If you have to pay estimated quarterly taxes, it is critical to pay the correct amount. Underpaying can result in a penalty, and overpaying gives what is essentially an interest-free loan to the government that cannot be recouped until a return is filed.

This is especially true in light of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which substantially changed income taxes. The law altered the tax brackets and tax rates for individual or married taxpayers, made changes to the allowable deductions for business expenses, increased the standard deduction and child tax credit, took away personal exemptions, and limited or ended other deductions. Because of this, many taxpayers will need to adjust the amount of the taxes they remit each quarter via estimated tax payments. 

Who Must Pay Estimated Quarterly Taxes?

Typically, taxpayers have to make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe tax of $1,000 or more when their returns are filed. One common category of taxpayers who should pay estimated quarterly taxes are people who are self-employed. In addition, investors and retirees often need to make these payments because they have a substantial portion of income that is not subject to withholding. Other income that is typically not subject to tax withholding includes interest, capital gains, stock dividends, alimony or spousal support, and income from rental property.

The administration of retirement accounts is notoriously technical, and mistakes by plan sponsors can occur. Furthermore, since an account holder will be maintaining and contributing to a retirement account for many years, there are often changes that must be made. Tax issues may arise when 403(b) and 401(a) retirement plans need to be corrected, and the IRS must typically be notified of any corrections. Fortunately, the IRS has several self-correction mechanisms in place that allow plan sponsors to resolve errors or mistakes on their own.

The IRS has three correction programs:

1. Self-Correction Program (SCP): Used to amend certain plan failures without communicating with the IRS or paying a user fee.
2. Voluntary Correction Program (VCP): Used to rectify failures not eligible for the SCP or get the IRS’s statement in writing that specified failures were correctly resolved.
3. Audit Closing Agreement Program (CAP): Used to correct failures found in the course of an IRS audit that cannot be self-corrected.  

The IRS recently announced an expansion of the self-correction program to allow additional types of failures to be remedied through the SCP instead of requiring parties to make a VCP submission to the IRS. The VCP process can often be expensive and lengthy.

There are several ways the IRS will be involved in the estate of someone who has died (known as a “decedent”). The IRS is notorious for enforcing payment of the taxes it claims it is due, including in situations involving a deceased person’s estate. 

Tax issues will be important to a deceased person’s personal representative, executor, successor trustee, and heirs, because the estate must pay all taxes due before the estate’s assets can be distributed to the beneficiaries. The IRS can even audit the tax returns of a dead person.

The estate will have to pay any income taxes due for the year of the person’s death (as well as for any year that the decedent did not file). Just like a taxpayer filing his or her income taxes each year, the estate administrator will file a Form 1040 for the estate. Depending on how organized the estate is, the estate administrator may need to file a Request for Transcript of Tax Return in order to get needed documents related to the deceased person’s income and taxes.

If you have been hit with a penalty by the IRS, you might believe that you have no other choice than to pay. This is an incorrect assumption, as there are numerous circumstances where the IRS may not require you to pay a penalty. In order to take advantage of this relief, you must fully comply with certain IRS procedures.

Importantly, if you believe you may be assessed a penalty, you can preemptively apply for abatement when you act quickly. Also, if you have already paid a penalty, you may still request abatement. In all cases of tax penalty abatement, time is of the essence. 

Do You Qualify for Tax Penalty Abatement?

The IRS offers penalty abatement to those who have a reasonable cause for late filing, late payment, or accuracy-related issues (negligence penalties). Reasonable causes include natural disasters and medical emergencies. If the IRS has made a mistake with regard to your return, you may also qualify for penalty abatement. Depending on your specific circumstance, you may also qualify for a one-time abatement of a penalty.

One change ushered in by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 permits eligible employees of privately held corporations to postpone paying income tax on the value of qualified stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs) granted to them by their employers. Under the law, one can postpone payment of this tax for up to 5 years.

This law is meant to encourage employee stock ownership in startup or early-stage businesses. It applies to stock options that are exercised and RSUs that are settled as of or after December 31, 2017. 

The IRS has announced and clarified many requirements that affect whether a person may be eligible for tax deferral. For example, in order for a company to be eligible, at least 80% of its domestic employees must have received stock options during a single calendar year.