Voices

In the blogs: Good, bad and ugly

Too many credits; marriage, investing and taxes; South Carolina and Amazon; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Good, bad and ugly

  • Smith + Gesteland (https://sgcpa.com/resources/focus-blog/): The TCJA did a number on a lot of standbys in the tax world — not the least of which was estate planning. A look at exemption increases, rates, effects on high-net-worth clients and more.
  • Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com): “The Good and Bad News on Charitable Deductions under the 2017 Act” examines increases in adjusted AGI limitation maximum deduction amounts and the suspension of Pease limitation phase-outs of itemized deductions (good), and the significant increase in the standard deduction and elimination of many formerly deductible expenses (not so good).
  • Tax Vox (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox): Here’s “a fascinating” trend: The rise of unconventional state and local taxes: head taxes, parcel taxes, sugar taxes, marijuana taxes, developer taxes, tourist taxes, sports-betting taxes. What’s good, bad and ugly about the directness of these levies and what taxpayers get stung the most.
  • TaxBuzz (https://www.taxbuzz.com/blog): Undoing a Roth IRA as circumstances change for a taxpayer has long been a plus of the accounts. How reform altered that.
  • Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): “Should There Be Limits on Tax Credits?” Not in terms of dollars, but of subjects, as the IRC is “packed” with credits (many of which state tax laws duplicate before adding hundreds more of their own).
  • Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): Welcome to the new W-4 under reform. Have you talked to your clients?
  • Procedurally Taxing (http://procedurallytaxing.com): One of the more significant tax procedure developments of the past year is the new centralized OMB review that applies to some tax regulations. In this post, Professor Clint Wallace from the University of South Carolina School of Law describes the new framework and notes “the many areas that await further clarification.”

Sports pages

  • Don’t Mess With Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): Kick in the Head Dep’t.: Amid World Cup fervor, a look at how a couple of soccer’s biggest global stars faced big-score tax trouble.
  • Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): Bad enough for a ball club going 25 and 68, accumulating the worst record in the National League and being outscored, out-pitched and out-defended. Now the Cincinnati Reds find themselves in an Ohio Supreme Court squeeze play regarding bobbleheads.
  • Intuit Proconnect (http://taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com/): In sickness and in health, in refund and in audit … When’s the happy day? Fine. When does the happy couple plan to learn about taxes? What they should know as nuptial season hits high stride.
  • Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com): Many investors (especially young adults) often don’t realize that getting onto Wall Street these days is as easy as opening a savings account used to be. But what should these newbies know about taxes?

Same crime, another zero

  • Houston Tax Attorney (http://www.irstaxtrouble.com/category/tax-blog/): A client (not yours) works hard for years to build a business into a success only to learn that the company’s long-term accountant did not remit payroll taxes and the biz owner now owes a significant balance. What to do? McClendon v. United States provides some answers.
  • Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): Highlights from a recent radio segment of two Freed Maxick directors discussing fraud investigation and business valuation. First tidbit: Today, the average embezzlement is in the $200,000-$300,000 range; 20 years ago, the average was some $20,000 to $30,000.
  • Federal Tax Crimes (http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/): Two “unrelated topics” look at, first, United States v. Daugerdas — in which the Second Circuit held that the petitioner-appellant (wife of a man convicted for “bullshit tax shelter” activity) could have the opportunity to amend her pleadings in the criminal forfeiture against funds in which she claimed an interest. Second, Greenberg v. Commissioner examines the court’s rejection of “bullshit tax shelter” claims but holding that, although it would otherwise have sustained the 40 percent accuracy related penalty, it would not do so because the IRS had not met the requirement that it meet a production burden with respect to the written supervisor approval required by Section 6751(b).

Wild blue yonder

  • Bloomberg BNA (https://www.bna.com/news/#!topic=tax&type=blogpost&page=1): In Lockheed Martin Corp. v. Hegar, the Texas Third District Court of Appeals recently affirmed the Travis County District Court’s ruling that the proper sourcing of receipts from sales of military aircraft through the foreign military sales program for Texas franchise tax apportionment purposes is to Texas, rather than the foreign nations who ultimately bought the planes.
  • Avalara (https://www1.avalara.com/us/en/blog.html): South Carolina appears to have won a skirmish in its battle with Amazon over uncollected sales tax, as an administrative law judge has ordered Amazon to comply with a request for information from the state’s Department of Revenue.
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