In the Blogs: Old St. Nicked

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

Old St. Nicked

  • Our Taxing Times: A look at the new tax amnesty program in Kansas.
  • Tax Girl: How Santa’s office in Finnish Lapland has filed for bankruptcy over massive debts, including a 200,000 euro ($223,980) tax bill. “The Finnish Tax Administration notified the company in May of 2015 that a substantial payment was due.” Are there no prisons?
  • Federal Tax Crimes: Ongoing discussion about interest and penalties issues at sentencing.
  • Due Diligence: In this week’s roundup: “Stockbroker Fraud – Changing Client Documents”; “New (Department of Defense) Cyber Rules Present Whistleblower Opportunity”; “SEC Slams Stockbrokers Over Risky Investments”; “Oil at $38.24 per Barrel! Bad News for Shale Bonds”; and “UBS to Pay Elderly Couple $2.5 Mil in Investment Fraud Case.”
  • The Wandering Tax Pro: A look, in the Last Word of this entry, at a recent test in 27 U.S. cities on who would, if bound by nothing more than honor, pay $1 for an otherwise-free ice tea. “Atlanta was the most honest city, with 100% of those taking a bottle paying the $1. Guess which city was the only one where people actually took money from the box...”

‘I did not even get up this morning!’

  • IRS Problem Solver Blog: A look at a recent report from the Senate Finance Committee that Lois Lerner purposely delayed applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups during the spring of 2010. “During the three-year span indicated, conservative organizations or groups connected to the Tea Party waited a collective 621 years before a decision was made on their respective applications.”
  • Taxable Talk: What do the Obama Administration, the IRS and Sergeant Schultz from the old “Hogan’s Heroes” sitcom have in common? Maybe proclamations about knowing and seeing nothing? That’s possibly the finding of federal judges, too, given a pair of recent rulings.

Fun and profits

  • Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders: A step back to appreciate the profitable CPA industry. “I think sometimes CPA firm owners don’t think much about it,” notes blogger Rita Keller, “probably because they are used to the profit margins.”
  • Taxes at About.com: With all the hype about retirement saving these days (and the implied diet of Friskies should you fail), is it any wonder some people sock too much away in their Roth IRA? Four ways to fix this problem.
  • The Income Tax School: Had to Happen Sometime Dept.: How strategic business plans are no longer optional for tax prep businesses, along with some frank answers to why you think you don’t need one.

Holiday road

  • Liberty Tax: The value of a vacation home beyond the sounds of lapping water on the shore, including deductions.
  • Backtaxeshelp: Our favorite opening of the week: “Who doesn’t love a great family vacation? A bunch of restless kids crammed in a car that’s too small, for way too many hours. Likewise, you get to enjoy moody teenagers that only stop looking at their electronic devices when they have something negative to say about your family vacation and small children who have to go to the bathroom every time you’ve just past the latest rest area. If you’re really lucky you get to stay with relatives that you might not have even known existed until you arrived at their door step.” Welcome, Fall.

See you in September

  • Taxjar: September sales tax due dates, by state.
  • Tax Vox: How September could be a big month for candidate tax plans, real bracket creep and how Arizona’s Medicaid expansion “is not a tax.”
For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Tax practice Tax tools Tax franchises
MORE FROM ACCOUNTING TODAY