WHAT’S THE BUZZ? TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’

* New Jersey isn’t the only state to nickel and dime its residents with fees, as Aaron Crowe reports in his article “Unpopular Taxes and Fees Cropping Up Everywhere in the Nickel and Dime Economy” at WALLETPOP.

NJ is represented on Aaron’s list – “In Newark, N.J., city workers will soon have to start bringing their own toilet paper to work because the city isn't buying it anymore”.

* Kelly Phillips Erb, aka the taxgirl, also writes for WALLETPOP, where she provides an excellent review of “Tax Tips for Military Personnel”.

* Monica Lawver once again provides some common sense in her return to blogging at THE TAX CPA. BTW, her post “Dealing With the Gray” has nothing to do with the signs of approaching old age (I have actually been gray for several years now – and I am many years away from age 65).

Monica says -

“I grow frustrated with the flawed logic that often appears: that all poor people are poor through no fault of their own, that all rich people are lazy and lucky. Some poor people earned their poverty through bad choices; some rich people really did earn their wealth.”

I agree that for the most part we do indeed “make our own bed”. I would use “many” rather than “some” in the above quote. Most of us are personally responsible for our own financial situation.

* Kay Bell gives us some good news in “Lawmakers Seek Repeal of New 1099 Forms” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.

Hey, look. There is a link to a TWTP post on the subject!

Of course if Congress actually read carefully the laws they were voting on in the first place, and thought about the possible resulting consequences and burdens of what they were voting on, they wouldn’t have to go back and fix FUs after the fact. But then that would suggest that Congress really cared about passing competent and effective legislation more than getting re-elected and grabbing whatever they can for their cronies and supporters.

* I was just notified via email that both THE WANDERING TAX PRO and the NEW JERSEY TAX PRACTICE BLOG are included in the list of “101 Top Tax Policy Blogs” at the MASTERS IN ACCOUNTING website.

* IRS employee Richard Panick answers a question I have been asked many times over the years (although usually in reverse – i.e. girlfriend) in his post “Can I Claim My Boyfriend as a Dependent?” at Oregon.com’s TAX Q+A blog.

*Over at Rick Telberg’s CPA TRENDLINES blog Elisabeth Whitlock, Jane Hamer, Susan Holberg, Marilyn Aman and Frank Pavlica identify “The 24 Personalities of Individual Tax Returns (and the Clients behind Them)”.

Rick explains – “One day at the offices of Frank J. Pavlica CPA in Inverness, Ill., it dawned on the folks that tax returns, like clients, have their own personalities. So far, they’ve identified at least 24.”

In my 39 tax seasons I have probably seen them all – some more than others!

BTW, Rick briefly highlighted my tax practice in a CPA TRENDLINES post back in January of 2007 titled “So, Who Said Tax Season Was Supposed To Be Easy?”.

* Paul Caron, the TAX PROF, quotes from an item by Americans for Tax Reform in “ATR: Obama's Broken Tax Pledge”.

The quote identifies how BO has already broken his “firm pledge” that “no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase” at least eight (8) times.

Were they surprised? Isn’t breaking campaign promises part of the job description of a politician?

* Wisconsin Tax attorney Rob Teuber goes back to Nina Olsen’s recent report to Congress and highlights an issue she has once again raised concerning the collection practices of the IRS in “The Taxpayer Advocate Says That the IRS is Undermining Tax Compliance” at his TAX LAW FORUM blog.

He quotes from the report (the highlight is mine) –

“The IRS has failed to utilize the significant collection alternatives available to it to resolve taxpayer debts, thus, leading to increasing accounts receivable on the IRS books, while taxpayers face staggering accruals of penalties and interest that impact their future compliance.”

One of the “collection alternatives” that should be considered is a Federal Tax Amnesty program.

* MISSOURI TAX GUY Bruce addresses a special “industry” with “Tax for Truckers”. Some of his advice applies to all “industries” and some are specific to trucking.

Over the years I have done a few over-the-road truck drivers – although I certainly do not specialize in truckers. Bruce provides some good information. I do a great many police officers and fire fighters.

