Recent Developments That May Affect Your Tax Situation

To the Rackers & Fernandez family of clients: The following is a summary of important tax developments that have occurred in the past three months that may affect you, your family, your investments, and your livelihood. Please call us for more information about any of these developments and what steps you should implement to take advantage of favorable developments and…

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St. Louis Minimum Wage to Revert

Gov. Eric Greitens says he will let a bill repealing a St. Louis minimum wage become law without his signature. The decision announced last Friday by Greitens means St. Louis’ $10-an-hour minimum wage that has been in place since early May will come to an end Aug. 28 when new Missouri laws take effect. The minimum wage in St. Louis…

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IRS to Launch New Digital System to Spot Frivolous Tax Returns

The IRS is about to launch yet another digital system designed to spot “frivolous” tax returns after the last several systems let too many bogus claims through, according to a recent tax audit released this month. The tax agency had thought it had solved the problem when it moved to a new system in 2012, but there was a major drop in…

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2017 Tax Reform: Anticipated Trump Tax Cut Accelerating Debt Limit Showdown

As reported by Reuters, the U.S. Congress may be headed for a reckoning with the federal debt limit sooner than expected, thanks to wealthy Americans and corporations deferring tax payments in the hope that they would benefit from the lower tax rates promised by President Trump. This article examines the tax revenues received this year and a number of ways…

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Missouri Refund Status

State tax refunds were due back last week — June 2, to be precise — to every Missouri resident who filed by the April 18 Tax Day deadline. But according to Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway, more than 1,000 people have called her office’s whisteblower hotline with complaints about accessing their refunds. “They report long wait times, disconnected calls, the…

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Rising Student Loan Interest Rates Will Hurt Taxpayers

Interest rates on federal student loans will rise slightly next year. Loans to undergraduates issued in the 2017-18 academic year will be 4.45%, up from 3.76% currently. Rates on standard loans to graduate students will rise to 6%, while rates on PLUS loans to graduate students and parents will reach 7%. While all of these rates represent an increase from the current…

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St. Louis City Minimum Wage Law

The City’s minimum wage law is effective May 5, 2017. Covered employers are required to pay their employees $10.00 an hour, which will increase to $11.00 an hour on January 1, 2018. Information regarding exemptions, notice requirements, complaints and other details are available on the links below. Inquiries may also be directed to the City’s Minimum Wage Compliance Section by…

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Happy Tax Day!

To all clients, Happy Tax Day!  On behalf of the team at Rackers & Fernandez, we would like to extend our gratitude for another successful tax season.  We really appreciate having you as a client and being part of your team. As a friendly reminder, we will be closing at noon on April 18th and all day April 21st.

Have You Filed Your Return Yet?

Still sitting on an incomplete tax return in early April? Keep calm but get cracking. A good chunk of this year’s filers are procrastinating. As of March 24, the Internal Revenue Service received 85.3 million tax returns, down 4.7 percent from the same point last year. Ask for an extension Secure an appointment as soon as you can. Just because…

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Avoid IRS Impersonators

With the 2017 tax season underway, the IRS reminds people to remain alert to aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents. The callers can sound convincing, using fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They often alter their caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling. Victims are told they owe money to…

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