In the blogs: Dangerous curve ahead

State doings; Medicare won't wait; the wayside; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Dangerous curve ahead

• Tax Vox (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/): While Congress talks about the federal debt, it's still hesitating to deal with one major source of rising deficits — Medicare — that it can't avoid much longer.
• Wolters Kluwer (https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/tax-accounting-us/industry-news): The new return question on "digital assets" is slightly longer but (thanks to better instructions) supposedly less complicated than in recent years. What hasn't changed is the selection of responses.
• Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): Regarding a "twist" in the well-traveled debate about a mileage-based road fee, in "A Better Way to Pay for Roads," author Tom Giovanetti of the Institute for Policy Innovation notes that fuel taxes to fund highways are all well and good — except that a growing number of vehicles don't run on gasoline.
• Surgent Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): Remember the Monty Python mountaineering sketch, when they said that the purpose of this year's expedition is to find some trace of last year's expedition? Your checklist for the coming season starts with reviewing your previous season.
• The Rosenberg Associates (https://rosenbergassoc.com/blog/): Between the staffing crisis, chargeable hours flowing uphill to partners, more client demands, partners spatting on key business issues and any whiff of stress in your personal life, being a partner has been hard lately. The benefits of coaching.
• Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): The IRS and FinCEN now allege that foreign online poker accounts are "casino" accounts that must be reported as foreign financial accounts. When in doubt, report — and think about an FBAR for $10,000 or more in a non-U.S. cryptocurrency exchange. The problem: Most of those entities don't broadcast their addresses. 
• John R. Dundon II EA (https://www.johnrdundon.com/): Reasonable compensation and the S corp owner is a case study of a multiyear dispute with the IRS. 
• Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): Favorite headline of the week: "The Director of First Impressions Has Gone by the Wayside."

Questions galore

• Sikich (https://www.sikich.com/insights/): Global recession, mushrooming  layoffs, slashed budgets and freezing hires: How can marketing fit into such an invigorating business environment?
• Virginia – US Tax Talk (https://us-tax.org/about-this-us-tax-blog/): The Supreme Court has just set the stage for sky-high FBAR penalties. How did this happen?
• Global Taxes (https://www.globaltaxes.com/blog.php): The verdict against former President Donald Trump's companies hinged on the often confusing — and often fudged — taxability of fringe benefits.
• Taxbuzz (https://www.taxbuzz.com/blog): Will Florida ban sales tax on baby formula?
• Taxjar (https://www.taxjar.com/resources/blog): Does Vermont charge sales tax on services?
• Marcum (https://www.marcumllp.com/insights): When your construction contractor clients look at their WIP schedule, do they see a strategic tool or a history lesson?

State your case

• Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (https://itep.org/category/blog/): States have been far from idle as tax bills across the U.S. wend their way through capitals. New Mexico's governor details her plan to send one-time rebates; Michigan looks at bumping up the state Earned Income Tax Credit; Arizona looks to fund a Child Tax Credit for low-income families; Ohio discusses an income tax deduction for children; the governor of Mississippi wants to chuck the state income tax.
• Eide Bailly (https://www.eidebailly.com/taxblog): And EB's new state news blog looks at Indiana's SALT workaround, a Montana tax break and the chances for a wealth tax in California, among other happenings.
• Armanino (https://www.armanino.com/): Several states have decoupled IRC 280E from their tax codes so that cannabis operators can deduct business expenses on state taxes.
• Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): Recent foundation testimony to the Nebraska Revenue Committee ahead of a proposed relief measure, specifically how reducing top marginal individual and corporate income tax rates and consolidating brackets would foster economic growth.
• University of Illinois Tax School (https://taxschool.illinois.edu/blog/): A recent webinar was packed with too many tax questions about Illinois to fit into the Q&A session; this video handles the overflow.
• TaxConnex (https://www.taxconnex.com/blog-): Two recent state courts' determinations — one good for the seller, one not — show the continuing reach of Wayfair.
• Avalara (https://www.avalara.com/blog/en/north-america.html): The January sales tax roundup includes levying Bob the Builder and how boarding Fido and Fluffy incurs some odd taxes, especially in Connecticut.
• TaxMama (http://taxmama.com): Mama's look at this spanking new season and the IRS includes that the agency is asking how to spend their IRA funding and that the California Middle Class Tax Refund isn't taxable for California — but is it for the IRS? 

What they don't know

• Don't Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): A reminder for them about February's tax to-dos, including nods to weather-related filing postponements and COVID relief that's steadily disappearing into the rear-view mirror.
• AICPA Insights (https://www.aicpa.org/blog): If you or your biz clients are considering a major move, you/they can't ignore the associated staff's appetite for risk. Four ways to identify blind spots in your organization.
• Gordon Law (https://gordonlawltd.com/blog/): What to remind them about FBARs.
• Canopy (https://www.getcanopy.com/blog): The who, what, where and why of the 2553.
• Tax Pro Center (https://proconnect.intuit.com/taxprocenter/): What to remind your gig-employment clients about, well, everything from quarterly payments to reporting all income. 
• Boyum & Barenscheer (https://www.myboyum.com/blog/): For your nonprofit clients, endowment investments generally need to be managed by a financial expert and adhere to certain regulations, particularly when it comes to spending. As a refresher or as a primer, the basics of endowment management.