{"id":22115,"date":"2016-12-30T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-30T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/a-look-back-on-the-top-tax-stories-in-2016\/"},"modified":"2023-03-02T12:24:17","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T18:24:17","slug":"2016-top-tax-stories","status":"publish","type":"newsroom","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2016-top-tax-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"A look back on the top tax stories in 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The biggest tax story of 2016 didn\u2019t actually happen during tax season and may become an even bigger story in 2017. The dozens of changes the <a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/path-act\">Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act<\/a> made to the tax code became the biggest story \u2013 and stories \u2013 of 2016. Passed in December 2015, the PATH Act dominated the H&amp;R Block Newsroom, making up nearly one-third of site traffic this summer and fall.<\/p>\n<p>The Newsroom reported the law in detail in a <a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/?h=1&amp;t=PATH%20Act\">series of articles and videos<\/a>, which covered the PATH Act\u2019s:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/millions-of-taxpayers-face-refund-delays-in-2017\/\">delay of millions of refunds until at least February 15<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/path-act-extensions-and-tax-planning\/\">permanent extensions of many tax benefits<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/itin-holders-must-renew-itin-for-the-first-time\/\">renewal requirements for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs)<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/delaying-paperwork-could-mean-forfeiting-or-postponing-important-tax-credits\/\">eligibility changes for certain tax credits<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/path-act-improving-tax-benefits-for-saving-for-education-retirement-and-living-with-disabilities\/\">expansion\u00a0of other tax benefits<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/penalties-for-tax-mistakes-more-costly-due-to-the-path-act\/\">increasing cost of making mistakes<\/a> and<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/path-act-expands-and-protects-tax-benefits-for-small-businesses\/\">impact on small business<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Highlighting the People of Block<\/h2>\n<p>But the Newsroom also told some more personal stories over the year, including two profiles of H&amp;R Block tax professionals who got their start with H&amp;R Block\u2019s Income Tax Course (ITC). <a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/life-happens--so-do-taxes\/\">Kristy Brown-Maldonado<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/a-1800-cpa-error-on-tax-return-led-one-single-mother-to-the-income-tax-course-where-she-fell-in-love--with-taxes\/\">Roshelle Fetzer<\/a> told their stories of falling in love with learning and taxes. More than one in 10 Newsroom visits are to ITC-related pages, and Brown-Maldonado\u2019s and Fetzer\u2019s stories gave visitors a new look at the ITC and its students.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ppmodule_textblock\">\n<div class=\"text_companyprofile\">\n<p>Visitors were also interested in the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/the-new-economy-can-be-unexpectedly-taxing\/\">tax implications of the new economy<\/a>\u00a0including for\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.hrblock.com\/accidental-landlords-tax-tips-for-airbnb-homeaway-and-vrbo-hosts\/\">Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO hosts<\/a>, reflecting the continued rise of the sharing and gig economies.<\/p>\n<p>With tax season 2017 starting in a couple days, the H&amp;R Block Newsroom will continue to cover the latest news affecting taxpayers and the tax industry. To receive timely updates, please\u00a0subscribe to the Newsroom digest\u00a0using the form below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The biggest tax story of 2016 didn\u2019t actually happen during tax season and may become an even bigger story in 2017. The dozens of changes the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act made to the tax code became the biggest story \u2013 and stories \u2013 of 2016. Passed in December 2015, the PATH Act [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":24512,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[],"news-categories":[23376],"class_list":["post-22115","newsroom","type-newsroom","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-categories-around-block"],"acf":{"post_rest_thumbnail_alt_id":null},"yoast_head":"<title>Top Tax Stories in 2016 | H&amp;R Block<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We&#039;re looking back at the biggest tax stories in 2017 from the H&amp;R Block Newsroom.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A look back on the top tax stories in 2016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We&#039;re looking back at the biggest tax stories in 2017 from the H&amp;R Block Newsroom.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-02T18:24:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/120921728-1080x675.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/around-block\\\/2016-top-tax-stories\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hrblock.com\\\/tax-center\\\/newsroom\\\/around-block\\\/2018-top-tax-stories\\\/\",\"name\":\"Top Tax Stories in 2016 | H&R Block\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hrblock.com\\\/tax-center\\\/newsroom\\\/around-block\\\/2018-top-tax-stories\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hrblock.com\\\/tax-center\\\/newsroom\\\/around-block\\\/2018-top-tax-stories\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/120921728.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-30T15:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-02T18:24:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"We're looking back at the biggest tax stories in 2017 from the H&R Block Newsroom.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hrblock.com\\\/tax-center\\\/newsroom\\\/around-block\\\/2018-top-tax-stories\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hrblock.com\\\/tax-center\\\/newsroom\\\/around-block\\\/2018-top-tax-stories\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hrblock.com\\\/tax-center\\\/newsroom\\\/around-block\\\/2018-top-tax-stories\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/120921728.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/120921728.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1067,\"caption\":\"many newspapers stack of newspaper , news\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hrblock.com\\\/tax-center\\\/newsroom\\\/around-block\\\/2018-top-tax-stories\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newsroom Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"A look back on the top tax stories in 2016\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"H&amp;R Block\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top Tax Stories in 2016 | H&R Block","description":"We're looking back at the biggest tax stories in 2017 from the H&R Block Newsroom.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A look back on the top tax stories in 2016","og_description":"We're looking back at the biggest tax stories in 2017 from the H&R Block Newsroom.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/","og_site_name":"H&amp;R Block","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock","article_modified_time":"2023-03-02T18:24:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/120921728-1080x675.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@hrblock","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2016-top-tax-stories\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/","name":"Top Tax Stories in 2016 | H&R Block","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/120921728.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-30T15:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-02T18:24:17+00:00","description":"We're looking back at the biggest tax stories in 2017 from the H&R Block Newsroom.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/120921728.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/120921728.jpg","width":1600,"height":1067,"caption":"many newspapers stack of newspaper , news"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/2018-top-tax-stories\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newsroom Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"A look back on the top tax stories in 2016"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/","name":"H&amp;R Block","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom\/22115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/newsroom"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom\/22115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22115"},{"taxonomy":"news-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-categories?post=22115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}