The post points out the fact that each individual “industry” or “profession” has deductions that are unique – and that one should seek out a tax professional who is experienced with his/her particular industry or profession.

* Although this has nothing to do with taxes – you can vote for your personal favorite among “The 25 Greatest Fictional Lawyers (Who Are Not Atticus Finch)” from film, television and literature at the ABA JOURNAL.

It appears that Vinny Gambino of MY COUSIN VINNY is the most popular on the lost – with 21% of those voting. LAW AND ORDER’s Jack McCoy is 2nd with 15%. My vote, Perry Mason, was surprisingly only the favorite of 6% of voters. PM was beaten out by Horace Rumpole with 8%.

The list misses some great fictional attorneys – hence the follow-up "Other Notable Characters That Did Not Fit Into Our Top 25”. Hey, where is Judd of JUDD FOR THE DEFENSE (played by former Donna Reed tv husband Carl Betz) or the jailhouse lawyer played by Ron Liebman in KAZ?

* I will end on some good non-tax news. THEMEDGURU.COM reports that “A rather bizarre study carried out by German researchers suggests that staring at women's breasts is good for men's health and increases their life expectancy”. I should live to be 100! Check out “Stare at Boobs for Longer Life: Study”.

TTFN

AN INTERESTING ANSWER

Back on July 15th my TWTP post discussed “An Interesting Question” raised by a reader that concerned the possible New York State income tax liability of a New Jersey resident.

I ended the post with a request –

“And I would open the question to any of my tax pro readers who have experience with such a situation. You can let me know what you have to say either by submitting a comment or sending me an email at rdftaxpro@yahoo.com and I will include all responses in a future follow-up post.”

I received only one response.

Fellow tax pro and “twit” John Sheeley, an EA based in NYC, agrees with me about the wages being taxable to New York State and brings up another issue. As John points out below, the NJ consultant may also have to file corporate tax returns for and pay corporate income tax to New York City and New York State due to “nexus” (which is a real PITA).

Robert-

Long time no "speak". I won't ask how your season went; I know from "reading".

Your question posed in today's post is very interesting. I believe your statements are all true and correct, as usual. You don't mention a few other concerns:

(1) Having an employee in New York means the NJ corporation has nexus to New York. The only executions to this nexus are the protections provided under Public Law 86-272, which won't apply in this case.

(2) The corporation needs to qualify with the Secretary of State to transact business in NY (a one time fee of a few hundred dollars), file a NY corporate tax return, and pay NY corporation tax.

(3) If he would like sub-chapter "S" recognition in NY, he needs to file a CT-6. New York has a process for late-recognition of that status.

(4) The corporation also needs to file and pay New York City corporation tax, since he has nexus.

(5) Depending on what service he provides, he might need to collect sales tax. If he is repairing computers (which I doubt), he would be repairing tangible personal property, a service which is subject to sales tax in NY.

New York has a voluntary disclosure process whereby if the taxpayer comes forward and agrees to pay his back tax and interest, he can avoid penalties and possibly only be subject to a limited look back of three years. NY will also only impose the "regular" and opposed to "penalty" interest rates.

Love the blog, thanks for time you put in so the rest of us can enjoy it!

John Sheeley EA

I had thought about the possible NEXUS situation, but did not bring it up in my post because TWTP is basically concerned with individual income tax issues.

States like New York aggressively pursue potential corporate tax and “franchise fee” income resulting from NEXUS - more so, one would expect, in times of budget crisis.

TTFN

WTF?

While I was in Austin a client sent me an email asking about the new “real estate sales tax” that he and the Mrs would have to pay if they sold their home. The email included the following, which he had received in a forwarded email -

“REAL ESTATE SALES TAX –

Under the new health care bill - did you know that all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax? The bulk of these new taxes don't kick in until 2013 (presumably after Obama’s re-election). You can thank Nancy, Harry and Barack and your local Democrat Congressman for this one. If you sell your $400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax. This bill is set to screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes. Is this Hope & Change great or what? Does this stuff makes your November and 2012 votes more important?

