In the Blogs: Practice to Be Perfect

Highlights of some of our favorite tax-related blogs from the past week.

Tripped up

  • Tax Litigation Survey: Watch for that line that is dotted: “Failing to Sign Binding Divorce Decree Costs Taxpayer Dependency Exemption” looks at how tax problems arose after a recent case, Hendricks v. Commissioner (T.C. Memo, 2014-192, Sept. 23) in which the judge’s decision hinged on a petitioner’s ex-spouse failing to ink the final divorce decree.
  • Taxes at About.com: Some of your clients may love the freedom and hustle of self-employment, but such a worklife can knot up taxes (not least of all because said worker must take on, for tax purposes, the role of both employee and employer, which stunningly few laypersons initially understand). A reminder of how to help such clients plan for, minimize and report SE.
  • Musings of a Burbank CPA: Never Too Late to Try Dept.: Saving on 2013 taxes is not yet an expired idea, “especially if you have not filed.” Compiled from a recent MarketWatch list and covering SEP and Roth account reversals, sales tax and medical deductions, among others. Also, how “free” are free credit scores?
  • H&R Block blog: “The IRS recently said more than 3.25 million taxpayers who filed an extension have yet to file their tax return.” One of your clients, mayhaps? What to remind clients about, especially if they were in the armed services and on active duty in a combat zone.

Devil in the Details

  • The Tax Times: A second look at what “non-willful” means under the streamlined OVDP.
  • John R. Dundon II EA: The blogger’s experiences with C.R.S. 8-70-115 as they pertain to the Colorado Employment Security Act of 2013. “First off, let me start by saying that there are some really good hard-working bureaucrats paid by our tax dollars working inside the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment.” Take it from there, and include the word “jackass.”
  • Roth & Co.: Rags to riches: “Is that basement full of clothes really a gold mine? … Many taxpayers use donations of clothing and household items as a gimme deduction.” A look at the tax law’s limits on such goodwill.
  • Due Diligence: In this week’s roundup: “VSR Financial Settles DBSI TIC Fraud Case for Millions” and “3 Women Get Prison in Medicare Fraud Case.”
  • Tax Girl: Net income? How tennis star Caroline Wozniacki accidentally walked away from a $1.45 million paycheck at the recent U.S. Open. Which raises the question: “If you walked away from your paycheck, could you skip paying the tax on it?”

Practice to Be Perfect

  • Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders: You may know what you’re trying to accomplish with your practice; your staff may not. “Communicating Your Firm Values” looks at the sometimes-evaporating art of self-pinpointing and spreading word internally about your business principles.
  • ClientWhys: Your advantages when using a responsive Web site design to keep up with your clients’ dizzying arsenal of multiple mobile devices. Also, a free template for new-client welcome letters.
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