In the blogs: Long-standing questions

Tax rates since WWII; OZs and 5G; Intuit and Mailchimp; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Long-standing questions

• AICPA Insights (https://future.aicpa.org/blog): During a pandemic when many taxpayers and their advisors are struggling, IRS penalty assessments remain problematic.
• Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com): The IRS keeps hammering for clarity on virtual currency rules.
• Tax Vox (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/): The greatest lack of revenue generation? “While average effective tax rates barely changed in the U.S. from 1945 to 2015, the average tax rates of high-income households fell sharply…”
• TaxProf Blog (http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/): A look at where Opportunity Zones came from — and at who really benefits.
• Tax Pro Center (https://proconnect.intuit.com/taxprocenter/): What is 5G and why should your firm care?
• Taxing Subjects (https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog): What may be the tax question of the decade: employee or independent contractor? The IRS line between the two is getting sharper.

Capital ideas

• Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): Capital Idea Dept.: How the NYS PTET makes a good SALT workaround.
• Tax Warriors (https://www.taxwarriors.com/): So what is in the Ways and Means Committee outline of proposed new tax laws?
• HBK (https://hbkcpa.com/insights/): You can cram a lot of changes into a $3.5 trillion spending package — and not everyone’s going to be happy. “For now, here is an overview of some of the major provisions addressed…”
• Eide Bailly (https://www.eidebailly.com/taxblog): All the news of all the yin and yang of the right and left regarding big bills in Congress.
• Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): Favorite blogger observation of the week: One of the provisions in the tax bill currently wending through Congress proposes to repeal IRC 6751(b). “I joked with others on the email thread that such a repeal could spell the end of our blog,” the blogger said. “We have written so many posts on this poorly drafted law that having it repealed could significantly reduce the topics upon which we would write.” Yet, has the IRS regained its voice in influencing tax legislation?
• Surgent Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): Funny how a few of these back-to-school tips to get the most of out of online learning could apply just as well to running a good tax prep practice: have a designated space for studying, know your learning style and work with it and (our favorite) read all the information available and ask questions.
• Sagenext (https://www.thesagenext.com/blog): What to make of Intuit buying Mailchimp.

Right priorities

• Boyum & Barenscheer (https://myboyum.com/blog/): If your client is a 501(c)(6) organization, their activities could trip up their tax-exempt status. Helping them make sure to review member offerings and any other landmine activities.
• Don’t Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): Each year, the Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy and the IRS formulate a “Priority Guidance Plan” to, among other goals, increase voluntary taxpayer compliance by helping to clarify ambiguous areas of the tax law. This year’s plan contains 193 guidance projects. A look at a few.
• Sikich (https://www.sikich.com/insights/): For your clients who just went through that nastiest of life’s rough ones, a survivor’s checklist.

Complicating matters

• Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): What many firms have here is a failure to communicate.
• Gordon Law (https://gordonlawltd.com/blog/) What to remind them about selling on eBay and the 1099-K.
• Federal Tax Crimes (http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/): A look at the statute of limitations arguments in United States v. Pursley, concerning an attorney, a client, the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program and tax evasion.
• Sovos (https://sovos.com/blog/?region=united-states): Unclaimed property due dates span the calendar and differ by state and holder/company type. Complicating matters further, each state’s rules and regs are updated frequently. Here’s state-specific information on unclaimed property due dates to help you stay on top of this changing information.
• The Tax Times (https://www.thetaxtimes.com): On the flip side of one of this blog’s recent topics, The Tax Court has found in the Sutherland case that a wife was not entitled to equitable innocent spouse relief because she had knowledge or reason to know that the couple’s tax liability would not be paid.
• Current Federal Tax Developments (https://www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com/): While the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the Tax Court’s decision regarding the amount of tax owed by the taxpayer in Ray v. Commissioner, the panel overruled the court on the issue of penalties and found that the taxpayer had a reasonable basis for a portion of his substantial understatement of tax on the return.
• Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com/): Indirect loans between a private foundation and a disqualified person are on the IRS radar.