Changes for the year; partnerships’ reporting; building your brand; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Blunt truths

• Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): Sometimes the IRS processing time “ain’t pretty” — though to be fair this tale does start with a return sent certified mail taking nearly a month to get from Las Vegas to Ogden, Utah. Particularly troublesome when clients are waiting to set up an installment agreement.
• Don’t Mess With Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): The IRS has its own version of referees who penalize taxpayers and tax professionals for violating rules. They don’t throw flags but their whistles for violations are costly. And those costs, as in every year, are rising.
• Taxbuzz (https://www.taxbuzz.com/blog): The year’s biggest question, for some: How can you get taxed for working from home?
• Tax Pro Center (https://proconnect.intuit.com/taxprocenter/): A look at key tax law changes in 2020. Now let’s change the number of the year.
• Taxjar (http://blog.taxjar.com/): The latest on cannabis sales taxes.
• IRS Mind (http://www.irsmind.com/blog/): What to tell them about the simplest of the IRS payment plans.
• Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com): What to tell them about medical deductions.

Rules old and new

• Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): Systematically addressing accounts receivable at the patient account level is crucial for avoiding payer denials, mitigating write-offs and managing cash flow. What to know if you have clients in the post-acute care billing.
• Tax Warriors (https://www.taxwarriors.com/blog): A look at new draft IRS clarity on the new tax capital reporting requirements that partnerships will face this upcoming season. Partnerships that have not previously tracked partners’ tax capital accounts, especially older partnerships, will face significant challenges complying with these new rules. A summary of the new guidance.
• The Wandering Tax Pro (http://wanderingtaxpro.blogspot.com/): One of the famous, or perhaps infamous, extenders to sunset on Dec. 31 is the $500 lifetime credit for energy-efficient purchases for your primary home. What to remind clients about this break.

Little differences

• Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): A shingle on a nail is one thing, a brand for a preparer another. Establishing yourself as an expert and authority — at least beyond friends, family and their networks — will take work. Here’s how to start.
• Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): It’s been a little over a year since the Center for Taxpayer Rights began operations, and it might be a good time to give a short update on its activities over the last 15 months.
• Solutions For CPA Firm Leaders (https://ritakeller.com/blog/: The benefits of handwritten thanks.
• Canopy (https://www.canopytax.com/blog): So what is the difference between CE and CPE?

Just gathering information

• National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): This “You Make the Call” looks at the case of a company bookkeeper embezzling $150,000 over a period of three years, from 2017 to 2019. The business is accrual basis and filed an insurance claim in 2019, the year the embezzlement was discovered. The insurance proceeds were received the following year. When should the insurance proceeds be reported in income: in 2020 when received or in 2019 when the discovery was made and the amount determined — or does the company amend each of the prior three years and adjust them for their pro-rata share?
• Palm Beach Accounting and Financial Services (https://www.pbafs.com/blog): When should your clients start receiving Social Security benefits and how do those benefits factor into an overall retirement situation?
• Tax Girl (https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/): The IRS continues to take steps forward in efforts to protect taxpayer data. A tax transcript is going to be the next obvious example.