Voices

In the blogs: Manic regressives

ID theft keeps on rolling; will Trump prune the IRC?; the accountant of 2022; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Cut to the Quik

  • Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): The San Francisco School District has prohibited elementary and middle school students from drinking chocolate milk. Can a tax a la “soda” be far behind?
  • Backtaxeshelp (http://www.backtaxeshelp.com/tax-blog/): Ah, the beach, the golf, the book clubs and the satisfying volunteering and maybe part-time job. Oh, and higher taxes that we all might see coming.
  • Due Diligence (http://www.mahanyertl.com/mahanyertl/): In this week’s collection: “‘Rusty Medications?’ Vista Pharmaceuticals Whistleblower Post”; “Where There is Smoke … Rietumu Banka Whistleblower Post”; “Former Co-Worker Says Martin Shkreli ‘Full of S**t’”; “Bad News for Ocwen – Courts Won’t Block CFPB & Moody’s Downgrade”; and “And Then There is Broward Health… Medicare Fraud Post.”
  • Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): “I ain’t got it so you can’t get it…” proclaimed the lyricist DMX. “Ah, you’re wrong about one thing,” replied the IRS.

ID WTF

  • The Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): A look at the new IRS cybersecurity awareness efforts to educate tax pros, one of the most targeted groups when it comes to cybercrime. Let’s start with leaving the bait alone.
  • Procedurally Taxing (http://www.procedurallytaxing.com/): The IRS has had many successes and improvements regarding ID theft. TIGTA says otherwise in a recent report when it comes to employment-related ID theft. (“Essentially TIGTA found that IRS materially understates the number of employment-related identity theft cases and has had major systemic flaws in informing victims...”)
  • H&R Block (http://blogs.hrblock.com/): A Medicare ID card not only serves as proof of health insurance, but it also includes sensitive personal information. (What doesn’t, these days?) What to know about protecting a valuable card indeed.
  • AG Tax (http://agtax.ca/tax-tips-and-articles): A look from north of the border at 2017 ITIN renewal. Note: “Non-U.S. taxpayers who have an ITIN about to expire and expect to file a tax return in 2018 should immediately submit their ITIN renewal application.”

Manic Regressives

  • Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com): Under President Trump, “the ever-expanding scope and complexity of both the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations” may go, in part anyway, the way of the dodo. Here are some specific targets. Will we really be happier?
  • Tax Vox (http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org): Manic Regressive Dept.: “The revised version of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s health bill would retain the Affordable Care Act’s 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax and its 0.9 percent Medicare surtax, both of which are imposed on individuals making $200,000 or more and couples making $250,000.” The Tax Policy Center looks at the plan’s proposed changes to the ACA taxes.
  • Federal Tax Crimes (http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/): A D.C. Circuit court has bounced an injunction “end-run” by OVDP taxpayers looking for streamlined procedures relief.
  • Tax Policy (http://taxfoundation.org/blog): A downloadable report covers the rates, economic implications and the return of interstate competition in the landscape of state inheritance and estate taxes. Among the key findings: how elimination of a federal credit more than a decade ago “ushered in a new era of estate and inheritance tax competition among the states.”
  • Bloomberg BNA (http://www.bna.com/news/#!topic=istax&type=isblogpost): On the heels of the Multistate Tax Commission’s amending the Uniform Division of Income for Tax Purposes Act, two states in the trend towards market-based sourcing from the cost-of-performance method: Montana H.B. 511 kicks in Jan. 1, implementing the new version of the Multistate Tax Compact to make this switch. Now Oregon’s S.B. 28 will be effective for tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1.

Matters of Interest

  • Liberty Tax Blog (https://www.libertytax.com/tax-lounge/): Five tips to pass on to make clients’ next year’s returns sparkle a little brighter.
  • Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): Workaholics seem so cool to have around until you think about it. (“They have lots of billable hours, they provide amazing client service, they pitch in and help others when needed. On the other hand … Is all of that total time necessary?”)
  • Intuit Proconnect (http://taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com/): From the loads of technology to the average client profile, what will the typical accountant and practice look like in 2022?
  • The Wandering Tax Pro (http://wanderingtaxpro.blogspot.com/): Blogger Robert Flach relates a favorite and time-tested story of the dangers when the tax tail wags the investment dog.
  • Taxjar (http://blog.taxjar.com/): Sales tax holidays by state this year.
  • Dinesen Tax (http://dinesentax.com/blog): In insolvency calculations, “What Does ‘Interest in a Retirement Account’ Mean?” Does the term “interest” mean “interest earned” in the account? What if an account lost money recently? What to tell them.
  • Sageworks (https://www.sageworks.com/blog/default.aspx): There’s only one way to make advisory services work: diving right in and avoiding a piecemeal approach. “The challenge with the piecemeal approach right now is that every project becomes a new and different project,” says Donny Shimamoto, founder of advisory-focused CPA firm IntrapriseTechKnowlogies in Honolulu, who has a webinar in the offing.
  • Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): Research and development tax credits can do wonders to lower income tax liability. Turns out they’re also handy when it comes to the AMT, too.
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