Who can raise taxes?; clever marketing with a famous pic; anti-deferral legislation; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

And we’re off

• TaxProf Blog (http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/): From a recent New York Times article, what to advise them about potentially rising taxes.
• Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): As tax headlines begin their quadrennial march to bury us all, keep a keen eye for accuracy and remind clients that it isn’t, technically, presidents who raise taxes.
• Solutions For CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): The recent Bernie envelope meme was indeed handy to remind clients that they no longer have to bring paper forms to one firm’s office.
• Tax Warriors (www.taxwarriors.com/blog): The first part of a multi-blog series on the individual provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act kicks off with recovery payment/rebate, the educator expense deduction application to personal protective equipment and higher education deductions and exclusions.
• Federal Tax Crimes (http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/): A ping-pong of appeals and denials in United States v. Christensen, Christensen had been convicted on nine tax counts but acquitted on five counts of tax perjury.

Around the corners

• Don’t Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): What to tell them about why to file early. COVID looms over most reasons in one way or another.
• Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): A big AUR mess is coming from legions of bogus unemployment insurance claims.
• Taxbuzz (https://www.taxbuzz.com/blog): All those warnings we’ve all been reading for months about the coming collision between taxes due and unemployment benefits people have needed in full for a long, long time to live on? That collision is suddenly a lot closer. What to tell them.
• HR Block (https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/): The six most common tax problems for gig workers include, first, the unexpected transformation into a small-business owner.
• Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com/): Is anti-deferral tax legislation on the horizon? More to the point, what is anti-deferral tax legislation?
• Taxjar (http://blog.taxjar.com/): February sales tax due dates.
• Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): The Tax Section of the American Bar Association is meeting (virtually), with topics including administrative practice, individual and family taxation, court procedure and practice, tax collection, bankruptcy and workouts committee, and teaching tax committees. Click on the blog for the full program.
• Sikich (https://www.sikich.com/insights/): A look at recent final IRS regs providing guidance on the federal excise tax on executive compensation in excess of $1 million paid by an applicable tax-exempt organization under Sec. 4960. The final regulations made minor adjustments to the proposed regulations, adopting most of the proposed changes. Also, what we learned from the proposed and final regulations.

Superior structures

• Eide Bailly (https://www.eidebailly.com/taxblog): Over the last couple of years, clients have wondered whether the “partnership” form is still the preferred choice of entity for tax purposes — even after the reduction of the C corp rate at the end of 2017 encouraged some to look away from the partnership form. Is it still the superior structure for most businesses?
• Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): A look at recent relief for certain conditions of opportunity zones, starting with the investment and improvement deadlines.
• Tax Girl (http://blogs.forbes.com/kellyphillipserb): What to tell them about the latest Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Current Federal Tax Developments (https://www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com): A look at the recent IRS determination that the special fourth quarter 941 procedure to claim the Employee Retention Credit will apparently only apply to borrowers who have had their PPP application for forgiveness denied.
• National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): This week’s “You Make the Call” looks at Martin and Laura, a married couple who in 2018 wanted to sell their home. They met all the requirements to be able to take the full exclusion for any gain on the sale of the home. But Martin died on March 16, 2018, before they could sell the home. Laura never remarried, continued to live in the home and decided to finally sell it. She sold the home on Jan. 14, 2020, and moved into her son’s home. Until the date of sale, Laura continued to meet all the ownership and use requirements. What is the maximum Sec. 121 gain exclusion to which Laura was entitled when she sold her home in January 2020?