for your kid’s future: Trump Accounts are live.
The federal government will seed a new tax-advantaged savings account with $1,000 for children born 2025–2028. Accounts went live in July 2026 — and there’s a catch involving a 10-page IRS form.
Read the breakdown →The SALT cap is $40,000 now — should you itemize again?
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act quadrupled the state-and-local-tax deduction cap for 2026. For New York homeowners, the itemize-vs-standard-deduction math just changed — but only through 2029.
Read the breakdown →The IRS lost a third of its staff. Here’s what that means for your case.
Between January 2025 and January 2026, more than 31,000 IRS employees left — about 30% of the workforce. The watchdogs say the damage shows up in backlogs, phone lines, and refund delays. Here’s how to navigate it.
Read the breakdown →Bought a car this year? The interest may now be deductible.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act created a brand-new deduction for auto loan interest — up to $10,000 a year for qualifying new vehicles, through 2028. Here’s who qualifies.
Read the breakdown →The IRS said “we mailed it.” The Tax Court said: prove it.
In Wales v. Commissioner, the IRS tried to shut down an innocent-spouse case by claiming it had mailed a determination notice two years earlier. It couldn’t produce the mailing log — and the court kept the case alive. Here’s why IRS procedure matters as much as IRS substance.
Read the breakdown →Stop paying a fee to pay your taxes.
The IRS reminded everyone this month that Direct Pay moves money straight from your bank account — no sign-in, no fee. If you’re self-employed and still paying quarterly estimates by card, you’re donating a percentage for nothing.
Read the breakdown →No posts in this category yet — check back soon.
Archive
September 2026
- The IRS’s 2026 “Dirty Dozen” scam list is out — and AI is the new trick.
- No tax on tips and overtime: what the new 2026 deductions actually say.
- Your receipts aren’t enough: a Tax Court lesson for the self-employed.
- First-time IRS penalty relief is now automatic.
- $1,000 for your kid’s future: Trump Accounts are live.
- The SALT cap is $40,000 now — should you itemize again?
- The IRS lost a third of its staff. Here’s what that means for your case.
- Bought a car this year? The interest may now be deductible.
- The IRS said “we mailed it.” The Tax Court said: prove it.
- Stop paying a fee to pay your taxes.