Voices

In the blogs: Ridden out on a RAL

Seven ways to build better client relationships during tax season, and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers this week.

Big games

  • Tax Analysts (http://www.taxanalysts.org/tax-analysts-blog): We know the cash-flow tax should be critical news because it could be a powerful engine for domestic job growth and because the tax itself is a study in how potentially effective taxes never become reality. Thing is, in the run-up to Super Bowl LI we noticed that two major players in the cash-flow tax drama are named Ryan and Brady.
  • Musings of a Burbank CPA (http://briantstonercpa.com/blog/#sthash.OkfGp9NM.dpbs): Part 5 of 5 of to succeed at investing – or at least trim any losses sensibly.
  • A Taxing Matter (http://ataxingmatter.blogs.com/tax/): A look back at the Women’s March, a look forward at what it means.
  • The Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): You wouldn’t think the most frantic weeks of the year are your time to do this, but the season can be the best chance to build better client relationships. Seven actionable ways to start.

Ridden out on a RAL

  • Due Diligence (http://www.mahanyertl.com/mahanyertl/): In this week’s collection: “MassHealth Fraud Lawyer – 2016 In Review”; “More Convictions in Venezuela Foreign Bribery Scheme”; “Pharmaceutical Whistleblowers – The WAR on Big Pharma Begins”; “Ocwen’s Newest Lie?”; and “‘Banks Pump Up’? So Do Whistleblower Lawyers!”
  • The Wandering Tax Pro (http://wanderingtaxpro.blogspot.com/): A look at a recent New York Times story on “revamped” and “resurrected” RALs – and one blogger’s opinion of the whole concept when “the quality and competence of tax preparation is not important, nor is the high cost of preparation ...”
  • Federal Tax Crimes (http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/): A look at willful blindness with respect to the willfulness element of tax crimes.
  • Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): Sure, most U.S. nonresidents know that if you move to the United States or have U.S. investments, you may become subject to U.S. income tax laws. But what about the U.S. estate tax, even if you don’t earn any income or file income tax returns? Take a guess.

Some up, some down

  • Bloomberg BNA (http://www.bna.com/news/#!topic=istax&type=isblogpost): Seven states have gotten a start on this year by lowering their corporate tax rates in 2017: Arizona, Indiana, New Mexico, New York, the District of Columbia, North Carolina and New Hampshire. In keeping with the American spirit of division in these times, of course, “other states are moving in a different direction.”
  • Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): California’s proposed bullet train is chugging nowhere slowly – unless you count how the whole project has speeded over-budget.
  • John R. Dundon II EA (http://johnrdundon.com/): A look at Colorado finally revising guidelines for those who do not live in the state but who are partners or shareholders of partnerships or S corps there.

All in the numbers

  • Roth & Co. (http://rothcpa.com/blog-index/): Lots of medical metaphors in this look at the critical state of the ACA enrollment: only 63,190 new plan selections since Jan. 1.
  • Tax Girl (http://blogs.forbes.com/kellyphillipserb): Good news this way, anyway: “IRS Says 2017 Tax Filing Season Opened Successfully & On Schedule.” The service expects more than 70% of taxpayers to receive refunds this year. Last year, 111 million refunds were issued, with an average refund of $2,860.
  • IRS Tax Trouble (http://www.irstaxtrouble.com/category/tax-blog/): How Tildon v. Commissioner examines the sometimes slow, often thorny idea of “timely-mailing, timely-filed,” which says that tax docs are on time if postmarked by the due date (the regulations include similar rules for certain private delivery carriers, such as UPS and FedEx). Sounds fine – until you stick a self-printed Stamps.com label on the envelope.
  • Turbotax (http://Blog.turbotax.intuit.com): Get’em While They’re Young Dept.: A reminder on the child-oriented credits.
  • Don’t Mess With Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): What those new little big numbers mean on the W-2s this year.

New to us

  • AGtax (http://agtax.ca/tax-tips-and-articles): Aylett Grant Tax LLP are chartered accountants and bookkeepers specializing in U.S./Canada cross-border tax, and here offer a northern perspective on the recent IRS extension of the health insurance information forms deadline. Welcome aboard.
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Tax tools Tax preparation Tax practice Tax crimes Tax season Obamacare IRS
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