In the blogs: Unending battles

Trusts and taxes; recovering revenues; advising clients who needed more than three extra months; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Unending battles

• Taxing Subjects (https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog): A new TIGTA report gives the IRS high marks for the fight against refund fraud and ID-theft refund rip-offs. Now just keep it up inexhaustibly.
• Bloomberg Tax (https://pro.bloombergtax.com/news-insights/): A look at the Supreme Court’s recent refusal to let House Democrats immediately renew their push to get President Trump’s financial records, rejecting their requests to return two cases to the appeals court level ahead of schedule.
• Taxbuzz (https://www.taxbuzz.com/blog): A recent decision in the “Paula Trust” case by the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, will have a significant impact on how trusts are taxed on California source income.
• EideBailly (https://www.eidebailly.com/taxblog): As the Senate slouches once more toward the question of COVID relief, who will emerge with the most: Republicans, Democrats or Americans?
• Don’t Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): Oh yeah, and Capitol Hill will have to find a way to convince the payroll-tax-cut-or-bust president to agree to their plan.
• Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): Following our favorite title of the week, “Tax Talk and Tax Action,” the blogger sorts through communications from tax publishers summarizing the previous day’s cases, rulings and announcements, and has noticed that developments have shifted away from “action” to “talk.” Guess which outnumbers which in just one email after he examines the verbs.

Losses mount

• Avalara (https://www.avalara.com/us/en/blog.html): Sales tax holidays take place in more than a dozen states in August 2020. (How long will these last, we wonder, as the pandemic continues to drain tax jurisdictions’ revenues?)
• Wolters Kluwer (http://news.cchgroup.com/): In yet another attempt to recover from COVID-19’s economic devastation, California will suspend the use of NOL deductions and cap use of business tax credits for tax years beginning in 2020, 2021 and 2022. There are exceptions.
• Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): Wisconsin examines its shortfalls and tax options.
• National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): Medical benefits remain sky-high and with COVID-19 clouding the future, re-examining a client’s situation can produce new avenues for tax savings. One opportunity could be the small-business health care tax credit.
• The Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): With a mind to your firm’s staffing needs, is tax prep work one answer for the pandemic-induced waves of under- and unemployment?
• Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): Nina Olson reflects on Congressman John Lewis from her childhood to her Washington testimonies.

Information flow

• Tax Pro Center (https://proconnect.intuit.com/taxprocenter/): How your firm should consider and use social media in the days ahead — a potentially different picture indeed for this biz medium in the COVID-19 world.
• Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com): Applicable federal rates for August.
• Federal Tax Crimes (http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/): A look at the new Form 14457, “Voluntary Disclosure Practice Preclearance Request and Application,” which grew out of the Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosure initiative but now covers the entire IRS voluntary disclosure practice. One nagging question: Who exactly gets to use the info?
• Tax Girl (https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/): Post-extended season, 30 tips from tax pros. Discuss.
• Solutions For CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): Check in now to take part in the next Rosenberg Survey.
• Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com): They blew July 15. What to tell them about what to do next.
• TaxMama (http://taxmama.com): Payment options post-July 15 but very-much still-deep-in-the-pandemic.
• Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): The Federal Reserve recently gathered public feedback on the proposed expansion of the Main Street Lending Program to nonprofit organizations. A look at the results.