In the blogs: Turning over a new relief

To delay or not delay; three questions about a digital tax; nonprofits and theft; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Turning over a new relief

• Wolters Kluwer (http://news.cchgroup.com/): A look at the American Rescue Plan Act.
• Bloomberg Tax (https://pro.bloombergtax.com/news-insights/): How Senate Democrats are jettisoning a proposal to use the Tax Code to penalize corporations that don’t raise the minimum wage for their lowest-paid workers. The move was part of an effort to keep Biden’s broader stimulus plan on track.
• Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com): A look at California’s new Golden State Stimulus Bill, which includes $600-to-$1,200 cash payments to eligible residents.
• Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): And are those stimulus payments taxable?
• National Taxpayer Advocate (https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/taxnews-information/blogs-nta/): How the IRS can now consult 10-year-old returns to decide whether to exclude an account from its private debt-collection program.
• Taxing Subjects (https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog): A status report from the IRS shows income tax returns are being filed at a much slower rate than last year even as, unlike last year, an extension to the April 15 filing deadline remains unclear.
• Tax Vox (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/): The most interesting tax news these days may not be the tax cuts in the massive pandemic relief bill now awaiting House passage but rather the growing efforts of states to tax Internet advertising, spearheaded by Maryland. These new state taxes, which parallel efforts by several European countries to tax digital services, raise three huge questions.

Size matters

• AICPA (https://blog.aicpa.org/): Six wise choices to start this season strongly.
• Sovos (https://sovos.com/blog/?region=united-states): Growth is great — but is your client’s approach to tax keeping up?
• Surgent Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): Everybody wants the big time, of course, but here are five reasons your small-business clients should consider staying small.

Loves and dragons

• The Tax Professional (http://thetaxprofessional.blogspot.com/): Favorite opening of the week: “Most people remember their first love. I remember with fondness the first Form 1040 I prepared” (the 1971 model). A glance back as the blogger embarks on his Golden Anniversary season.
• Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): Is “voluntary tax” in the same category as “voluntary stop sign” or “voluntary speed limit?”
• Solutions For CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): Another favorite opening of the week is this Tolkien quote: “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.” There are many different ways to address succession planning and client transition, yet many firms, especially small-to-midsize ones, haven’t dedicated the time and effort to define a formal plan. How this topic was discussed recently on a CPA Firm Management Association discussion board.

Material participation

• Canopy (https://www.canopytax.com/blog): Three special tax issues to bear in mind for high-net-worth clients.
• Don’t Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): Ways expats can offset U.S. taxes when living abroad.
• Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): As the U.K. looks at ways to raise tax revenue to cover the revenue shortfalls and additional spending resulting from the pandemic, its corporation tax policy can play a central role. But the focus should be on changes to the tax base rather than the rate.
• Boyum & Barenscheer (https://myboyum.com/blog/): Thousands of not-for-profit organizations fall victim to embezzlement schemes every year, with losses going beyond mere dollar amounts to affect reputation, donors and other supporters. How to help your nonprofit clients.
• Eide Bailly (https://www.eidebailly.com/taxblog): How IRS attorneys are working to limit the reach of an important pro-taxpayer Tax Court decision applying the passive loss rules to trusts; these rules limit the ability of taxpayers to deduct business losses if they do not “materially participate” in a loss-generating business.
• Tax Pro Center (https://proconnect.intuit.com/taxprocenter/): What to tell clients who can’t pay (their taxes, not your fee).