Absolute Tax & Financial Services

01/26/2026

26, 2026, is the opening of the nation’s 2026 filing season. Taxpayers have until Wednesday, April 15, 2026, to file their 2025 tax returns and pay any tax due.
One Big, Beautiful Provisions provides information that could help lower tax bills and potentially increase refund amounts.
https://www.irs.gov/new.../one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions

02/14/2021

Recovery Rebate Credit

Most individuals eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit have already received the full amount in two rounds of payments, known as Economic Impact Payments. If we issued you the full amount of each Economic Impact Payment, you won’t need to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit or include any information related to it when you file your 2020 tax return because we already issued your Recovery Rebate Credit as Economic Impact Payments. If you’re eligible for the credit, and either we didn’t issue you any Economic Impact Payments or we issued less than the full amounts, you must file a 2020 tax return to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit even if you are not required to file a tax return for 2020. Economic Impact Payments were based on your 2018 or 2019 tax year information. The Recovery Rebate Credit is similar except that the eligibility and the amount are based on 2020 information you include on your 2020 tax return. You will need to know the amount of any Economic Impact Payments issued to you to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit. If you’re eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return, it will be reduced by any Economic Impact Payments we issued to you. Always be complete and accurate when you file a return. File and the tax software will help you figure your Recovery Rebate Credit. The Recovery Rebate Credit Worksheet in the Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR instructions can also help determine if you are eligible for the credit. The fastest way to get your tax refund is to file electronically and have it direct deposited - contactless and free - into your financial account. You can use a bank account, prepaid debit card, or mobile app for your direct deposit and will need to provide routing and account numbers.
For more detailed information see the Questions. See the Instructions for Form 1040 and 1040-SR for more information. You will need to know the amount of the Economic Impact Payments issued to you to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit.

02/05/2021

Eligible educators can deduct unreimbursed expenses for COVID-19 protective items to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the classroom. COVID-19 protective items include, but are not limited to:

face masks, disinfectant for use against COVID-19, hand soap, hand sanitizer, disposable gloves, tape, paint or chalk to guide social distancing.
Physical barriers (for example, clear plexiglass);
air purifiers, and other items recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be used for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19.

Rev. Proc. 2021-15 PDF, issued today, provides guidance related to educators and their expenses under the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020, which was enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The new law clarifies that unreimbursed expenses paid or incurred after March 12, 2020, by eligible educators for protective items to stop the spread of COVID-19 qualify for the educator expense deduction.

The educator expense deduction rules permit eligible educators to deduct up to $250 of qualifying expenses per year ($500 if married filing jointly and both spouses are eligible educators, but not more than $250 each).

Eligible educators include any individual who is a kindergarten through grade 12 teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide in a school for at least 900 hours during a school year.

This deduction is for expenses paid or incurred during the tax year. Taxpayers claim the deduction on Form 1040, Form 1040-SR or Form 1040-NR (attach Schedule 1 (Form 1040) PDF).

For additional information regarding the deduction for certain expenses of an eligible educator, see the Instructions for Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR PDF or the Instructions for Form 1040-NR.

For more information about this, the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020 and other tax changes, visit IRS.gov

01/31/2021

Businesses have Feb. 1 deadline to provide Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC to recipients

The Internal Revenue Service is reminding businesses and other payors that the revised Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income, and the new Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation, must be furnished to most recipients by Feb. 1, 2021.

Redesigned Form 1099-MISC

The IRS revised Form 1099-MISC for the 2020 tax year to accommodate the creation of a new Form 1099-NEC. The redesigned 1099-MISC has different box numbers for reporting certain income. Businesses must send Form 1099-MISC to recipients by Feb. 1, 2021, and file it with the IRS by March 1 (March 31 if filing electronically).
If businesses are using Forms 1099-MISC to report amounts in box 8, Substitute Payments in Lieu of Dividends or Interest, or box 10, Gross Proceeds Paid to An Attorney, there is an exception to the normal due date. Those forms are due to recipients by Feb. 16, 2021.

New Form 1099-NEC

Form 1099-NEC is a new form for tax year 2020 for nonemployee compensation of $600 or more to a payee. This form should be filed with the IRS, on paper or electronically, and sent to recipients by Feb. 1, 2021.
There is no automatic 30-day extension to file Form 1099-NEC. However, an extension to file may be available under certain hardship conditions. Also, nonemployee compensation may be subject to backup withholding if a payee has not provided a taxpayer identification number to the payer or the IRS notifies the payer that the Taxpayer Identification Number provided was incorrect.

