In the blogs: Last-minute fun

What they think of you; mistaken death and taxes; small-biz bounce back; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Last-minute fun

• Don’t Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): What to remind them to do at the last minute.
• Taxbuzz (https://www.taxbuzz.com/blog): This latest chat looks at recapping the season as the sluice run begins.
• Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): Ever wonder how you are really perceived in your business community? “Oh, yes…I know Smith, Jones & Co., they are the (blank) firm.” Try this “fun” exercise with your team and have each person write down a word or phrase that fills in the blank.
• The Wandering Tax Pro (http://wanderingtaxpro.blogspot.com/): How ending the step-up in basis would be a nightmare for taxpayers and preparers.
• Eide Bailly (https://www.eidebailly.com/taxblog): Favorite topic of this and most weeks: “The SNAFU Roundup.”

Time traveling

• Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): “One Person’s Goof Triples Another Person’s Taxes” is a recent story showing how much work still needs to be done to make certain tax systems function properly. The stars: a 94-year old woman who’d been paying $2,694 annually in local real property taxes on her home, and someone in the country tax office who marked her as dead.
• Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): We put off reading this until now: “Bozo Tax Tip #5: Procrastinate!” What to remind them of if they wake up Monday unable to pay their taxes.
• Canopy (https://www.canopytax.com/blog): The most common time traps in accounting firms include waiting on clients to access the right device or find time to drop off their documentation and the “challenging” task of weeding out crummy clients.

Current issues

• National Taxpayer Advocate (https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/taxnews-information/blogs-nta/): With the opening of the 2022 Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic grant application period, the Taxpayer Advocate Service seeks partners who are not only ardent advocates for low-income individuals but also who have a flair for finding new and innovative ways to provide access to services.
• Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): Sessions of interest in the current American Bar Association Section of Taxation, now in its third full virtual meeting: “The Multicultural Taxpayer: How to Address Discrimination with the IRS,” “Best Practices for Virtual Trials Before the U.S. Tax Court” and tax issues on the horizon.
• Tax Pro Center (https://proconnect.intuit.com/taxprocenter/): That light down the tunnel may finally not be a train: U.S. small businesses are on the road to recovery from the financial losses of the pandemic, according to a new report.
• SageNext (https://www.thesagenext.com/blog): “The much-awaited tax policies of the new government have reinstalled the faith of business in the country,” and accounting firms will be able to make the best use of the policies to assist small businesses.
• Boyum & Barenscheer (https://myboyum.com/blog/): What your not-for-profit clients should know about last year’s “Accounting Standards Update…Presentation and Disclosures by Not-for-Profit Entities for Contributed Nonfinancial Assets,” which is intended to increase transparency around gifts in kind.
• Tax Warriors (https://www.taxwarriors.com/): Every day can be Parents’ Day (almost) when it comes to tax breaks this year!
• Taxing Subjects (https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog): What to tell them about one of the hottest tax topics — crypto — and the 1040.
• Current Federal Tax Developments (https://www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com): The IRS looks at issues surrounding the deduction of expenses related to the use of aircraft by a sole proprietor.
• TaxProf Blog (http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/): A good handbook tells you something about how the discipline is organized, identifies major debates, showcases thoughtful researchers and captures the momentum of the field. “The Research Handbook on International Taxation” achieves all those.

Ships of states

• Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): Enactment of Maryland’s digital advertising tax may have been postponed due to administrative and legal challenges, but this brand of tax isn’t going away nationwide. And “these taxes are administratively complex, constitutionally dubious and likely violative of the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act.”
• Avalara (https://www.avalara.com/us/en/blog.html): More states are also broadening economic nexus laws for sales tax.
• Taxjar (http://blog.taxjar.com/): How Kansas recently fell in line with economic nexus.