Biden’s plan; virtual currency question moves up; the magnificent seven audits; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Changes upon changes

• Tax Vox (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox): Conventional wisdom says Joe Biden’s ambitious tax agenda will die in the Senate, assuming the chamber remains under GOP control following two Jan. 5 run-offs in Georgia. But don’t be surprised if Congress approves at least some of Biden’s plan.
• Bloomberg Tax (https://pro.bloombergtax.com/news-insights/): What tax regs are on the block post-Biden win?
• Wolters Kluwer (http://news.cchgroup.com/): Draft instructions for 2020 Form 1040 include new details about virtual currency transactions. For starters, the virtual currency transaction question has been moved from Schedule 1 to page 1 of the 1040 itself, right under the address information. All taxpayers, not just those with Schedule 1 items, will be expected to answer.
• Avalara (https://www.avalara.com/us/en/blog.html): Four states vote to legalize recreational marijuana. Along with the munchies will come the taxes.

Panning out

• Sagenext (https://www.thesagenext.com/blog): How cloud computing came to the rescue — and can continue to do so in evolving forms — when the world had to work from home.
• National Taxpayer Advocate (https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/about/nta-blog): In the pandemic, parents hiring pod instructors, nannies and similar household workers may be unfamiliar with tax filing and withholding requirements and must be careful of the employee/independent contractor tripwire.
• Palm Beach Accounting and Financial Services (https://www.pbafs.com/blog): Some saved on dinners out, some watched income evaporate: With the timeline of the pandemic still unclear, now may be a good time to take another look at financial goals.
• AICPA (https://blog.aicpa.org/): Indeed, the time might be perfect to more formally incorporate financial planning into your tax practice. Four steps to take.
• Tax Girl (https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/): It’s not too late for college students to register for a stimulus check.
• National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): This week’s “You Make the Call,” after a $60,000 qualified COVID-19 distribution from a qualified retirement plan, the recipient faces a choice: pay tax on the $60,000 on the 2020 return or pay the tax on $20,000 on the 2020, 2021 and 2022 return. Except a windfall’s coming in the third year. What’s best?

Playing the game

• TaxProf Blog (http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/): Some 23,456 U.S. households reported income of $10 million or more last year (for the 2018 tax year). The IRS audited seven of them.
• Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): Do Canadian professional poker players owe income tax?
• Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): This time in the world of TV courtrooms, an attempted car purchase, a borrowed driver’s license and a lawsuit for the taxes therein.

Clears things up

• Eide Bailly (https://www.eidebailly.com/taxblog): The Treasury says that partnerships and S corporations will be allowed to fully deduct entity-level state and local taxes on their federal returns even if the taxes are elective, and even if the entity owners get a credit on their state or local returns as a result.
• Taxing Subjects (https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog): A look at new guidance for employers and employees with terminating 403(b) plans.
• Sikich (https://www.sikich.com/insights/): Two more KPIs — revenue trends and intangible resources — to formulate actionable plans for an association.
• Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): How European countries rank on consumption taxes via VATs.