Tax Freedom Day arrives on April 18 this year, according to The Tax Foundation, a D.C. based tax research organization.

It’s the day they estimate we’ve earned enough money to pay all our federal, state, and local taxes for the year.

Tax Freedom Day is based on national averages for all the states. We’ve got a few more days before it’s actually Tax Freedom Day here in Illinois.

The Foundation says Tax Freedom Day comes on April 26 in Illinois this year.

You can find out more about Tax Freedom Day at http://taxfoundation.org/article/tax-freedom-day-2013-april-18-five-days-later-last-year

A recent post from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office notes that the net budgetary impact of the Affordable Care Act insurance coverage provisions has changed little since the legislation was being considered in March 2010 (http://www.cbo.gov/publication/44008 .

We sure hope that holds up going forward.

But what about the budget impact on the private sector, including business, non profit organizations, families and individuals?

Last Friday the Wall Street Journal ran an article titled “Health Insurers Warn on Premiums“. The article notes that United-Health Group, the nation’s largest carrier, said premiums for some consumers buying their own plans could go up as much as 116%, with small-business rates up as much as 25% to 50%.

Aetna, Inc. suggested rates on some individual plans could go up 55% on average, with 29% for small business.

And an official with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina told brokers last week that individual premiums could go up by as much as 40% to 50%.

The renewal date on our policy is November 1. I can’t wait to hear the news.

Every morning I receive an e-mail from CCH IntelliConnect Tracker News, our primary tax research source for federal and state tax developments.  

Back in the old days, they’d cover things like income averaging, the maxi tax on earned income and the 50% capital gain exclusion.

Times have changed.

This morning’s news includes an item on “corrections to a notice of proposed rulemaking and notice of public hearing (REG-148500-12) that was published in the Federal Register on Friday, February 1, 2013 (78 FR 7314). The proposed regulations relate to the requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, as amended by the TRICARE Affirmation Act and Public Law 111-173. These proposed regulations provide guidance on the liability for the shared responsibility payment for not maintaining minimum essential coverage.”

Yikes.

For more on minimum essential coverage and the shared responsibility payments go to http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/searchresults.action;jsessionid=GQlkRQWPySSnyQpMT6spfSnnkVn30tGJ5hjW2KlY5cPvBJnQ5Cqs!222129792!518567475?st=RIN+1545-BL36

Type RIN 1545-BL36 in the search filed and select #2. Enjoy!  

More on the new health care law tomorrow.

Last month the AICPA raised concerns about the IRS delay in releasing certain tax forms – and the impact it has on taxpayers and tax preparers.

The AICPA also asked the IRS to consider granting taxpayers relief from late payment and estimated tax penalties.

Well relief has come.

Yesterday, the IRS announced that it will waive the late payment penalty for individual and business taxpayers filing extensions – if their return includes one of 31 delayed forms.

These include the forms for tax depreciation, the Research Tax Credit, the Domestic Production Activities Deduction, Passive Activity Loss Limitations and a number of tax credits.

Under the relief, the IRS will assume the taxpayer has demonstrated reasonable cause and lack of willful neglect if 1) he or she makes a good-faith effort to properly estimate the tax liability on the extension application, 2) the estimated amount is paid by the original due date of the return, and 3) any tax still owed on the return is fully paid no later than the return’s extended due date. 

The IRS also warns that such taxpayers may receive an automatic penalty notice and demand for payment.

In that case, relief is obtained by responding to the penalty notice in a letter, explaining the taxpayer’s eligibility for the relief, identifying which of the forms eligible for relief were included with the taxpayer’s return, and referring to Notice 2013-24 in the letter.

You can find Notice 2013-24 at http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/Relief-Available-To-Many-Extension-Requesters-Claiming-Tax-Benefits

It’s been a strange tax filing season so far.

Many tax forms were delayed, with some business forms released just 2 weeks before the March 15 deadline.

Then last week the IRS said a “filing error” could delay up to 600,000 tax refunds for people who used H & R Block. The problem relates to Form 8863, which is used to claim certain education tax credits.

H & R Block explained that the form had changed from the prior year. The company said it learned about the change after it had submitted hundreds of thousands of tax returns.

At the state level, the Minnesota Department of Revenue warned taxpayers against using TurboTax to file their state income taxes, finding 10,000 returns had problems, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

In a terse statement, the Minnesota Department of Revenue said it would stop processing tax returns filed through TurboTax — if the problem is not fixed.

Most CPA firms use one of the Big 3 tax software companies – CCH’s ProSystem fx, Thomson’s Ultra Tax CS or Intuit’s Lacerte.

We haven’t heard of any filing problems from the Big 3. We use ProSystem fx and so far, so good.

But, like most other firms, we expect to file many more extensions this year. With the delayed start of the filing season, we’re backed up on both business and personal returns.

If you’ve already filed, you can check on the status of your federal refund at http://www.irs.gov/Refunds .

“Dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!”

-Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) in Ghostbusters

The Sequester cuts start tomorrow.

Last week ABC ran a story titled ”57 Terrible Consequences of the Sequester” (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/57-terrible-consequences-sequester/story?id=18551994 ).

The list included things like air travel disruption, greater risk of wildfires and pest-infested crops. We’ll see if the predictions come true over the coming days and weeks.

I’ll be watching the National Debt Clock to see if the slowdown in the increase in spending is detectible to the naked eye.

You can watch too. Set your alarm clock tonight for Midnight Eastern Standard Time and click on http://www.usdebtclock.org/