By Isabel C. Balboa, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the District of New Jersey (Camden)

The American College of Bankruptcy will mark its 30th anniversary in 2019. The College consists of more than 800 Fellows, representing the highest caliber of insolvency professionals. The College is comprised of scholars, judges, lawyers, financial professionals, international Fellows . . . → Read More: American College of Bankruptcy Elects Chapter 13 Trustee Marie-Ann Greenberg as a Fellow

Small businesses should be on-guard against a growing wave of identity theft and W-2 scams. Employers hold sensitive tax data on their employees – such as Form W-2 data – which is highly valued by identity thieves.

All employers are targets for the W-2 scam. This scheme has become one of the more dangerous . . . → Read More: Employers Should Be Aware of W-2 Scam, Protect Employee Information

The IRS urges everyone with any type of online account to review new, stronger standards to protect their passwords. Doing so will help protect against savvy cybercriminals who wants to access people’s accounts and steal their identities.

Here are three steps people can follow to build a better password:

Step 1: Leverage powers of . . . → Read More: Strong Passwords Help Protect Accounts Against Cybercriminals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 27, 2018

National Consumer Law Center: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org), (617) 542-8010

Washington, D.C. — Reverse mortgages are intended to help elders age in their homes. Yet, across the country, widows and widowers are losing their homes because of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s failure to prevent . . . → Read More: National Consumer Law Center Advocates Urge HUD to Take Immediate Action to Reduce Foreclosures on Widows and Widowers of Reverse Mortgage Borrowers

The IRS recently announced that 401(k) plans and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans can make loans and hardship distributions to victims of Hurricane Michael and Hurricane Florence and to members of their families.

This relief was included in the preamble to proposed regulations, published Nov. 14 in the Federal Register, implementing several recent law changes . . . → Read More: Proposed Hardship Withdrawal Regulations Include Relief For Disaster Victims: Retirement Plans Can Now Make Loans, Hardship Distributions To Victims Of Hurricanes Michael And Florence

After last year’s tax reform legislation, some S corporations may choose to revoke their S election to be a C corporation because of the new, flat 21-percent C corporation tax rate. Before taking any action, S corporations should consult their tax advisors.

S Corporations and C Corporations are among the types of business structures. . . . → Read More: Some S Corporations May Want to Convert to C Corporations

Professor Rafael Pardo specializes in bankruptcy and commercial law, and his scholarship has been published in numerous law journals, including the Alabama Law Review, the Iowa Law Review, the Florida Law Review, the UCLA Law Review, the Vanderbilt Law Review, the Washington Law Review, the Washington and Lee Law Review, and the William and . . . → Read More: Professor Rafael Pardo

Tax reform that affects both individuals and businesses was enacted in December 2017 – commonly referred to as Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, TCJA or simply tax reform. In addition to nearly doubling standard deductions, TCJA changed several itemized deductions that can be claimed on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions.

This means that many individuals . . . → Read More: Tax Reform Affects If and How Taxpayers Itemize Deductions