Making reform permanent; the high cost of raising royalty; messy IRS math; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.
A multitude of reasons
Tax Vox (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox): One favorite opening of the week: “I believe that every person in the tax policy game — from members of the tax-writing committees to research assistants at the Tax Policy Center — should compute their own taxes. How better to understand the law and taxpayers’ experiences and have fun too!” Yeah, “fun” was one word this season….
The Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): The “Top 5 Things Tax Preparers Do After Tax Day” looks at the “Top 5 Things Tax Preparers Would Like to Do After Tax Day” (“sleep in”) and “Top 5 Things Tax Preparers Actually Do After Tax Day” (“Set up appointments for financial advising and consulting to help clients get ready for next year.).
Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): Another favorite opening: “This is my 19th year as a tax professional. By far, this past tax season was the worst of the nineteen I’ve experienced.” Why? A multitude of reasons.
Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): The Republican Study Committee has released its Fiscal Year 2020 Budget and it includes a number of tax policy changes. Among the most important: proposals to make the TCJA individual and expensing provisions permanent, shorten depreciation schedules, create universal savings accounts and eliminate tax extenders.
There’ll always be an England
Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com/): Not receiving much attention are new economic substance requirements that have recently been enacted in several tax haven jurisdictions, including the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands. A look at how the new requirements are an outgrowth of pressure from the European Union and OECD to limit the use of tax haven companies for tax planning and base erosion purposes, especially where the companies have little or no activity, assets or staff in the subject jurisdiction.
Bloomberg BNA (https://www.bna.com/news/#!topic=taxtype=blogpostpage=1: It is arguable whether the London congestion charge, introduced in 2003, has succeeded in reducing traffic congestion in central London, one of its primary aims. But in financial terms the charge has been a bloody money-spinner, raising about 2.6 billion pounds in its first 10 years of operation.
Don’t Mess With Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): Watchers of the Royal Family in the U.K. are celebrating the announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are now parents of a son. Hate to break it to you, your fullnesses, but have you checked the price of raising a kid lately?
It figures
National Taxpayer Advocate (https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/about/nta-blog): When the filing season was in full operation, many taxpayers received correspondence from the IRS that conveyed significant taxpayer rights and required taxpayers to take prompt action. Sounds great. Too bad a major issue with current IRS notices is that many taxpayers have difficulty understanding them — and sometimes the arithmetic is the most cloudy.
Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): What taxes can a guilty government turn to when it needs to pay off a wrongful conviction?
Federal Tax Crimes (http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/): A look through the pattern jury instructions on willful blindness for the circuits reveals the best one in the blogger’s opinion, the First Circuit’s from the document “2019 Revisions to Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions for the District Courts of the First Circuit.” Recommended parts bolded.
IRS Mind (https://www.irsmind.com/): In 2015 Congress greenlighted the IRS to certify all individuals who had “seriously delinquent tax debt” and the ability to link a passport with one’s status with the IRS. A look at how this has shaken out.
Procedurally Taxing (http://procedurallytaxing.com/): In “Variance Doctrine Trumps IRS Failure to Obtain Administrative Approval of Penalty,” did the duty of the IRS to obtain managerial approval before imposing a penalty override the duty of the taxpayer to raise the issue in the claim for refund?
Take a load off
Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): Virtues of the stand-up desk (“If you want to provide them to your people, you can do it in phases to make it more affordable…”).
TaxMama (http://taxmama.com): Why Mama’s a big proponent of the slow-down philosophy, especially when it comes to extensions and amended returns.
Taxjar: (http://blog.taxjar.com/): May sales tax due dates, in order of state.
Boyum Barenscheer (https://myboyum.com/blog/: What to tell them about casualty loss deductions for federally declared disasters.
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