Oh, you weren't aware this was in the Obamacare bill? Guess what, you aren't alone. There are more than a few members of Congress that aren't aware of it either (result of clandestine midnight voting for huge bills they’ve never read). AND, there are a few other surprises lurking.”

A real estate sales tax? Poppycock!

Here is the real story –

Beginning in tax year 2013 there will be an additional 3.8% Medicare surtax on the lesser of –

(1) Net investment income, or

(2) Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) in excess of $250,000 on joint returns and $200,000 for single filers.

The surtax is on taxable income and not gross proceeds. If you sell your principal personal residence you can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain ($500,000 on a joint return) if you owned and lived in the residence for 24 months during the 5-year period prior to the sale. If 100% of the gain from the sale of a personal residence is excluded from tax under this rule then there is no taxable income on which to pay the 3.8%.

In the above example if the $400,000 home that is sold qualifies as the taxpayer’s principal residence for purposes of the exclusion the additional tax would be “0” if the taxpayer is married and filing a joint return – because of the $500,000 exclusion there is no taxable income. There would only be an additional tax if the taxpayer’s exclusion was limited to $250,000 and the basis of the home sold (original cost + capital improvements + closing costs on purchase and sale) was less than $150,000 and his/her modified AGI was more than $200,000 – but this would be no where near $15,200.

There would be a possible 3.8% surtax liability on any gain from the sale of any vacation, rental or investment real estate. But again the tax would only apply to the net taxable gain if MAGI exceeded $200,000 or $250,000 – and not the gross sale price.

The only truth in the above nonsense is the fact that the additional taxes do not kick in until 2013 – after the next Presidential election.

My client did the right thing. Upon receiving this totally false information from someone other than a competent tax professional he contacted me and was told the truth. As I am constantly writing and saying – NEVER ACCEPT TAX ADVICE FROM ANYONE OTHER THAN A PROFESSIONAL TAX PREPARER.

FYI – if you don’t believe me FactCheck.org addressed this issue back in April. Click here.

TTFN

WHAT’S THE BUZZ? TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’ – WEDNESDAY EDITION

THE BUZZ IS BACK!

* Kay Bell also attended the NATP conference in Austin, which is where she lives, although we did not manage to connect (my fault, I fear). Unlike me, she wrote new posts at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES during the week.

I plan to check out the Tax Foundation calculator she discusses in the post “Your 2011 Tax Burden”.

* Kay refers to NATP members in her post “Atypical Tips and Taxes”.

Over the years I have received “gifts” from clients that could probably be considered tips – as did my mentor Jim Gill. Jim received a convertible couch from one client, and a refrigerator from another – two items that came in handy in our office. My gifts have not been as substantial, although I have received original artwork from clients who are artists and the occasional restaurant and Amazon.com gift card.

* And Kay provides some guidance in answering the question “Are You Ready for a ROTH?” taken from one of the educational sessions offered at the NATP conference. I attended the same class that Kay mentions in her post – although not the same session as Kay (classes are offered at least twice at different times during the conference).

I am sincerely sorry Kay and I did not meet at the NATP conference (again – my fault, I fear). Maybe at a future conference.

* I don’t want to make this BUZZ all about Kay, but she had a lot of great posts over the past 10 days. She gave us the word on back-to-school sales tax holidays in “Sales tax holidays 2010”.

* The last of Kay - If you want to learn more about the Yellow Rose of Taxes check out the post “TAP Member Spotlight: Kay Bell–Journalist, Author, and Self-Proclaimed Tax Geek!!!” at JUST IN TIME WITH JUSTIN.

* Diane Kennedy and Megan Hughes have a series of posts on the LLC form of business organization over at DIANE KENNEDY’S US TAXAID blog. Last Friday’s entry was “5 Reasons Why Series LLCs Rock”

* While I was away Kelly Phillips Erb celebrated the 5th Anniversary of her excellent TAXGIRL blog. Kelly discusses the milestone in “Me, Me, Me. It’s All About Me”.

