2022 Year In Review: Lessons Taxpayers in Massachusetts Should Carry Into the New Year

With 2022 in the books, it’s time to look ahead to the New Year. But, before we do that, it’s worth taking a look back at some of the lessons we learned in the year that was. Here is a recap of some of our top articles for taxpayers in Massachusetts from 2022:

The Tax Implications of Cryptocurrency and NFTs

While 2022 was not a great year for many cryptocurrency investors, some forecasters are predicting a rebound in 2023. For those who lost money in crypto or NFTs, it will be important to accurately calculate and report their losses for federal income tax purposes on their 2022 returns. We published multiple articles on the tax implications of cryptocurrency and NFTs early in the year, including:

• Crypto Tax Rules: What You Need to Know When Preparing Your Returns
• U.S. Treasury Department Provides Clarity on Crypto Miners’ and Stakers’ Tax Reporting Obligations
• IRS Issues Updated Cryptocurrency FAQs
• What are the Tax Implications of Buying and Selling NFTs?

Massachusetts Taxpayers Need to Be Cautious About Filing Amended Returns

While filing an amended return is one option for reducing taxpayers’ liability to the IRS (when warranted) or coming into compliance with the Internal Revenue Code, informing the IRS that you made a mistake can be dangerous as well. When the IRS announced new options for amending taxpayers’ federal tax returns in June, we warned that taxpayers need to be careful when deciding whether this is their best option.

The Trust Fund Recovery Penalty for Massachusetts Employers

Under federal tax law, employers are required to collect FICA taxes from their employees, and then they must hold these funds in “trust” until they transfer them to the IRS. The IRS’ Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) applies not only to employers that underpay their trust fund liability but to “responsible persons” who are involved in the violation as well.

IRS’s New Five-Year Plan and IRS CI’s Annual Report Highlight Enforcement Priorities

Along with enforcing employers’ trust fund payment obligations, the IRS has a number of other enforcement priorities as well. It highlighted these priorities in its new five-year strategic plan released in July. Shortly after the plan’s release, we published an article covering some of the key insights for individual and corporate taxpayers.

In November, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) released its FY 2022 Annual Report. We published an article discussing key insights from this report as well.

Complying with the Federal Tax Laws in 2023

In addition to the topics discussed above, we published articles throughout 2022 (as we do every year) on various topics related to federal tax law compliance. Here is a sampling of our articles from the year with takeaways that Massachusetts taxpayers can carry into 2023:

• The 2022 Deadline for Reporting Foreign Financial Assets is Approaching—Do You Need to File?
• Is Your Money-Making Hobby a Business? (Hint: It Should Be)
• IRS Announces Tax Inflation Adjustments for 2023
• Interest Rates for Federal Tax Underpayments To Increase in 2023

Contact Thorn Law Group in Boston, MA

Do you have questions or concerns about federal tax compliance in 2023? If so, we invite you to get in touch. To request an appointment with tax attorney Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, please call 617-692-2989, email ket@thornlawgroup.com or contact us confidentially online today.