AT Think

In the blogs: Fretting

The PPP; customer service now; answers and CARES; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Fretting

  • Tax Warrior Chronicles (https://www.taxwarriors.com/blog): Key changes to the PPP, including the Final Borrower Application and related regulations. Spoiler Alert (that’s so cool): The borrower application changed; payments to independent contractors are excluded from payroll costs for businesses with employees; and — well this is timeless and no surprise — “confusion continues where guidance is lacking. But fret not…”
  • Solutions For CPA Firm Leaders (https://ritakeller.com/blog/): How the AICPA is recommending that PPP applicants use the gross-payroll calculation.
  • Mauled Again (https://mauledagain.blogspot.com): “Was Tax Avoidance the Reason for This Bizarre Transaction?” examines a rerun of “Hot Bench” and some spectacularly complex (though not especially legal) check cashing.
  • Taxbuzz (https://www.taxbuzz.com/blog): Experts weigh in on various aspects of the season during this medical mess.
  • The Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): Though headlines applying to the COVID situation might also apply to a run-of-the-mill crazy season, for the prep industry it’s time to shine as trusted advisors. Some thoughts on delivering excellent customer service.

Relief in sight

  • Eide Bailly (https://www.eidebailly.com/taxblog): CARES is filled with options to help businesses endure the pandemic. Trouble is, the thing is 880 pages long. The TCJA was huge, but this is different — we need answers now to help people.
  • Tax Girl (https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/): Answers to the most commonly asked questions about tax stimulus checks, starting with likely size.
  • Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): Guest blogger Barbara Heggie, attorney for a New Hampshire low-income taxpayer project, discusses the real-life impacts of refunds — and the stimulus.
  • Boyum & Barenscheer (https://myboyum.com/blog/): How CARES offers new hope for cash-strapped nonprofits, depending on their size, financial condition and other factors.
  • Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): Supervisory and enforcement practices regarding the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Regulation V in light of CARES kicks off with CFP Bureau guidance on credit reporting.
  • TaxProf Blog (http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/): Both sides of the of the universal basic income debate acknowledge that the most significant political challenge to its adoption in the U.S. is that a universal basic income would not have a work requirement attached. How valid is this?

States of the ship

  • Avalara (https://www.avalara.com/us/en/index.html): States’ sales-tax relief at a glance.
  • TaxMama (http://taxmama.com): A look at California’s recent filing break for small businesses.
  • Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): “Notable holdouts” to states generally mirroring the federal filing relief, including Virginia (where the typical Tax Day is May 1) and Hawaii and Iowa, which are actually offering extra days.
  • Taxjar (http://blog.taxjar.com/): Another cutting-edge list of states’ sales tax relief. Too bad we’re going to run out of states on the lists before we run out of the reason for the relief.
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