199A workload; TACs on the decline; dysfunctions; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.
One big bite
- Procedurally Taxing (
http://procedurallytaxing.com ): Few penalties have the bite of the FBAR penalty — especially in cases such as the one cited this week, in which the Court of Federal Claims opined that the taxpayer was liable for half the money in her foreign bank account. - Tax Girl (
http://blogs.forbes.com/kellyphillipserb ): A look at recent proposed regulations for Sec. 199A: a whopping 184 pages plus 14 pages on W-2 wages, and that the regs could tack on 25 million hours in new annual reporting requirements for 10 million corporations and partnerships. “The average increased reporting burden … works out to 2.5 hours per affected taxpayer per year.” - Dinesen Tax Times (
http://dinesentax.com/blog ): An existing LLC, taxed as a sole proprietorship or a partnership, has an employer ID number. If the LLC later decides to be taxed as a corporation, does it need a new EIN?
Walk on
- Houston Tax Attorney (
http://www.irstaxtrouble.com/category/tax-blog/ ): The court’s often held that serial whistleblowers, those who submit more than one whistleblower claim with the IRS, cannot remain anonymous when litigating the right to their whistleblower claims. In Whistleblower 7208-17 v. Commissioner, the court confirms that this extends to those who use public information to submit a single whistleblower claim. - National Taxpayer Advocate (
https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/about/nta-blog ): The ongoing threat “and significant concerns” regarding the dwindling number of IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers, formerly a.k.a. walk-in sites. The NTA “recently learned that despite my concerns, and concerns from Congress, the IRS has closed nine additional TACs since publication of my 2017 Annual Report to Congress.”
And glory
- Intuit Proconnect (
http://taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com/ ): With more tax and accounting firm teams working remotely, an increased focus on communication, and a drop in the cost of many technologies, firms are still struggling to eliminate silos and increase their focus on what’s best for the client. Cool, but bear in mind that a Harvard Business Review study recently found that 75 percent of teams working cross-functionally are dysfunctional. What to do? - Wolters Kluwer (
http://news.cchgroup.com/ ): “Does Client Collaboration Make or Break an Audit?” And what’s your current process for obtaining the various documentation needed from the client? - The Income Tax School (
http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/ ): “Do You Have What It Takes to Own Your Own Tax Business?” No. 1? “Guts.”
