Tax Time Guide and Creating an IRS Online Account

Have you heard about the IRS’s Tax Time Guide? For those who may not know, it is an online resource to help taxpayers with filing accurate tax returns while also answering frequently asked questions regarding any significant changes that may affect tax returns. This guide is updated throughout the tax filing season on an annual and periodic basis to provide information to taxpayers when submitting their tax returns to the IRS.

Other benefits of referring to the IRS’s Tax Time Guide is determining if there are any significant changes in deductions or credits for the tax filing year. In 2024, for example, there was a change in the maximum Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) amount which increased to $1,700 for each qualifying child. The Standard Deduction amount also increased for all filers which changed as follows: Single or Married filing separately ($14,600), Head of Household ($21,900) and Married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse ($29,200). For more information on changes for the 2024 tax year, check out the IRS’s Tax Time Guide 2025: Essentials needed for filing a 2024 tax return.

In preparation for filing your tax return(s), do not forget to gather and collect all tax documents before filing. This will help taxpayers avoid delays in processing, errors, corrections, and potential tax liabilities that could be minimized if filing accurately. The ability to safely examine your tax data, payment history, and other important information to expedite the tax preparation process and find any eligible deductions or credits is one of many advantages of setting up an IRS Online Account.

If you have any questions regarding your tax return(s) or received a notice from the IRS, FTB, EDD or any other regulatory agency, please call or email Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC, to setup a consultation with our firm.

Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC is a boutique Orange County tax controversy law firm that specializes in representation of individuals and businesses before federal and state tax authorities with audits, appeals, FBAR, offshore compliance, litigation and criminal defense.  Firm founder, Joseph P. Wilson, is a former Federal tax prosecutor and trial attorney for the IRS and California Franchise Tax Board.  Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC, is comprised of former IRS litigators & Special Agents, and Assistant US Attorneys from the US Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, Tax Division, which at the time handled both civil tax lawsuits and criminal tax prosecutions on behalf of the United States of America.

For further information, or to arrange a consultation please contact: Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC

Tel: (949) 397-2292 (Newport Beach Office) 

Tel: (714) 463-4430 (Yorba Linda Office)

Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice. Please consult with a qualified attorney, accountant or financial advisor for specific guidance related to your circumstances.

2025 Second Quarter Interest Rate Update: IRS Makes No Changes

Interest rates will not change for the calendar quarter starting April 1, 2025, according to a statement released by the Internal Revenue Service this past Monday.

The annual compound interest rate for overpayments and underpayments for individuals will be 7%. The full list of the updated rates is as follows:

• 7% for overpayments (payments made more than the amount owed), 6% for corporations.


• 4.5% for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000.


• 7% for underpayments (taxes owed but not fully paid).


• 9% for large corporate underpayments.

The rate of interest is set quarterly in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code. The federal short-term rate plus three percentage points is the overpayment and underpayment rate for taxpayers that are not reporting as a “Corporation”.

For Corporations, the federal short-term rate plus three percentage points is often the underpayment rate, while the federal short-term rate plus two percentage points is the overpayment rate. The federal short-term rate plus five percentage points is the rate for underpayments by large corporations. The federal short-term rate plus  one-half (0.5) of a percentage point is the rate applied to the portion of a corporate overpayment of taxes that exceeds $10,000 for a taxable period.

The interest rates announced Monday are computed from the federal short-term rate determined during January 2025. See the revenue ruling for details. Revenue Ruling 2025-7 PDF announcing the rates of interest, is attached and will appear in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2025-13, dated March 24, 2025. Stay tuned for more information.

To find out more about how Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC, could help you or your business with tax litigation and strengthen your defense strategies, we invite you to set up a  consultation with our firm.

Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC is a boutique Orange County tax controversy law firm that specializes in representation of individuals and businesses before federal and state tax authorities with audits, appeals, FBAR, offshore compliance, litigation and criminal defense.  Firm founder, Joseph P. Wilson, is a former Federal tax prosecutor and trial attorney for the IRS and California Franchise Tax Board.  Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC, is comprised of former IRS litigators & Special Agents, and Assistant US Attorneys from the US Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, Tax Division, which at the time handled both civil tax lawsuits and criminal tax prosecutions on behalf of the United States of America.

For further information, or to arrange a consultation please contact: Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC

Tel: (949) 397-2292 (Newport Beach Office) 

Tel: (714) 463-4430 (Yorba Linda Office)

Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice. Please consult with a qualified attorney, accountant or financial advisor for specific guidance related to your circumstances.

 

IRS Releases Over 6,000 Employees Ahead of Tax Season

About 6,700 probationary IRS employees, or nearly 7% of the agency's workforce, were let go by the current administration on February 20, 2025, according to multiple sources. Probationary staff in the Chief Counsel's Office will not be impacted as reported by Bloomberg Tax. Being probationary indicates that they were either new to the IRS or had been promoted and/or transferred to a different role.

With more than 3,500 employees discharged within IRS, the Small Business and Self-Employed Unit seems to be the most impacted because of this change. This reduction in workforce aims to conclude the previous Administration’s plan to expand the IRS where it’s focus was to scrutinize the work performed by the small business and self-employed unit, which has since been mostly revoked or suspended and previously funded by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

It has been reported that these workforce terminations were announced internally on February 20, 2025, and went into effect on February 21, 2025. These employee reductions come in addition to recent losses from employees accepting a voluntary termination offer. The IRS workforce reductions are heavily weighted on the enforcement side and will gut IRS efforts to increase audit activity. It is also possible that taxpayer services may be affected by such reductions. These layoffs occurring ahead of tax season are meant to shrink the federal work force as probationary positions were determined as unnecessary for this year’s tax filing season.

Please reach out to our firm if you need legal tax assistance. Until then, we will continue to closely monitor these drastic changes and report on any new information as it becomes available.

To find out more about how Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC, could help you or your business with tax litigation and strengthen your defense strategies, we invite you to set up a  consultation with our firm.

Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC is a boutique Orange County tax controversy law firm that specializes in representation of individuals and businesses before federal and state tax authorities with audits, appeals, FBAR, offshore compliance, litigation and criminal defense.  Firm founder, Joseph P. Wilson, is a former Federal tax prosecutor and trial attorney for the IRS and California Franchise Tax Board.  Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC, is comprised of former IRS litigators & Special Agents, and Assistant US Attorneys from the US Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, Tax Division, which at the time handled both civil tax lawsuits and criminal tax prosecutions on behalf of the United States of America.

For further information, or to arrange a consultation please contact: Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC.

Tel: (949) 397-2292 (Newport Beach Office) 

Tel: (714) 463-4430 (Yorba Linda Office)

Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice. Please consult with a qualified attorney, accountant or financial advisor for specific guidance related to your circumstances.