Congratulations to KPE! TG is a great, and truly helpful and informative, blog. Keep up the good work!

* Kelly spreads the word that “Smaller Charities Get Important Extension”, with important information for small non-profit organizations. The IRS has a list of "Organizations At Risk of Automatic Revocation of Tax-Exempt Status".

* Bruce, the MISSOURI TAX GUY, who I had initially hoped to finally meet in Austin, filled the BUZZ void with his weekly Sunday “Reads from Last Week”. Lots of good posts mentioned here.

* Bruce also has a great post with “10 Things” that a new small business owner should do and 10 that he/she should not do.

He makes a very important point twice, once in each list –

“Keep business and financial records separate, and don’t intermingle the two” and “Never put your personal and business assets together”.

And another very important Should Not –

“Don’t touch money that’s been withheld for tax purposes like payroll or sales tax and use it for anything else — even if you’ve got an ‘emergency’.”

* Trish McIntire of OUR TAXING TIMES discusses this issue in more detail in her post “The Most Dangerous Money”.

* Jean Murray discusses the Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act, which I mentioned in an earlier post at TWTP, in "Small Business May Finally Get a Tax Break”. She tells us “it passed the House and is currently in the Senate”.

As I had previously mentioned, the one provision of this bill that I really like is – “The bill allows business owners to deduct the cost of health insurance for themselves and their families from their self-employment tax”.

* TAX MAMA Eva Rosenberg hits the nail on the head with her response to a question from a reader in “Tax Advice from Friends”. She echoes my thoughts when she says -

“But that’s one of my pet peeves, listening to well-meaning, but ignorant friends, instead of consulting a tax professional for tax advice.

Friends are terrific – to have fun with, and socialize with. But…it’s like asking some well-meaning buddy to fix a cavity in your tooth, rather than a dentist. Yeah, he heard some tips about how to do that. Don’t bother going to a dentist who spent years studying – or a tax professional who is constantly studying the new tax laws.”

* FORBES.COM has a good article on “Five Rules For Inherited IRAs” by Deborah L. Jacobs.

* Elsewhere at FORBES.COM Eric Fox provides a good overview of the “Bush” tax cuts that will expire on December 31, 2010 if Congress doesn’t get off its arse and do something in “How Will The Expiring Bush Tax Cuts Affect You?”.

* Joe Kristan has returned from his well-deserved vacation – and asks the question “Is Extreme Remodeling a Charitable Contribution?” at the ROTH AND COMPANY TAX UPDATE BLOG.

* Ron Tueber’s “Friday's Tax Quote - July 23, 2010” was a great one –

“Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt." - Herbert Hoover

* Before I go some non-tax BUZZ - Kudos to NJ Gov Chris Christie for speaking out against the steaming piece of excrement known as MTV’s “The Jersey Shore”. On a Sunday ABC news program the Republican governor said the so-called “reality” series is a "negative" for New Jersey because, as is basically the case with just about every so-called “reality” show, it doesn’t in any way, shape or form reflect reality!

Christie said it "takes a bunch of New Yorkers, drops them at the Jersey Shore and tries to make America feel like this is New Jersey."

I was shocked to learn while in Austin that the self-absorbed brain-dead arseholes (that describes anyone who appears on a reality tv show – doesn’t it) on The Jersey Shore make $30,000 per episode!

There was more good news this morning on the “reality tv” front. One of the idiots on the Desperate Housewives of New Jersey, another slice of dog waste, is bankrupt ($11 Million in debt) and according to a headline, “NJ 'Housewife' Teresa Auctions Off Contents of Foreclosed Mansion”.

Who watches this shit?

TTFN

THE NATP ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN AUSTIN - PART II

One of the problems with the NATP conference for one who has been in the business as long as I have, and who has attended as many previous conferences as I have, is basically - how many seminars on depreciation can you sit through? It is becoming more and more difficult to find sufficient class sessions to make attendance worth the ever-growing cost.

