Highlights of some of our favorite tax-related blogs from the past week.
In the news
Tax Girl : Fundraising has ended happily for Nina Pham, the nurse who contracted Ebola while taking care of the late Thomas Eric Duncan and who’s been declared cured. Donors are now encouraged to put their dollars toward Ebola charities and so of course scams related to the deadly disease are spreading as their own kind of especially foul virus. Also, a look at the courts’ recent tossing of claims that the IRS targeted Tea Party groups and how Nazi war criminals pocketed millions in Social Security benefits.A Taxing Matter : Never were so many fooled by so few who had so much: A look at how economic inequality fuels seemingly illogical election results and, ultimately, thwarts a “sustainable economy that supports decent lifestyles for all.”
Case by case
John R. Dundon II EA : Odujinrin v. IRS Commissioner and how sometimes it’s just a peachy idea to find a good EA.Tax Litigation Survey: Guest blogger Brett Bloom, of KPMG’s international tax group, looks at the IRS’s assortment of wrenches and pliers to dismantle a partnership as shown in Kenna Trading v. Commissioner.Taxable Talk : Something Funny Is Going on Here Dept.: The police, the IRS, civil forfeiture and Suspicious Activity Reports, and the merry mix-ups that result when you stuff all four into the blender and hit High Speed.The Tax Times : Their bad: “IRS Did Not Conduct 63% of Partnership Audits Correctly” looks at how the service may have failed to follow procedures for partnership audits in nearly 1,700 examinations in fiscal 2012, according to the TIGTA.Due Diligence : In this week’s roundup: “Up in Smoke” Tobacco Tax Evasion Scam”; “Swiss Banks Balk at IRS, DOJ Tax Amnesty Deal”; “Raw Meat, Prison Food Service and False Claims Acts”; “IRS Evaluating Customs Holds as Collection Tool”; “Day 4 in Weil FBAR Trial Brings Startling Allegations”; “Ocwen SS Carrying Out Financial Holocaust for Banks?”; and “Why Whistleblowers Make Banks Nervous.”
Keeping it SIMPLE
Taxes at About.com : Great reminders about various self-employed retirement plans such as SEPs, SIMPLEs or solo 401(k)s. Also, notes on various IRAs and how much a client can sock away into a traditional IRA and still notch a deduction.Bond Beebe’s It’s Taxing : Funny How Everything Goes Up at Once Dept.: The new IRS and Social Security cost-of-living adjustments impacting the 2015 tax year, including COLAs for retirement items.
About your biz
Tax Maven : “Take a deep breath we made it past Oct. 15!” If only life was that easy. A look at 10 issues influencing the coming season and a jaundiced eye toward FBAR.Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders : What’s the matter with kids today? Maybe nothing, maybe everything, most likely the same stuff right and wrong with every other demographic group. Seeing through the hype of the power, potential and problems with millennial professionals.
Misconceptions
TaxProf Blog : Wouldn’t college debt be easier if the feds simply paid for higher education? Guess what? “To a first approximation,” they already do.Liberty Tax Blog : The gobbledy is in the gook now: How to help your clients understand their recent letter from the IRS (we presume such work starts with reading beyond the threat).Taxing Subjects : And by the way, how safe is your clients’ tax info in the health care exchanges?
Be a sport
IRS Problem Solver Blog : In this corner, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., faced with a deadline from promoter Bob Arum to decide whether to duke it out with famed Filipino boxer Manny “The Pacman” Pacquiao. Roundhouses are one thing, liens another: The IRS has placed two liens on Mayweather’s properties for unpaid taxes and another big-purse bout this year could cause his tax liability to fly like a hard uppercut. And there’s the bell ending these boxing puns.H&R Block blog : Giant tax problems: How a World Series victory affects the tax situations of winning players.
