The presence of North Korean soldiers alongside Russian troops in the Russian region of Kursk has not yet had a major impact on the course of the fighting, a Ukrainian military intelligence official told AFP on Tuesday. According to Kyiv, 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including “about 500 officers and three generals”, are engaged in the […]
The National Socialists wanted to to absorb all independent Christianity under the new pagan nationalistic doctrines of the German state. Christmas was at the center of this.
I am not referring to the lighting of the White House Christmas tree but to passage of a “continuing resolution” (CR) funding the government and thus avoiding a Christmastime government shutdown.
The child-like obsession with buying stuff that American society is often criticized for around Christmas is a sought-after result of our government’s monetary policy.
Hundreds of Christians marched through the streets of Damascus on Tuesday to protest the burning of a Christmas tree in a village in central Syria. Christians have been highly skeptical of promises to protect all religious minorities made by the Islamist rebel leaders who overthrew dictator Bashar Assad.
S&P Futures are trading higher this morning in a tight trading range, volumes are light. China announced plans to issue $411B in special treasury bonds which will be used to help boost consumption. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. referred the decision on the proposed buyout of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel to President Biden. Netflix sues Broadcom’s VMware over violation of patent rights Banks are higher and airline stocks are on watch this morning. Equity markets to close at 1:00 pm today. In Europe stocks showing gains, Germany is close, France & U.K. markets have a shortened trading session today. Oil prices are ticking higher in the pre-market.
Instead of fearing another government shutdown Americans should be hoping and praying for one – and not just a five weeker. What a great Christmas gift to the entire nation that would be!
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is recommending taxpayers prepare for the 2025 tax filing season by taking certain key steps to make filing easier and help safeguard their tax information.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Washington on Nov. 18, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
“There are a number of things taxpayers can do to get ready as the end of 2024 nears and the start of the 2025 tax season approaches,” said a Dec. 19 statement from the agency. The latest reminder is part of the “Get Ready” series in which the IRS publishes key updates as the start of the 2025 tax season approaches.
The IRS encouraged taxpayers to sign up for an IRS Online Account. The account helps individuals view key information from their recent returns, make and cancel payments, get electronic notices from the agency, set up payment plans, and sign forms like powers of attorney, among other things.
Besides the account, the IRS recommended getting an Identity Protection Personal Identification Number, or IP PIN. “An IP PIN is a six-digit number that prevents someone else from filing a federal tax return using an individual’s Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.”
“It’s a vital tool for ensuring the safety of taxpayers’ personal and financial information,” the agency said.
A vital tool you say?
For the 2025 filing season, the IRS has made an update regarding dependents on tax forms.
Taxpayers claim dependents during filing returns to receive certain deductions and credits like the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, medical expense deduction, and education credits.
Sometimes, multiple people claim the same individuals as dependents on tax forms, like for instance, former spouses.
The IRS processes tax returns in the order they receive. As such, if the agency had already processed a return with certain dependents, another return seeking to claim the same individuals gets rejected.
However, starting from the 2025 filing season, returns claiming same dependents shall be accepted by the agency, provided the taxpayer includes a valid IP PIN.
The IRS says the new update “will reduce the time for the agency to receive the tax return and accelerate the issuance of tax refunds for those with duplicate dependent returns.”
“The best way to sign up for an IP PIN is through the IRS Online Account,” the agency said. However, “if an individual is unable to create an Online Account, alternative methods are available, such as in-person authentication at a Taxpayer Assistance Center.”
The IRS also highlighted the upcoming estimated tax payment due date.
“Taxpayers with non-wage income—such as unemployment benefits, self-employment income, annuity payments or earnings from digital assets—may need to make estimated or additional tax payments,” said the agency.
The deadline to make these payments for the September–December quarter of 2024 is Jan. 15.
1099-K Reporting, Digital Assets
Taxpayers who sold goods or services and collected over $5,000 in receipts via payment apps or online marketplaces in 2024 “should expect to receive a Form 1099-K,” the IRS said.
The form details payments received by taxpayers engaged in such transactions. Taxpayers must now account for these incomes when filing returns.
When previously the form was issued if the total transaction value in a year exceeded $20,000, currently the threshold is set at $5,000. This reduction is part of a plan to eventually reduce the limit to $600.
The IRS clarified that “taxpayers must report all income on their tax return unless it’s excluded by law, whether they receive a Form 1099-K or not.”
“The law doesn’t allow taxpayers to avoid taxes on income earned just because they didn’t get a form reporting the payments received.”
Form 1099-K income threshold reduction has come under criticism from lawmakers.
Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) introduced the “Saving Gig Economy Taxpayers Act” which seeks to revert it back to $20,000. She called the reduction “a tax hike on Americans and gig workers who use online payment platforms.”
Meanwhile, the IRS also reminded taxpayers to report all income related to digital assets like cryptocurrencies when filing the 2024 returns.
“If a taxpayer had digital asset transactions last year, they should be sure to keep records that prove their purchase, receipt, sale, exchange or any other disposition of the digital assets,” the IRS said. This includes the fair market value of such assets measured in U.S. dollars.
The IRS received around $5.1 trillion in tax revenues in the latest fiscal year 2024, roughly $400 billion more than in the previous year.
A North Korean hacking group stole cryptocurrency worth over $300 million from the Japan-based exchange DMM Bitcoin, according to Japanese police and the United States’ FBI. The TraderTraitor group — believed to be part of Lazarus Group, which is allegedly linked to the Pyongyang authorities — carried out the heist, Japan’s National Police Agency said […]
“There was no ‘classical’ liberalism, only a single liberalism, based on private property and the free market, that developed organically, from first to last.”
