a bitcoin sitting on top of a computer motherboard

The IRS has doubled its AI audit models to 125 in two years — and crypto transactions now trigger automatic matching against your return for the first time

If you sold Bitcoin through Coinbase last year and figured the IRS would never notice a small discrepancy on your return, that bet no longer holds. Starting with the 2025 tax year, every centralized crypto exchange in the United States is required to file a new form, the 1099-DA, reporting the gross proceeds of your…

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Calculator and tax forms on a dark surface.

The IRS has frozen 830,000 tax refunds this year — if you filed without direct deposit, you’re waiting six weeks for a paper check you must request

More than 830,000 Americans filed their taxes, had their refunds approved, and then watched the money vanish into a bureaucratic hold. The IRS processed their returns, confirmed what they were owed, and froze the funds anyway because the agency lacked usable direct-deposit information on file. The freeze stems from a federal push to eliminate paper…

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IRS logo.

The IRS has frozen 830,000 tax refunds this year — if you filed without direct deposit, you’re waiting 6 weeks for a paper check you must request

Roughly 830,000 tax filers are waiting for refunds the IRS will not release, and most of them may not understand why. The money is not lost or denied. It is sitting in a federal holding pattern because those returns did not include direct deposit information, and under a policy that took effect last fall, the…

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Graduate hat on dollar banknotes closeup Tuition payment

The Treasury Offset Program just started garnishing wages for 5 million defaulted student loan borrowers — up to 15% of your paycheck, no court order required

Open your next pay stub and imagine 15% of your take-home pay gone, redirected to the federal government before you ever see it. No lawsuit. No judge. No courtroom. For roughly 5 million Americans who have defaulted on federal student loans, that scenario is no longer hypothetical. After a pandemic-era freeze on collections that lasted…

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A photo of a Bitcoin and Ethereum coin with a blockchain

The IRS has more than doubled its AI audit models to 125 in two years — and crypto transactions now trigger automatic matching for the first time

If you sold Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other digital asset through a brokerage in 2025, the IRS is set to know about it before you file your 2026 return. Starting with the 2025 tax year, crypto brokers must report gross proceeds from digital-asset sales on a new form, Form 1099-DA, handing the agency the same…

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Calculator with one hundred dollar bill on the tax form Top view

The IRS has frozen 830,000 tax refunds this year — if you filed without direct deposit, you’re waiting six weeks for a paper check

Roughly 830,000 federal tax refunds are sitting in limbo this filing season, held by the IRS because the banking information on those returns was missing, wrong, or rejected by a financial institution. If yours is one of them, you probably already have a letter in hand: a CP53E notice telling you the agency approved your…

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blue and red cargo ship on sea during daytime

Companies got $166 billion in tariff refunds after the Supreme Court ruling — consumers who paid higher prices aren’t getting a dime

When the Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, it triggered the largest customs refund in U.S. history: $166 billion flowing back to the companies that paid the duties. General Motors alone expects to collect roughly $500 million, a figure the automaker has referenced in public earnings commentary but…

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Donald Trump with new Presidential tariff chart on 2 April 2025 at the White House (cropped)

Companies got $166 billion in tariff refunds after the Supreme Court ruling — but consumers who paid higher prices aren’t getting a dime

When the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s tariffs in February 2026, General Motors began preparing to collect what public reporting has estimated at roughly $500 million in refunded duties. So did more than 330,000 other importers that had paid levies on everything from Chinese-made toys and power tools to European auto parts and Vietnamese…

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Front view of a massive cargo ship loaded with containers in Hamburg’s harbor.

Companies got $166 billion in tariff refunds after the Supreme Court ruling — but consumers who paid higher prices aren’t getting a dime

For years, American families absorbed the cost of tariffs on imported goods every time they bought a car, replaced an appliance, or filled a grocery cart. Those tariffs are now gone, struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court as unconstitutional. And roughly $166 billion in collected duties is now being refunded to the companies that…

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CFPB Consumer Financial Protection Bureau entrance Washington DC 2025

CFPB plan shifts to ‘promoting’ compliance as 23 state AGs demand enforcement

If you carry a mortgage, a student loan, or a credit card, the federal agency charged with making sure your lender plays fair may be about to change how aggressively it polices the rules. Twenty-three state attorneys general are telling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that its draft five-year strategic plan would gut federal enforcement…

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