Local measures galore; AI to the rescue; franchisees' checklist; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.
Profound effects
- Tax Notes (
https://www.taxnotes.com/procedurally-taxing ): Those younger than 59½ are supposed to face a 10% hit on withdrawals from most tax-favored retirement accounts. A new Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report says that few actually pay it. - The Tax Times (
https://www.thetaxtimes.com ): Constitutionality of the Corporate Transparency Act's beneficial ownership reporting requirement has, for the first time, made it to a federal appellate court. - Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (
https://itep.org/category/blog/ ): Next month, voters nationwide will weigh in on local measures "that will have a profound effect on the adequacy of our local tax systems." - Tax Vox (
https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox ): New analysis claims that Trump's proposed tariffs would land hard on the Midwest and South. - The Rosenberg Associates (
https://rosenbergassoc.com/blog/ ): How the best firms do the best strategic planning, according to a recent survey. - Mauled Again (
http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/ ): Does a mileage-based road fee work for local road maintenance? What about the care needed in calculation to make sure the "fee" doesn't morph into a property tax? - TaxProf Blog (
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/ ): Scrutiny of recent scholarship on the early history of international taxation "ought to have dislodged many myths about this history." Did it? - Tax Pro Center (
https://accountants.intuit.com/taxprocenter/ ): Is (and if so, exactly how?) AI riding to the rescue of accounting?
Across the seas
- Tax Foundation (
https://taxfoundation.org/blog ): As Trump has floated, "Americans Abroad Need Compliance Cost Relief." - Sikich (
https://www.sikich.com/insights/ ): Much happened lately in judicial rulings on foreign reporting obligations. - Virginia – U.S. Tax Talk (
https://us-tax.org/about-this-us-tax-blog/ ): Those with foreign holdings are in the same boat, and in the same sea of paper, as the rest of us: Which records to toss and which to keep? - Avalara (
https://www.avalara.com/blog/en/north-america.html ): Excellent overview of the various ways states' sales tax obligations can trip up your ecommerce clients.
Good policies
- Canopy (
https://www.getcanopy.com/blog ): Where can an accounting template fit into your practice's implementations? - The National Association of Tax Professionals (
https://blog.natptax.com/ ): This week's "You Make the Call" looks at Ryan, who has a Schedule C business where he has a piece of five-year class life equipment he placed in service in 2022 (equipment that's qualified property and eligible for bonus depreciation). When Ryan timely filed his 2022 return, he did not claim bonus depreciation and did not elect out of claiming bonus depreciation. He has also timely filed his 2023 return, continuing to claim depreciation on the asset. Ryan wants to amend his 2022 return to claim bonus depreciation since he is still within the statute of limitations. Can he amend his 2022 return to claim the bonus depreciation he was eligible for? - Gordon Law (
https://gordonlawltd.com/blog/ ): So how does a client report crypto mining? - Marcum (
https://www.marcumllp.com/insights ): When people think about tax-exempts, typically they think about public charities or private foundations — but the Internal Revenue Code has 29 ways an organization can be considered a nonprofit. A look at "social welfare organizations." - Taxing Subjects (
https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog ): A separate guest network for clients makes a good step toward thwarting cyberattacks. - Wolters Kluwer (
https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/tax-accounting-us/industry-news ): Tax pros should know that making their voices heard does sway policy. - CLA (
https://www.claconnect.com/en/resources?pageNum=0 ): A handy checklist for your franchisee clients to close out 2024.