It seems that classes on Depreciation and Passive Activities are on the list every year – as well they should be for new preparers. There are sessions on ethics – and until I am forced to do so I am not going to waste my time on these. I have no desire to represent taxpayers before the IRS, other than to assist existing clients with audits of returns I have prepared (which is why I have not become an Enrolled Agent) – so sessions on representation are of no value to me. I no longer accept corporate or partnership clients – so sessions on issues related to these returns do not interest me.

Each year the conference evaluation asks what topics participants would like to see presented in the future. I answer this question each year, often in detail, but my suggestions have rarely, if ever, been offered. I continually ask NATP to either go north or schedule the conference in the fall – but, as I said Sunday, they always seem to book in the hottest place they can find at the height of summer.

I always attend the “Current Developments” session at conference – but to be honest this topic is covered in more depth, and more completely, in the annual year-end “update” seminar offered locally by NATP each year. This seminar has always been for me, and now with the new CPE requirements even more so, a must attend. And, also to be honest, with the internet, and especially with my blog-inspired wanderings and research, I am constantly learning of “current developments” throughout the year as they happen. As long as I am being honest – this year’s Current Developments offering was somewhat disappointing.

I do not participate in the “social” activities of the conference – so that aspect of attendance is not an issue.

Is the annual NATP conference done well? Certainly yes! Do I learn anything new at conference? Yes – I do at just about any CPE seminar or workshop I attend, although admittedly not a lot. But do I learn anything that I will actually use in my practice to benefit my clients and/or increase my income - enough to justify the cost of attending conference? That is the real question.

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I will admit that I do find myself often making notes at CPE offerings of specific questions or items to discuss with specific clients, or to review in more detail in relation to a specific client, when I return home. But it seems that I do this more at locally attended offerings than at conference.

And another factor that applies to me specifically is one that can be described by quoting one of the instructors of the Current Developments session. He and his co-instructor were discussing the new wrinkles to the Form 941 that resulted from the HIRE Act. He ended the topic by asking, “Now how many tax preparers will decide to stop preparing payroll tax returns?”

I truly do believe that one can teach an old dog new tricks. But I have also come to a point in my practice where I do not necessarily want to learn new tricks. Of course some new tricks must be learned because they affect a large number of my existing 1040 clients. But since I am no longer accepting new clients, I can simply say when faced with a more specialized new trick, “I just won’t accept any clients, or do any returns for taxpayers, who have that situation”.

In the future I will be more careful in evaluating whether I attend the NATP conference, as I have been the past few years. My decision will certainly be affected by the classes being offered, by any special scheduled speakers, by the state of the tax profession, and by the location. While attending the conference creates a tax-deductible vacation – the value only exists if the location is either new to me and of interest, or one to which I want to return.

I will return to San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, or Washington DC as often as I can – but would not go back to Minneapolis or Corpus Christi or Orlando or Atlanta or Austin unless the content truly made it financially worthwhile.

The last word - I do highly recommend attending the NATP annual conference to those who are new to the profession, and those who want to expand and grow their practice.

TTFN

THE NATP ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN AUSTIN - PART 1

I’m back!

First let me apologize for my pre-scheduling of posts FU. It seems that the first truly was last. The last entry was posted first (Monday, July 19) and the first entry in the series was posted last (Friday, July 23rd)! I did not have access to the internet on my trip – so I did not spot the FU until Saturday morning. My bad!

Now – on with the National Association of Tax Professionals annual conference in Austin, Texas. As I mentioned yesterday, this was the 18th annual conference I have attended in my 23 years as a member of NATP. The last conference I attended was 2006 in Boston.

The draw, and highlight, of this conference was the double-bill of top-level IRS speakers – Karen Hawkins, the new Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility and keeper of Circular 230, who gave the keynote address at the opening session on Monday morning, and David Williams, Director of IRS Electronic Tax Administration and Refundable Credits and the IRS person who is creating and overseeing the new tax return preparer registration regime, who spoke on the new regime and the e-file mandate in a general session on Tuesday afternoon.