Deadlines help fraud detection

The due dates for information returns, like Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC help the IRS more easily detect refund fraud by verifying income that individuals report on their tax returns. Payors can help support that process, and avoid penalties, by filing the forms on time and without errors. The IRS recommends e-file as the quickest, most accurate and convenient way to file these forms.

For more information, the instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC are available on IRS.gov

01/30/2021

Who can claim the Recovery Rebate Credit?

Eligible individuals who did not receive the full amounts of both Economic Impact Payments may claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2020 Form 1040 or 1040-SR. To determine whether you are an eligible individual or the amount of your Recovery Rebate Credit, complete the Recovery Rebate Credit Worksheet in the Instructions for Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR.

Generally, you are eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit if you were a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien in 2020, cannot be claimed as a dependent of another taxpayer for tax year 2020, and have a Social Security number valid for employment that is issued before the due date of your 2020 tax return (including extensions).

You must file Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit even if you are normally not required to file a tax return. The safest and fastest way to get a tax refund is to combine electronic filing with Direct Deposit.

01/30/2021

What is the Recovery Rebate Credit?

The Recovery Rebate Credit is authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the COVID-related Tax Relief Act. It is a tax credit against your 2020 income tax. Generally, this credit will increase the amount of your tax refund or decrease the amount of the tax you owe.

The Recovery Rebate Credit was eligible to be paid in two rounds of advance payments during 2020 and early 2021. These advanced payments of the Recovery Rebate Credit are referred to as the first and second Economic Impact Payments.

Individuals who received the full amounts of both Economic Impact Payments do not need to complete any information about the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2020 tax returns. They already received the full amount of the Recovery Rebate Credit as Economic Impact Payments. You received the full amounts of both Economic Impact Payments if:

Your first Economic Impact Payment was $1,200 ($2,400 if married filing jointly for 2020) plus $500 for each qualifying child you had in 2020; and.
Your second Economic Impact Payment was $600 ($1,200 if married filing jointly for 2020) plus $600 for each qualifying child you had in 2020.

01/28/2021

Important filing season dates

Friday, Feb. 12. IRS begins 2021 tax season. Individual tax returns start being accepted, and processing begins.

Thursday, April 15. Due date for filing 2020 tax returns or requesting extension of time to file.

Thursday, April 15. Due date for paying 2020 tax owed to avoid owing interest and penalties.

Friday, Oct. 15. Due date to file for those requesting an extension on their 2020 tax returns.

01/28/2021

Charitable donation deduction for people who don’t itemize

Individuals who take the standard deduction generally cannot claim a deduction for their charitable contributions. However, the CARES Act permits these individuals to claim a limited deduction on their 2020 federal income tax returns for cash contributions made to certain qualifying charitable organizations and still claim the standard deduction. Nearly nine in 10 taxpayers now take the standard deduction and could potentially qualify.
Before making a donation, the IRS reminds people they can check the special Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) tool on IRS.gov to make sure the organization is eligible for tax-deductible donations.
Under this change, individuals can claim a deduction of up to $300 for cash contributions made to qualifying charities during 2020. This deduction does not apply to donated property. The maximum deduction is $150 for married individuals filing separate returns. More information is available in Publication 526, Charitable Contributions, on IRS.gov.

01/17/2021

You can begin filing your tax returns immediately on February 12th. To speed refunds during the pandemic, the IRS urges all taxpayers to file electronically with direct deposit as soon as you have the information you need.

Contact us for individualized services.

https://calendly.com/estergroupconsulting/tax-consultation

01/14/2021

TEST DEPOSITS $0.00: yesterday afternoon, some banks conducted a test $0.00 deposit for all impacted customers based on the deposit account information used when filing taxes in 2020. The test was conducted to assist the IRS in confirming bank accounts for EIP-2 deposits.

If you saw a test $0 deposit in your account, that's a good thing. That means your account data is accurate and you should expect an EIP-2 deposit to this account directly from the IRS.

01/13/2021

Small businesses are encouraged to apply for assistance. We are here to help!

Time will be utilized to collect the requested information in order to make a loan under SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) and/or the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)