Highlights of some of our favorite tax-related blogs from the past week.
Breach bums
Our Taxing Times : How the hackers worked, if that’s the right verb, using shock-troop information possibly from such non-IRS sources as credit card companies or insurance providers and your clients’ own use of social media or other Web sites.IRS Problem Solver Blog : How to tell if your client’s ID was one of the tens of thousands swiped during the IRS’s recent e-burglary, and what to do about it.
What’ll they think of nexus?
Don’t Mess with Taxes : Ohio becomes the 25th state in which Amazon collects sales tax. “Officials estimate that Amazon's tax collection will help boost Ohio’s sales tax revenue to between $150 million and $300 million annually Ohio has had to rely on the state's online consumers to pay the tax.” We can imagine how that went. On the plus side, the Buckeye State becomes home to the Midwest hub of Amazon’s cloud computing operations, translating into about $1 billion invested by the online giant into two existing and one future data centers and about 1,000 new jobs to the state over the next several years.Taxjar : What history tells us about the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (“SSTP”), conceived some 15 years ago and still the hope of states that sought to extend their collection reach to companies that did not have a permanent place of business in their state but yet sold products to customers there. And you thought this all started with Amazon.Mauled Again : “Can Anyone Do Business Without Tax Subsidies?” looks at how, over the ages, this gift from governments fits into the new time “of trying to grab every possible dollar of profit.” Including, it seems, from taxpayers.
Do you want to know a secret?
TaxProf Blog : The Beatles got into a sticky wicket with their 1966 hit “Taxman” and its message. Five facts you might not know about the song, including one of the quartet’s not so fabulous tax bill.Solutions For CPA Firm Leaders : The vicious loops of delay when it comes to improving your practice.H&R Block : Common household dilemma for you and your clients, no doubt: a cluttered house and the lure of making pocket money by sticking everything on a card table in your front yard some Saturday morning. Call them garage, yard, tag, lawn, rummage or come-get-it, are these sales really sensible financially?Taxes at About.com : What to remind clients about HSAs and contributions.
FBAR none
Rubin on Tax : A look at recent IRS guidance to ensure “consistency and effectiveness” in administration of FBAR penalties.The Tax Times : Another look at the same. And the size of these penalties would make your FinCEN spin.Procedurally Taxing : A look at further ins and outs regarding the Tax Court’s position when a petitioner seeks attorney’s fees and the IRS concedes the case after the period of the qualified offer. The issue currently exists in two circuits. Affirming case in point: Angle v. Commissioner.Tax Girl : Having your refund seized stinks. So do parking tickets. A special stench, however, rises from a recipe that blends the two especially when the violations concern a car that said taxpayer never owned.Tax Policy : Blogger Alan Cole examines the House Ways And Means Committee’s recent consideration of repeal of the Medical Device Tax levied by the Affordable Care Act. “The tax, a 2.3% excise tax on sales of devices, has caused trouble for manufacturers and accounting firms due to its difficult base.” ACA: The three little letters that keep chugging on past Tax Day.