In discussing return preparer registration Karen, an attorney, affirmed the fact that the CPA exam and the bar exam are not tests of 1040 preparation knowledge – and stated her belief that “lawyers and CPAs should be tested”. However, she gave as the excuse for why this is not being done some federal regulation that forbids the government or the Treasury Department (I forget which) from issuing regulations that affect the ability of CPAs or attorneys to “practice”.

While I am not familiar with the specific regulation, this appears to me to be a poor excuse. Requiring CPAs and attorneys to be tested and take specific annual CPE does not affect their ability to certify the audits of financial statements or represent clients before the various bars. There is nothing in the new regime that changes the ability of EAs, CPAs or attorneys to “practice” before the Internal Revenue Service – i.e. represent clients in collection and Tax Court matters. Formerly unenrolled preparers who must now register will not be able to represent clients before the IRS in these matters.

The new regulation regime simply wants to assure that all individuals who wish to prepare federal income tax returns for a fee verify their competence via an initial test and remain current by taking required CPE credits in federal taxation topics. CPAs and attorneys who wish to prepare federal income tax returns for a fee should be subject to the same requirements as the previously unenrolled. Only Enrolled Agents have already proven competency and currency and should be exempt.

Both were excellent speakers. David was exceptional – and one wondered what he is doing working for the IRS. David did not address in detail the reasons CPAs and attorneys are exempt from proving competency and remaining current, and he was not asked any questions on this topic during the brief Q+A following his presentation.

The following items of interest regarding the new regulations were mentioned in the presentations –

* A tax preparer’s PTIN must be renewed, and a fee paid, every year – and not every three years as originally proposed by the IRS. There was some bureaucratic reason for this. The actual fee, which it had been determined by the IRS, could not be announced at the time of the presentations because there was still some government individual or group that had to provide its “blessing” on the amount before it could be made public. We have since learned from IR-2010-86, issued July 22, 2010, that the IRS will charge “a fee of $50, payable to the IRS, to cover technology costs, as well as compliance and outreach efforts associated with the new PTIN program. The proposed regulations would also provide for an additional fee (expected to be substantially lower than $50) to be charged by the third-party vendor chosen to operate the new online system.”

* Since all those who register for or renew a PTIN, including EAs, CPAs and attorneys, will be required to pay this fee, the enrollment/renewal fee for Enrolled Agents is expected to be reduced.

* Once the regulation regime is fully phased-in the IRS will consider charging taxpayers who pay individuals without a valid PTIN to prepare their federal income tax return a penalty. This would not happen for at least 3 years.

* The IRS may consider sending taxpayers who file computer-generated “self-prepared” returns a letter asking them to verify, under penalty of perjury, that the return was indeed “self-prepared” and not done by an unregistered paid preparer who did not sign the return.

* Registered tax preparers who will be taking the competency test will be fingerprinted as part of the “background check” that will be required. Because Electronic Return Originators (EROs) apparently have already provided fingerprints and undergone a background check they may be exempt from this requirement.

* Individuals who prepare only federal payroll tax returns, and are not involved in the preparation of federal income tax returns, may be exempt from the 1040 competency exam, although they will have to register and obtain a PTIN. As an update - according to the recent NATP TAXPRO WEEKLY e-letter – “Initially, the IRS indicated that paid preparers who prepare only payroll returns would be required to take the 1040 nonwage business competency exam. The FAQs have been revised to state that at this time, testing will only apply to those preparers who prepare at least one 1040 series return.”

* The annual requirement for 15 hours of CPE in specific tax topics (which includes the ridiculous 2-hr ethics waste of time) will be effective for all applicable registrants for the one year period beginning January 1, 2011, and not the date of registration if earlier. The TAXPRO WEEKLY also brings an update on this item – “The effective date for the continuing education requirement has yet to be officially determined but IRS sources say it could be another year before the requirement becomes effective”.

* David mentioned that the current priority is getting in place the procedures for initial registration by September of this year. Once this is done work will begin on the procedures for the competency testing and other related issues.

