Receiving Tips Can Be Taxing
Anyone who collects tips must include those tips in their taxable income. This requirement is not limited to waiters and waitresses; it applies to anyone who collects tips, including taxicab, Uber, Lyft, and similar drivers; beauticians; porters; concierges; and delivery people.
Tips are amounts freely given by a customer to a person providing a service. They are generally given as cash but also include tips made on a credit or debit card or as part of a tip-sharing arrangement. Tips can also be in the form of non-traditional gifts such as tickets to events, wine, and other items of value. If you receive $20 or more in tips in any month, you should report all of your tips to your employer.
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Generally speaking, tax return mistakes are a lot more common than you probably realize. Taxes are naturally complicated, and the paperwork required to file them properly is often convoluted. This is especially true if you’re filing your taxes yourself — and all of this is in reference to a fairly normal year as far as the IRS is concerned.
You know the old line about the inevitability of death and taxes? It’s still true. What isn’t inevitable, however, is the need to pay penalties to the IRS. It happens, but it doesn’t have to, and the main reason that it does is because taxpayers don’t educate themselves about the rules. When you get hit with an 
Receiving notification from the Internal Revenue Service that there’s some kind of problem is one of the most bone-chilling situations an American taxpayer can experience. Just receiving an envelope with a return address from the IRS can strike fear. There are many different reasons that the IRS might reach out, but some are more common than others.
This is a common question: How long must taxpayers keep copies of their tax returns and supporting documents?
If you have been procrastinating about filing your 2017 tax return or have not filed other prior year returns, you should consider the consequences, including the penalties, interest, and aggressive enforcement actions. Plus, if you have a refund coming for a prior you may end up forfeiting it.
If you have received an IRS envelope from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in your mailbox that does not contain a refund check, it will probably cause an increase your heart rate likely increased. But Don’t panic, though; most of the issues in these letters can be dealt with simply and painlessly.
With all of the tax reform changes and the corresponding reductions in most taxpayers’ income tax withholding, there are serious concerns that the reduction in withholding, although providing more take-home pay now, could end up resulting in unexpected taxes due at tax time next year. For that reason, taxpayers should be overly cautious about their payroll withholding for 2018. One need only look at the W-4 instructions to realize that an individual without any substantial tax training can quickly become lost when filling out the worksheets. It is not business as usual.
Alimony is the term used for payments to a separated spouse or ex-spouse as part of a divorce or separation agreement. Since 1985, to be alimony for tax purposes meets several criteria listed in this week’s article.