In the Blogs: Down to the Wire

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

Photo finish

  • Tax Break: The TurboTax blog: Let’s all check out watches: Time remains to file for an exemption from the ACA mandate for a tax penalty on those uninsured in 2014.
  • IRS Problem Solver Blog: Remind them, with less than a week to go: file an extension, fuel a traditional IRA or a qualified HSA.
  • Roth & Co.: Where oh where has my little form gone? The short and long answer as to why K-1s just don’t seem to show up on time.
  • Our Taxing Times: Holy 1095, Batman!: How the Premium Tax Credit of the ACA is now generating IRS letters asking for more information. Send it to them in capital letters.
  • Mauled Again: Good tax advice, from paperwork to checking figures, isn’t confined to just one demographic (i.e., Millennials). Of course, “what’s sad is that people need to be given this advice.”

Cut to the quick

  • Tax Vox: In spring we often tromp down the daffodils to get to the taxes, and in this roundup Commissioner Koskinen speaks to how IRS cuts affect Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer, along with potential responses to budget cuts. Fewer “Star Trek” videos (Accounting Today), perhaps? Plus, refund madness in Colorado and how some Washington state lawmakers are betting on the online sales tax.
  • Tax Policy: A look at the “taxing logic” of Nevada’s live entertainment tax, including a twisty rationale concerning when loud music smothers conversation. Once again we must ask: Have the writers of tax statutes ever been in a bar?
  • The Tax Times: A look at Swiss banking giant BSI SA’s recent resolution under the Department of Justice’s Swiss Bank Program. 
  • Due Diligence: In this week’s roundup: “Missing Defense Supplies and Whistleblowers”; “Hep C Drugs Cost Taxpayers $4.7 Billion”; “LPL Broker Borrowed from Clients, Barred from Industry”; “Swiss Bank BSI Cooperates with IRS”; “Banker Cooperates with Feds, Avoids Prison”; “IRS Search Leads to Suicide”; and “Fuel Oil Scam Rocks NYC.”
  • H&R Block: How taxpayers use refunds: debt, cars, homes, tech. Not one beach in there?

Mass hysteria

  • Solutions For CPA Firm Leaders: Blogger Rita’s thoughts on today’s environment at CPA firms, starting with the “mass hysteria” of the leadership chase.
  • The Income Tax School: How to stand out on LinkedIn.
  • Burbank CPA Tax Musings: A look at a recent Wall Street Journal piece on what to look for in that credit card you give to your kid as he or she heads to college. How about a card with a Misspent Youth clause?
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