Passport revocation; lease accounting deadlines; re-routed refund; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.
Cryptic questions
- Don’t Mess With Taxes (
http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/ ): A federal holiday can mean many things to many people. How holidays also can affect taxes when they coincide with a deadline, with a nod toward the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. - Tax Girl (
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/ ): Tell’em to watch for that new question on tax forms asking all about a taxpayer’s involvement on virtual currency.
Season’s greetings
- Sagenext (
https://www.thesagenext.com/blog ): When entrepreneurs decide to DIY everything, they often ignore that they can be losing more than they would gain by doing it all on their own. In what areas? How accounts and taxes leap to mind, with an eye to helping your solo-pilot biz owners prepare for next tax season. - Avalara (
https://www.avalara.com/us/en/index.html ): Strong sales leading up to Halloween can indicate higher sales in the holidays ahead. Every sale of a pointy black hat or bag of candy matters — as does getting the tax right on those sales. And each state has frighteningly different rules and rates for products. - Procedurally Taxing (
https://procedurallytaxing.com ): It’s the season for annual reports from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the latest provides a fair amount of detail on whose tax debts the IRS has targeted for passport revocation, how many have been revoked and what has happened after the sending of the revocation. - Summing It Up (
http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up ): Private entities subject to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's new lease accounting standard, ASC 842, may get some deadline relief if a recently proposed effective-date extension becomes final, but implementation can still present a significant challenge regardless of the timeline. - Tax Foundation (
https://taxfoundation.org/blog ): Among the unfinished business awaiting lawmakers when they return from their two-week recess are technical corrections to reform, including the error known as the “Retail Glitch,” which makes it more expensive for businesses to make improvements to the interiors of their buildings. - Wolters Kluwer (
http://news.cchgroup.com/ ): The American Institute of CPAs has urged the IRS to reconsider providing “tax reform administrative relief” under final IRC Sec. 965 transition tax rules.
Casing the joint
- Federal Tax Crimes (
http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/ ): Key excerpts from the U.S. Attorney for Nevada’s announcement of the sentencing of William Waller Jr., a Las Vegas real estate broker and the owner of Burbank Holdings or Platinum Properties for convictions of tax evasion andwillful failure to file . The sentence was 78 months and the restitution seven figures, the tactics a shell entity and lots and lots of cash. - Rubin on Tax (
http://rubinontax.floridatax.com/ ): In chief counsel advice, the IRS has concluded that in valuing a gift of publicly traded stock to a grantor retained annuity trust, the announcement of a merger shortly thereafter after the gift must be factored into the valuation. A look at the case. - Mauled Again (
http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/ ): When an accountant messes up bank information and sends a refund to someone other than the deserving client. And it all winds up on TV.
Off to market
- Canopy (
https://www.canopytax.com/blog ): Transparency is all the rage in all businesses now, and is critical in a practice where tax pros deal with personal financial information. What you can do to boost transparency and build stronger relationships with clients. - Intuit ProConnect (
http://taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com/ ): Can you spend just a little on marketing and still build a steady client base and marketing presence? Not surprisingly, “4 Surprisingly Simple, Low-Cost Tips to Grow Your Tax and Accounting Firm” replies Yes! and backs it up with actionable (and well-priced) tips from a real-life growing practice.
