Handling tough clients; not all revenue is created equal; military returns; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.
The nutso with the shoeboxes
- Taxing Subjects (
https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog ): A favorite opening of the week: "Tax season can bring out the best — and worst — in your clientele." From the nutso with the shoeboxes you should've fired last May as the type-A who demands to know why his return and five schedules can't be done this night, "6 Practical Tips for Managing Difficult Tax Clients." - MeyersBrothersKalicka (
https://www.mbkcpa.com/insights ): Conventional tax wisdom is to accelerate tax deductions into the current year and defer taxable income until the next year. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, however, complicates matters. - Parametic (
https://www.parametricportfolio.com/blog ): As the year winds down, many investors focus on year-end charitable giving and tax planning. Finding a charity and donating money is the easy part. Taking slightly different approaches to gifting can, however, yield dramatically different results from a tax perspective. - Boyum & Barenscheer (
https://www.myboyum.com/blog/ ): It can be fun and dancing in the big bucks until reality sets in: "Tax Considerations for a Potential Sale, Merger, or Succession Plan." - Current Federal Tax Developments (
https://www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com/ ): The IRS and the Treasury have issued Rev. Proc. 2025-31 to provide a safe harbor for trusts seeking to engage in the staking of digital assets while maintaining their favorable classification as investment trusts under Sec. 301.7701-4(c) and as grantor trusts for federal income tax purposes. This procedure addresses the critical question of whether staking activities constitute a "business" enterprise or grant the trust a prohibited "power to vary the investment," either of which could lead to reclassification as an association taxable as a corporation. - Tax Pro Center: (
https://accountants.intuit.com/taxprocenter/ ): Not all revenue is created equal. The most forward-thinking firms understand that strategic growth isn't about addition, but optimization. How to pinpoint the client relationships that drain your firm. - Vertex (
https://www.vertexinc.com/resources/resource-library/filter/field_asset_type/blog?page=0 ) More timely guidance, sharper customer service, clearer websites for tax purposes: What tax pros want from their state departments of revenue. - Taxnotes (
https://www.taxnotes.com/procedurally-taxing ): Leslie Book examines a district court's recent dismissal of a preparer's complaint that claimed the IRS had violated his due process rights when it revoked his EFIN. - Canopy (
https://www.getcanopy.com/blog ): Another fav line: "Your clients aren't just comparing you to the accounting firm down the street. They're comparing you to the last boutique hotel that greeted them by name, the retailer that remembered their preferences or the app that let them complete a task in seconds. Experience has become the new differentiator." How your firm can complete that "experience" for the client.
Big changes
- Avalara (
https://www.avalara.com/blog/en/north-america.html ): A massive roundup of tax law changes in September and October. - Taxjar (
https://www.taxjar.com/resources/blog ): December sales tax due dates. - TaxConnex (
https://www.taxconnex.com/blog- ): The State of Washington going after services and an Illinois amnesty and changes to grocery store rates highlight recent sales tax doings. - The Tax Times (
https://www.thetaxtimes.com ) A major change has swept Florida's commercial real estate market, and it's great news for both tenants and landlords. Starting Oct. 1, 2025, businesses leasing commercial space in Florida no longer have to pay state or local sales tax on rent. - Wiss (
https://wiss.com/insights/read/ : What high-earning clients need to know about next year's Roth catch-up rules. - Massey and Company (
https://masseyandcompanycpa.com/blog/ ): It's more than passing over a baton: navigating the tax implications of inheriting a business. - Yeo and Yeo (
https://www.yeoandyeo.com/resources ): What nonprofit clients should know about QCDs — and definitely what they should pass on to donors.
Good idea in the long run?
- Tax Foundation
( https://taxfoundation.org/blog ): How lawmakers in some states are contemplating decoupling from the OBBBA's business expensing provisions to preserve corporate income tax revenue. Wise in the long run? - National Association of Tax Professionals (
https://www.natptax.com/news-insights/ ): For many tax professionals, military returns can be challenging. On the surface, active-duty service members often appear similar to any other wage-earning client. But complexity emerges once you begin the return, often centered on three terms that sound similar, are frequently used interchangeably and yet have distinctly different meanings: home of record, domicile (or state of legal residence), and residence (or state of residence). - Berkowitz Pollack Brant (
https://www.bpbcpa.com/articles-press-releases/ ): A look at the IRS extending various federal reporting and filing deadlines for businesses and individuals directly impacted by the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel and the ongoing war in the region.
