Voices

In the blogs: A tenuous unity

Churn of the rich; the rise of AI; collection time; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

A tenuous unity

  • Avalara (https://www.avalara.com/blog/): Favorite opening of the week: “One of the things I appreciate most about the United States is that it’s somehow managed to stay together despite the strong personalities and differing values of each individual state. Unity was tenuous at the outset….” It isn’t exactly a given coast to coast these days, either — and one of the most entertaining aspects of the blogger’s job is discovering how those differences play out with respect to sales tax.
  • Tax Vox (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox): Is it time for states to embrace even bigger gas tax increases? Michigan was one of 12 states that saw gas taxes increase on July 1. Its rate climbed by only 0.1 cent per gallon because it’s indexed monthly for inflation. In contrast, new legislation doubled gas tax rates in Illinois to 38 cents per gallon and raised the levy by 10.5 cents in Ohio. Can Michigan — and other states — go even bigger?
  • Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): Nevada has a tax on businesses called the “Commerce Tax,” which impacts businesses with gross receipts of $4 million or more. All Nevada businesses had to file, however, at least until recently.

Inequal time

  • Sagenext (https://www.thesagenext.com/blog): Some salient features of the new IRS Reform Bill, starting with enhanced protection against ID theft.
  • Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): Income inequality has been a war cry on the presidential campaign trail: wealth taxes, higher marginal income tax rates, assorted other policies aimed at leveling the dollar sign’s playing field. As scholars and everyday taxpayers continue to debate this issue and the question of increasing taxes on the richest Americans, one observation to keep in mind is the high turnover among the highest-income Americans.
  • TaxProf (http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/): The blogger contends that Americans got “a highly misleading” June 24 report from congressional staff about the effect of repealing Donald Trump’s $10,000 limit on SALT. “Millionaires and billionaires get most of the benefits if the limitation is repealed, the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation reported.” Which brings us to “Duh.”

Carded

  • The Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): A look at the rise of artificial intelligence in the world and especially in accounting.
  • IRS Mind (https://www.irsmind.com/): Millions of taxpayers each year cannot pay their taxes and have to get an installment agreement, extension to pay or another more complicated IRS collection alternative to full payment. How long does it take to resolve an IRS collection issue?
  • Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): Over the last five years or so, the need for giving someone your business card has decreased. Nevertheless — and never assume your contact info, ‘cause believe us, it ain’t always — etiquette does still exist for handing out your card.
  • Boyum & Barenscheer (https://myboyum.com/blog/): What to remind them about taxes and Social Security benefits.
  • Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/): Five tax breaks for homeowners to stay on top and keep a record of.
  • Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com/): A look at a recent upholding of the Tax Court’s denial of a charitable deduction of over $33 million since the taxpayer did not include the adjusted basis information for the property in their 8283 filing.
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Tax tools Tax preparation SALT deduction Artificial intelligence Social Security benefits IRS
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