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The United States and Japan have struck a trade deal for battery minerals, according to Reuters. This deal could potentially allow Japanese electric cars greater access to US EV tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August, included big changes to how the US federal EV tax credit works. One of those changes involves restricting credit availability to vehicles that are assembled in North America, with additional requirements based on where battery…

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., questions IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig at a Senate Finance Committee hearing.Tom Williams | Pool | ReutersPresident Joe Biden's nominee to lead the IRS answered questions during a Senate Finance Committee hearing this week, highlighting key issues from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.Daniel Werfel, a former budget official and private sector leader, fielded questions Wednesday about the agency's funding, enforcement, transparency and other priorities.  "I think…

Bill Oxford | E+ | Getty ImagesThe tax season is underway, and the IRS has issued nearly 8 million refunds worth about $15.7 billion as of Feb. 3, the agency reported.The average refund amount was $1,963, down from last year's payment of $2,201 at the same point in the filing season. Of course, the average may change as the IRS processes millions more returns before the April 18 deadline.While the agency warned refunds may be "somewhat lower" this season, experts say it's still too early to know for sure.More from Smart…

dmphoto | E+ | Getty ImagesTax season is underway, and there's been increased scrutiny of the IRS as it starts deploying part of the nearly $80 billion in funding approved for the agency by Congress in August. While Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said goals include boosting customer service and improving technology, critics have warned the new funding will spark an uptick in IRS audits. "People are scared to death of the IRS," said Karla Dennis, an enrolled agent and founder of Karla Dennis and Associates. "They…

Jeffrey Coolidge | Photodisc | Getty ImagesBlack Americans are roughly three to five times more likely to face an IRS audit than other taxpayers, according to a new study.While there isn't evidence of explicit discrimination from the IRS or its revenue agents, the findings show the disparity stems from a faulty software algorithm used by the agency to pick who gets audited.Based on microdata on roughly 148 million tax returns and 780,000 audits, the study was conducted by economists at Stanford University, the University…

Credit: Stanford University Researchers have long wondered if the IRS uses its audit powers equitably. And now we have learned that it does not. Black taxpayers receive IRS audit notices at least 2.9 times (and perhaps as much as 4.7 times) more often than non-Black taxpayers, according to a new paper by Daniel E. Ho, the William…

WASHINGTON—When calculating federal income taxes, it makes absolutely no difference which spouse is listed first on a joint tax return. An opposite-sex couple can put the man’s name first, start with the woman’s name, list them in order of income, go alphabetically or begin with the spouse who woke up earlier last Tuesday. It literally doesn’t matter one cent.But there are two lines for names on Form 1040. Somebody has to go first, and somebody has to go second. Maybe knowing something about the order we choose can help…

kate_sept2004 | E+ | Getty ImagesTax season kicked off for individual filers Monday with a bigger IRS customer service team and enhanced technology as the agency begins to deploy its nearly $80 billion in funding. Over the past several months, the IRS has hired 5,000 new customer service staff, aiming to "significantly increase" the number of answered calls, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo told reporters Friday.IRS service was flagged as one of the agency's "most serious problems" in the National Taxpayer…

WASHINGTON—The Internal Revenue Service significantly shrank its backlogged pile of tax returns during 2022 but still faces a challenging tax-filing season ahead, according to a report released Wednesday. As of Dec. 9, 2022, the IRS had 1 million individual returns and 1.5 million business returns awaiting processing, according to the report from Erin Collins, the national taxpayer advocate, who runs an independent taxpayer-assistance operation inside the…

The Internal Revenue Service offered a lifeboat of sorts Tuesday to California residents and businesses floundering in the atmospheric river: More time to pay their income taxes.The agency announced that taxpayers in any county covered by a federal emergency declaration would have until May 15 to file their income tax returns for 2022. So far, 31 of the state’s 58 counties are in that group, including Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Ventura counties; if the declaration is extended to more counties, the IRS will grant…