In the Blogs: Hack to the Drawing Board

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

Hack to the drawing board

  • Tax Girl: The Transcript attack, plus 2014’s headline retail breaches and big trouble in big soccer land.
  • Taxable Talk: No surprise to blogger Russ Fox, who a year ago wrote: “Meanwhile, the Get a Transcript has its own problems. My partner attempted to use the service, but it could not verify either him or his wife as living where he’s lived for years. Second, the verification information relies on publicly available information for many … anything but a secure system.” Then and certainly now.

‘… or your money back!’

  • Taxing Subjects: “Since the D.C. Court of Appeals upheld the district court ruling in Loving v. IRS … the IRS will issue refunds to those who took the (RTRP) test.” Indeed. A look at the recent service move ("IRS to Redund RTRP Test Fees") that in many ways reignited an old debate.
  • IRS Problem Solver Blog: Petty cash is in the eye of the beholder: A look at hip hop phenom Birdman (estimated worth: $100 million) recently paying almost $2 million in the wake of two IRS liens.
  • Rubin on Tax: This might not be the best period in the service’s history to ask nicely, but “Can the IRS Abate Interest and Penalties That Have Already Been Paid?”
  • Procedurally Taxing: How much should collection potential matter in TFRP cases?
  • Taxjar: Sales tax due dates for June. Plus, “Is Shipping Taxable in Mississippi?”

C’mon, get appy

  • The Income Tax School: Wouldn’t it be nice to spill your coffee and soak no more than half your keyboard? What to think about when you think about new office space.
  • ClientWhys: Remember: If you like to complain online after you get lousy service, so do others – including many potential or past clients. Why online reviews are vital, and how you can monitor and improve those about your practice.
  • Taxes at About.com: What’s in your pocket? Maybe more than you know when it comes to conducting your business. “10 Emerging Financial Technology Apps with a Tax Angle.”

Pitfalls and opportunities

  • John R. Dundon II EA: Providing health insurance became the burden of business way back in World War II (“Why build B-17s when you can build B-24s and get your kid’s tonsils out for free?”) and not only employees yearn for/expect coverage via the job. Employers actually want to offer it, especially small-business owners. “Defining Small Employer with Regards to Offering Health Insurance” looks at this “complex topic full of both pitfalls and opportunities.”
  • Our Taxing Times: A look back at a real meaning of Memorial Day and its storied weekend from blogger and Army brat Trish McIntire, including special tax treatments available to the military.

Appealing stories

  • Roth & Co.: Our favorite first line of the week: “Onions aren’t the only thing that will make you cry.” How an S corp brokering onions tried to reduce its tax bill through a Section 419(f) arrangement that purported to be a tax-exempt employee benefit plan. Didn’t work with the IRS no matter how you slice it.
  • Due Diligence: In this week’s roundup: “Big Banks Sued for FOREX Manipulation – Again”; “How Safe Is Your Offshore Account Data? It’s Not”; “Looking for CENLAR Insider”; “Overcharged and Under Qualified – Whistleblower Post”; “IRS Overbilled for New Portal? Whistleblower Post”; “Would You Give Your Money to a Convicted Felon?”; and, among our favorite titles this week, “Prison Privatization, Aramark, Murder for Hire and Maggots.”
  • The Tax Times: A look at a recent Forbes claim that the Swiss government and hundreds of that nation’s banks are publishing the names of foreign tax evaders. “Some observers are calling this the real and final end of Swiss bank privacy tradition, which mostly dates to the 1930s.” Alas, if he returned today Hermann Goering would find it much harder to secretly line his pockets with loot.
For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Tax practice Tax tools
MORE FROM ACCOUNTING TODAY