TaxEsqBlog -by Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M.(Tax)

Earned Income Credit worth up to $4204 People who earned under $34,692 in 2003 might qualify for the Earned Income Credit (EIC). Refundable tax credits like this one usually mean more money in your pocket because they either reduce the amount of tax you owe or they increase your refund. Although you must meet several rules to claim the EIC, it may be well worth your while to find out if you qualify; the amount of credit can be as much as $4,204 this year!

HOSPITALS WOULD NO LONGER BE EXCEPTED FROM PAYING EMPLOYMENT TAXES FOR MEDICAL RESIDENTS UNDER IRS PROPOSAL In what some analysts characterize as an attempted end run around court decisions that cut in the opposite direction, the Internal Revenue Service issues a proposed rule under which most medical residents and their employers would not be excepted from paying employment taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. The IRS also suspends a safe harbor that institutions have used in applying the FICA exception. The Internal Revenue Code generally extends the FICA exception to services performed in the employ of a school, college, or university by an enrolled student. The IRS's proposal would narrow the current regulatory definition of "school, college, or university" to only those employers whose primary function is education, thus excluding hospitals. The proposal would also prohibit institutions from applying the exception to employees wh...

Pa. Court OKs Class Suit Against H&R Block for E-Filing Fee Suits filed against H&R Block alleging unnecessary fees for electronically filing clients' tax returns may be tried as a class action and need not be arbitrated individually, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled. H&R Block had asserted that all claims against it must be settled in arbitration because the plaintiffs had entered into a contract with a separate entity in connection with H&R Block's e-filing services. Click Here for Full Article