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In the blogs: Capitol punishment

The IRS and politics — nothing new; AICPA priorities; new blog on the block; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Capitol punishment

  • Don’t Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): When in the past — and under what presidents and going after what targets — has the IRS gotten political?
  • Tax Vox (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/): Congressional Democrats are considering watered-down versions of two global measures from last year’s Build Back Better. Yet a single global minimum tax that conforms to the OECD/G-20 Pillar 2 model would be simpler and raise revenue more efficiently than imposing two weaker global minimum taxes. 
  • Current Federal Tax Developments (https://www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com/): Ouch Dept.: When a doctor gets nailed for underpayment and failure to file.
  • TaxMama (http://taxmama.com): Mama’s on a new crusade: to fix the tax law neglect when it comes to the romance scams (and 14 other such rip-offs) from the FBI. The problem? The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated taxpayers’ rights to deduct casualty and theft losses unless they were in a disaster area.

Timely priorities

  • AICPA Insights (https://www.aicpa.org/blog): New institute chair Anoop Mehta lays out three big priorities for the coming year.
  • Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): The carrot or the sticker shock? How the government would use 1,900% excise tax penalties to make drug manufacturers lower prices. 
  • Sikich (https://www.sikich.com/insights/): Pandemic, staffing, inflation, last-minute reg upheavals: Tax pros have been busy, and preparing for the implementation of the new lease accounting standards under ASC 842 and GASB 87 has repeatedly been pushed down priority lists. A few questions to see how prepared you and your firm are for the new standards.
  • Wolters Kluwer (https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/tax-accounting-us/industry-news): A look at new IRS requirements for electronic fingerprinting for practitioners’ e-File applications.
  • Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): PCI DSS 3.2.1 assessments are, in general, point-in-time assessments. Several activities that must be daily, quarterly, semi-annual or annual. If these aren’t performed in the requisite period, you may find yourself non-compliant with few or no options for remediation. Here’s your checklist.
  • Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com/): How the time to file an estate tax return to make the portability election has been extended to five years.
  • TurboTax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com): What to remind them about deductions and their kids’ various summer camps.
  • National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): To wit, this week’s “You Make the Call” looks at Houa and Sua, both 11 and voluntarily enrolled in Girl Scout summer camp for one week in July. Both girls’ parents normally work during the day. Due to her parents’ vacation, Sua will stay overnight at Houa’s house during the week. Can either set of parents claim the camp expenses on the 2441?

Spending policies

  • Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): Half of Pennsylvania’s towns have eliminated their police departments to save money, and the number is growing. Is their relying on the rest of their fellow Pennsylvanians to fund their protection via the state police wrong? 
  • Boyum & Barenscheer (https://www.myboyum.com/blog/): A spending policy is the formula to determine how much of the value of investments a nonprofit organization will tap each year for expenses. There’s no one-size-fits-all optimal policy, but five general types have emerged.
  • Gordon Law (https://gordonlawltd.com/blog/): What to remind them about IRS installment agreements (if you can get through the emotions caused by the IRS letter that makes the agreement necessary).
  • HBK (https://hbkcpa.com/insights/): If you randomly polled a hundred people about the difference between a sponsorship and advertising, most would probably say they’re the same. But in nonprofit accounting, the difference could end up costing — or saving — your client thousands of dollars in taxes.
  • Taxbuzz (https://www.taxbuzz.com/blog): What tax pros told a recent TaxBuzzChat about advising clients on planning for inflation and recession. 

Rough sailing

Take heart

  • Henry+Horne (https://www.hhcpa.com/blogs/): If you have a client who’s an ordained, commissioned or licensed minister, here’s what to remind them about their special tax breaks.
  • Canopy (https://www.getcanopy.com/blog): You know it’s true: Clients aren’t always going to come to you. Eleven moves to find more.
  • Surgent Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): Considering first how it might alleviate your staffing problems, should you actually run a tax prep school?
  • Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): The blogger has tackled 6511(h) before and Ruebsamen v. United States follows the same pattern as many previous cases and is yet another pro se case in the stream. In some respects, though, “It is one of the most disheartening of all of the cases.”

New to us

  • Global Taxes (https://www.globaltaxes.com/blog.php): This international firm views U.S. policies from the outside looking in, with topics for advisors, attorneys and accountants. Recent topics reflect growing interests, including second citizenships, ex-pats’ retirement plans and even idioms of English (many entries are also in different languages). Welcome.