Taxes in retirement; problems with plateauing; savings ahead for filers; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Mind the gap

• Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): Chico v. Commissioner points out the benefits to the “good” spouse when the other spouse files a fraudulent return.
• Tax Vox (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox): “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cut federal tax revenues by nearly $2 trillion over its first decade, with almost all the benefit going to higher-income households and corporations. But that’s not surprising. The bill passed without a single Democratic vote, and in the current environment, inequality is perceived as a partisan issue. But that is a misperception. The political viability of pro-growth policies depends on sharing economic gains broadly.” For all our sharing economy, we do surprisingly little of it across the aisles.
• IRS Mind (https://www.irsmind.com/): The U.S. Treasury loses $441 billion a year to tax noncompliance. The recent IRS tax gap report examines such holes in the hull as underreporting income or overstating deductions/credits; underpayment of taxes owed; and plain old just not filing.

Trick or treaty

• Tax, Society Culture (http://taxpol.blogspot.com/): “Tax Treaties and Developing Countries” examines how academics and others over the last 50 years have called for developing countries to hesitate or refrain from entering into bilateral tax treaties with developed countries. Critics of tax treaties between developed and developing countries contend that developing countries give up tax revenue and receive little in return. But this position rests on a questionable narrative.
• Bloomberg Tax (https://pro.bloombergtax.com/news-insights/): The Supreme Court won’t review a Mississippi Supreme Court decision upholding the state’s practice of allowing late tax credit requests for taxpayers delayed by Mississippi procedures but not for taxpayers delayed by other states’ procedures.
• TaxProf Blog (http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/): As highly digitalized business models, such as Google, Amazon and Facebook, have been mainstreamed in the economy, the traditional profit allocation and nexus rules of taxation are further strained. A look at a recent presentation, “The Digital Services Tax: A Cross-border Variation of Consumption Tax Debate.” Think of it as the European vacation of states’ nexus.
• Taxjar (http://blog.taxjar.com/): October sales tax due dates.

Parade’s end

• Liberty Tax (http://www.libertytax.com/tax-lounge): When envisioning retirement, most people probably think about walks on the beach, golf every weekend and lazy afternoons right in the middle of others’ workweeks. Not to be a piddler on their parade, but here’s what to remind them about taxes in the golden years.
• Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): How to disaster-proof a business.
• HR Block (https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/): What to remind them about tax withholdings on part-time jobs.
• Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/): During Breast Cancer Awareness month, what to remind them about donations and deductions.

The sharpest stick

• Solutions For CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): Dan Rather provides our favorite opening this week: “The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth.” A state or level of little or no growth or decline is where too many firms are content to sit.
• Wolters Kluwer (http://news.cchgroup.com/): Projections based on the Department of Labor’s inflation figures for the August 2018 to August 2019 suggest most taxpayers will see a degree of inflation-driven “tax cut” savings in comparison to their 2019 return filings. Here’s an example of how taxpayers will benefit on 2020 returns.
• Sikich (https://www.sikich.com/insights/): So what does all this talk about modern business applications mean?