In the blogs: Good citizens

Domestic and international; contractors and nonprofits; IRS big-debt help; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Good citizens

• Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): One of the most frequent problems the blogger has seen lately has been the IRS taking “joint” Economic Impact Payments and applying all of it to one of the spouses back-due child support where the other has no such obligation. This is the prototypical “injured spouse” scenario, and in these difficult economic times it has taken on an even greater importance. The IRS recently said that roughly 50,000 injured spouses would, at long last, be receiving the EIP that had been applied to child support. A brief recap of what the IRS news release says, and what comes next.
• Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): A look at a real form-fitting mask.
• The Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): In honor of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, a look at a few of the women in accounting and finance who have come such a long way and those who continue to fight for women’s rights and representation in the financial field, including Mary Harris Smith, Mary T. Washington and Nina E. Olson.
• National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): When you renew your PTIN this fall, you’ll be asked if you’re aware of your data security obligations, a reminder of your legal responsibility to have a data security plan for all taxpayer information. What to do in the event of a breach.
• Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): Cross-border taxation is a complicated area of tax policy. How Russia recently charted a course to increase withholding taxes on cross-border payments by renegotiating tax treaties with several of its partners — an example of how the willingness to forgo tax revenue may not be stable over time.
• Don’t Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): Sure And Be Crooked Dept.: If you live in Ireland and are thinking of playing a little fast and loose when it comes to taxes, know that government statistics show tax evasion reports from the public continue to increase via “good citizen reports.”

Clearing it up

• Boyum & Barenscheer (https://myboyum.com/blog/): Employees or independent contractors? Not only for-profit companies struggle with the question of how to classify workers for federal tax purposes.
• Tax Girl (https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/): The Treasury and the IRS have finally issued official guidance for taxpayers regarding deferral of payroll taxes. For many, it raised more questions than answers.
• Tax Warriors (https://www.taxwarriors.com/blog) For starters, whose decision is it to withhold the deferrable payroll taxes? The employer? The employee? Do employees have recourse against employers who continue to withhold the deferrable payroll taxes against their wishes? How should an employer document their employees’ election regarding the payroll tax deferral?
• Wolters Kluwer (http://news.cchgroup.com/): Does the CARES Act NOL limit change impact state taxpayers?
• Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): As expected, the Treasury recently issued Notice 2020-65, providing some level of guidance with respect to the payroll tax holiday memo signed by President Trump last month. Again though, “if you were hoping for clear guidance and answers to your questions, this notice did not deliver.”
• Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com) In a recent case, an owner of homestead property assigned post-loss insurance benefits to a third-party contractor. The challenge by the insurance company, the decision and reasoning.
• Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com) What to remind them about the tax implications of buying and selling stocks during a market downturn.
• Bloomberg Tax (https://pro.bloombergtax.com/news-insights/): Companies looking to buy foreign corporations have new leverage on M&A deals thanks to IRS rules that shield the seller’s gains from getting taxed twice — f they sign a closing agreement.
• IRS Mind (http://www.irsmind.com/blog/): During the midst of the IRS COVID-19 shutdown, the IRS got “kinder and gentler to high-tax debtors.” The service now allows tax debtors who owe $50,000 to $250,000 to pay on easier terms. There is one catch.

To be continued

• Taxbuzz (https://www.taxbuzz.com/blog): As the pre-election analysis continues, here’s an unbiased analysis of Trump’s policy proposals.
• Avalara (https://www.avalara.com/us/en/blog.html) Cable’s been around a long time. Streaming is young but increasing in popularity exponentially. A look at how streaming service providers continue to pay less in taxes than cable companies. For how much longer?
• Federal Tax Crimes (http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/): How exactly did the U.S. become the world’s banking policeman? And will that continue?
• AICPA (https://blog.aicpa.org/): What does automation really mean these days, and how will it affect your career specifically?