Voices

In the blogs: Just imagine

Fewer clients = more income; the new car credit; the IRA's real importance; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Just imagine

  • Tax Pro Center (https://proconnect.intuit.com/taxprocenter/): Here's a guy who fired his prep clients — and quadrupled his income.
  • Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): For the anti-tax group and for those attracted by the "siren songs" of anti-tax advocates, imagine a world in which there are no taxes, and thus no government. What happens when one or perhaps two or three, or even several dozen, mega-oligarchs own and control every activity and function that affects every facet of life? A recent situation in New Hampshire gives us a peek into that sort of world.
  • Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (https://itep.org/category/blog/): A new report provides national and state-by-state estimates of two possible approaches to expanding the Child Tax Credit. One would extend the expansion that Congress enacted for 2021, which reduced childhood poverty by more than 40%. The other approach is Sen. Mitt Romney's Family Security Act 2.0, and its impacts are very different.
  • TaxMama (http://taxmama.com): How they can know it's really the IRS showing up at their door, and what they can do if they have any doubts.
  • Henry+Horne (https://www.hhcpa.com/blogs/): What to remind them about taxes when they decide it's time to close their business for good.

O ship of states

An especially tricky credit

  • Gordon Law (https://gordonlawltd.com/blog/): Five ways to take advantage of clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act.
  • National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): But qualifying for that electric car credit may be tricky for a while.
  • National Taxpayer Advocate (https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/taxnews-information/blogs-nta/): After a settlement between the IRS and the National Federation of the Blind two years ago, visually impaired taxpayers now have more accessibility options.
  • Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): Creators of non-fungible tokens may be thinking "NFT" also stands for "Not [bleep]in' Taxable," but in addition to incurring income tax is this cutting-edge asset subject to sales tax?
  • Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): In a 2020 unpublished order in Li v. Commissioner, the Tax Court held that the IRS whistleblower office did not abuse its discretion in denying Li an award because she provided only vague and speculative information. How many WBO cases in the Tax Court involve threshold rejections similar to Li?
  • Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com): What to remind them about claiming their elderly parent as a dependent.
  • Don't Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): If they've got a side hustle, they've also got a date with the taxman on Sept. 15.

Real questions

  • HallCPA (https://www.therealestatecpa.com/blog): What real estate investors are supposed to be looking for in outsourced accounting.
  • Boyum & Barenscheer (https://www.myboyum.com/blog/): Do your clients' businesses (or yours) need real estate to conduct operations? Or otherwise hold property and put the title in the name of the business? You may want to rethink this approach.
  • Sovos (https://sovos.com/blog/?region=united-states): If you've got a client looking to crack into Puerto Rico with online sales, know that Puerto Rico's unique hybrid sales tax (Impuesto Sobre Ventas y Uso) structure contains elements of both VAT and traditional U.S. sales tax. Additionally, there are requirements and compliance systems in place that can make navigation difficult.
  • Canopy (https://www.getcanopy.com/blog): Eight components of a well-managed accounting firm: How many of them are in your practice?

Favs

  • Tax Vox (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/): A favorite opening of the week: "It's always tempting to exaggerate the importance of the latest big fight in Congress." The IRA of 2022 made some major policy changes, but is it big or revolutionary in sheer dollars?
  • Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): And, "If ever there was a paycheck protection program, defending people from bracket creep may be the most important one ever designed."
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