The retirement planning changes in a nutshell:

The person we know as Saint Nicholas (Saint Nick) was born around ad270 to a wealthy Grecian family. Tragically, his parents died when he was a boy, and he lived with his uncle who loved him and taught him to follow God. When Nicholas was a young man, legend says that he heard of three sisters who didn’t have a dowry for marriage and would soon be destitute. Wanting to follow Jesus’ teaching about giving to those in need, he took his inheritance and gave each sister a bag of gold coins. Over the years, Nicholas gave the rest of his money away feeding the poor and caring for others. In the following centuries, Nicholas was honored for his lavish generosity, and he inspired the character we know as Santa Claus.

The Treasury Department and IRS have issued proposed regulations regarding the sale of a taxpayer’s property that the IRS seizes by levy.  They actually make a lot of sense.

Eco activists such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates have thrown their weight, and checkbooks, behind the practice of cutting down trees and burying them to address fears over carbon emissions.  Gates is well known for his attempts of addressing his climate concerns—from buying up vast swaths of U.S. farmland to backing wild-card experiments such as solar geo-engineering and his latest rant is criticizing tree planting as a viable means of reducing CO2.

In an interview with NY Times reporter David Gelles, Mr. Gates responded dismissively to the idea that planting more trees can reverse adverse climate effects. "That's complete nonsense ... I mean, are we the science people, or are we the idiots?" Mr. Gates asked rhetorically.

Those that can afford to buy high priced art pieces can properly claim donations of art on their taxes. But some unscrupulous promoters may use direct solicitation to promise values of art that are too good to be true. These promoters persuade taxpayers, usually high-income taxpayers, to purchase the art, wait to donate the art and then take an incorrect deduction for the art donated. Be aware though, the IRS has active promoter investigations and taxpayer audits underway in this area.

A 12-year-old Colorado boy became a victim of “woke” education when he was taken out of class and told he could not return unless he removed a Gadsden flag, or “Don’t Tread on Me,” patch from his backpack. The school backed down after a video went viral in which a school official told the boy and his mother that the problem with the patch is that the Gadsden flag’s origin is related to slavery and the slave trade. The school was criticized by individuals from across the political spectrum for seeming ignorance of the role the Gadsden flag played in the American Revolution. Among the critics was Colorado Governor Jared Polis, one of the few remaining Democrats willing to defend free speech from the woke mob.

After a yearlong study into UFOs, NASA said that the study of UFOs will require new scientific techniques, including advanced satellites as well as a shift in how unidentified flying objects are perceived.

The IRS has announced a major yet “common-sense” policy change that will put an end to most unannounced agent visits to taxpayers’ homes.  This move reverses decades of policy that saw IRS revenue officers knock on the doors of taxpayers’ homes without forewarning in attempts to resolve delinquent tax matters.

The IRS says that the reason for the change is to lower the risk that anxiety-provoking surprise home visits by tax enforcement agents could spiral out of control, posing a hazard to both taxpayers and agency field officers.  Experience has shown that unannounced door knocks at homes and businesses were high-risk encounters, with agents routinely facing “hazards and uncertainty” when making surprise visits, according to the IRS.