In the blogs: Don’t SaaS back

Washington on the Bezos; the IRS and the collection statute of limitations; biz deductions and SALT; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Don’t SaaS Back

• Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): In Missouri, the question doesn’t seem to be so much whether voters support legalizing marijuana for medical use (most do, according to polls) but whether and how they’ll choose to tax it.
• Avalara (https://www.avalara.com/us/en/blog.html): Dept.: Software-as-a-Service will be subject to Rhode Island sales tax starting Oct. 1. The tax will be imposed on the “sale, storage, use or other consumption of vendor-hosted prewritten computer software” and will apply whether access to the software is permanent or temporary (often the case with subscription models), downloaded or not.
• Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): In Nashville, a major league soccer franchise worth north of $20 million is grabbing public land. Turns out the city has agreed not only to hand over 10 acres of public land to a private sports franchise, but also to toss in another 10 acres of public land to persuade the owners of that franchise to accept the initial handout. (Maybe you should structure your prep fees this way and see how long you’re in business.)
• Tax Vox (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox): Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Ro Khanna, D-California, just introduced the “Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act” (“Stop-BEZOS”) that would punish such big companies as Amazon, Walmart and McDonalds for paying workers too little with an excise tax to reimburse the government for the cost of federal benefits those workers receive. Would the same market forces that depress wages for low-skilled workers undermine the bill, harming many of the workers instead?

Guiding lights

• Procedurally Taxing (http://procedurallytaxing.com): A look at the National Taxpayer Advocate’s recent claims that relying on the IRS calculation of the collection statute of limitations might be unwise — specifically, five situations in which a computer glitch at the IRS causes the agency to improperly calculate the collections statute.
• Federal Tax Crimes (http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/): A look at what appears to be a pretty blatant non-discussion FBAR collection suit in U.S. v. Gentges. Also, a look at a recent Financial Times article on the state of Swiss banks.
• Taxbuzz (https://www.taxbuzz.com/blog): A reminder for clients who have foreign assets that the curtain comes down at the end of this month on the IRS amnesty program for reporting such funds.
• Houston Tax Attorney (http://www.irstaxtrouble.com/category/tax-blog/): Many businesses rely on a standby line of credit to cover their expenses, to weather downturns and to grow. But this credit can be pricey in terms of interest and fees. The IRS recent Legal Memo 20182502F explains how borrowers might structure credit standby fees to ensure that they’re currently deductible.
• Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): At Last Dept.: A look at the long-awaited clarifying guidance on Sec. 199A.

Kickoff

• Tax Girl (http://blogs.forbes.com/kellyphillipserb): Got clients who will bet on the big games (real or fantasy) this new football season? Just remind them that the need to report the winnings is very far from a fantasy.
• Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com): Maybe you have clients who get paid through a mobile payment service — for that matter, maybe they pay you the same way. What to tell them about what this can do to taxes, from the virtual, almost make-believe nature of the payment itself to the increased ease of tracking for tax purposes.
• Don’t Mess With Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): A look at how business tax deductions aren't hurt by the SALT cap.
• Bloomberg BNA (https://www.bna.com/news/#!topic=tax&type=blogpost&page=1): As companies wrap up their implementation of the new lease accounting standards, it’s time to think about how business decisions may change as a result of the new rules. First up, perhaps: lease versus buy.
• SageNext (https://www.thesagenext.com/blog): Big data’s the latest big word for big business — and businesses that want to be big. What’s involved in unlocking its power?
• Boyum Barenscheer (https://myboyum.com/blog/): What to remind clients headed to Splitsville about the new deduction rules concerning alimony. And they thought fighting the spouse put them in a bad mood….
• Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com): As a member of a law firm with a substantial practice in estate and trust litigation, the blogger has “the opportunity to see numerous cases of poor drafting that end up in dispute or litigation.” A look at a handy recently published article that can help minimize errors.