News

Last month, the IRS announced that certain taxpayers generally have until July 15, 2020, to file and pay federal income taxes originally due on April 15. The IRS has extended this relief to additional returns, tax payments and other actions. As a result, the extensions generally now apply to all taxpayers that have a filing or payment deadline falling on or after April 1, 2020, and before July 15, 2020. The extensions apply to many forms and tax payments made by tax-exempt organizations, including: 

To combat anticipated financial hardships occurring as a result of COVID 19, the Treasury Department has announced that taxpayers may postpone the payment of up to $1,000,000 in income taxes due for 2019 ($10,000,000 in the case of corporations) until July 15, 2020 without penalties and interest. The $1,000,000 limitation applies regardless of whether the taxpayer is filing an individual or joint return. Income tax returns are NOW DUE JULY 15.*

As you may have heard, Congress recently passed — and the President signed into law — the SECURE Act, which is landmark legislation that affects the rules for creating and maintaining employer-sponsored retirement plans. SECURE stands for the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act. The SECURE Act is generally effective on January 1, 2020.

By: E. Conner McNair Published in Northwest Arkansas Business Journal With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in late 2017, most of the talk regarding tax reform has focused on the changes to the federal tax laws under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). However, during the 92nd General Assembly, which concluded on April 24, Arkansas prioritized and passed numerous changes to its own tax laws.

As a result of severe flooding in many parts of Arkansas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared last Thursday that an emergency exists in Arkansas, Chicot, Conway, Crawford, Desha, Faulkner, Jefferson, Johnson, Lincoln, Logan, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Sebastian, and Yell Counties. This means that taxpayers are now eligible under Internal Revenue Code Section 165(i) to claim casualty losses on either their 2018 or 2019 tax returns for losses incurred as a result of the emergency.

Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP is pleased to announce that 26 attorneys are recognized as “Leaders in Their Field” in eight practice areas in the 2019 Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

For most taxpayers, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) should provide a welcome reduction to their tax bills. Taxpayers should see the act’s immediate impact on their tax bills as they work to finalize and file their 2018 tax returns.