* With the newly created need for continuing education in taxation this is a business that we should seriously consider getting involved in. Continuing education providers will need to be “approved” by the Internal Revenue Service.

* The IRS will very likely offer an “opt out” choice for taxpayers who do not want their tax preparer to submit their 1040, or 1040A, electronically, therefore relieving the preparer of the e-filing requirement. And the Service may consider offering special “waivers” from the requirement for tax preparers with situations like mine. That is good news indeed!

Here are some items of interest that I either learned or was reminded of in the various classes I attended –

* The fact that IRAs were made available to all taxpayers, regardless of level of income or employer plan coverage, was what saved the economy from double-digit interest rates back in the early 1980s.

* One should not rollover a 401(k) or other employer plan to an IRA after converting a traditional IRA to a ROTH in the same year. If you convert in 2010 wait until 2011 to do the rollover. This is because the total amount in all IRA accounts at December 31st is used in the calculation to determine the taxable amount of the conversion (I attended the same class – although a different session – on ROTH conversions as Kay Bell – which she discussed in her post “Are You Ready for a ROTH?”).

* There are 1000 types of IRS notices – and over 200 Million notices are sent out by the IRS each year.

* Nothing is ever “off the record” at an IRS office audit.

to be continued . . . .

TTFN

IT'S TOO DARN HOT!

Cole Porter may have been thinking about Austin, Texas when writing the 2nd Act opener to KISS ME KATE. The title certainly applies!

I left the oppressive heat of New Jersey for the oppressive heat of Texas. Even at 7:30 in the evening, on the four block walk back to the Hilton from dinner at the Driskoll Hotel, it was brutal.

The purpose of my trip to Austin was to attend the annual conference of the National Association of Tax Professionals. This was the 18th conference I have attended during my 23 years as a member.

For years I have been begging NATP to either go north for conference (Portland, Oregon or Maine, or Seattle, Washington) or schedule it in the fall. They almost always seem to book the hottest place they can find at the height of the summer. Next year the conference is in St Louis, MO – but the temperature there on Saturday was 96 degrees!

The flight from Newark was a little under 4 hours, and the clock was put back one hour upon arrival. The Super Shuttle, which I booked round-trip, brought me to the Austin Hilton on Sunday evening.

The Hilton was excellently located. It is across the street from the uniquely designed Convention Center and its Metro Rail (apparently disliked by locals) and bus stops, and one block from the 6th Street Entertainment District (“from jazz, blues, and country to rock, hip-hop, beat, progressive, metal, punk and derivations of these, there's something to whet everyone's musical pallete”) – which is one reason for Austin being called “Live Music Capital of the World”.

The hotel, Austin’s biggest, has only one, expectedly expensive, restaurant choice for dinner, Finn and Porter (where I dined Monday evening) - although sandwiches, pasties and ice cream are available at relatively reasonable prices in the lobby’s JAVA JIVE, which is open all day.

Finn and Porter is a steak, seafood and sushi restaurant. None of these items interest me, especially sushi, so luckily my choices were limited to the least expensive items on the menu – chicken or pasta. The steak entrees were priced at $40.00 and up. I chose the half chicken, which was very good and actually filling, preceded by equally good Lobster Bisque and followed by an assortment of sorbet.

The stinger that arrived at my table (I told the waitress how it was made) was a dirty green color – and was promptly returned. The bar did not have White Crème de Menthe, so the bartender tried green. Trust me – it doesn’t work.

The hotel’s more casual Liberty Tavern is open for breakfast and lunch and, judging by the breakfast menu, is also expensive. The $15.00 breakfast buffet (actually $16.24 with tax) was barely adequate.

There are two excellent, although also pricey, restaurants very close to the Hilton. Carmelo’s Ristorante Italiano is directly across the street from the hotel, on the site of what was once the town’s rail station. Chez Nous, an authentically French eatery, is half a block away. Both were excellent, although the real find was Chez Nous. On my last night in town I dined at the 1886 Café and Bakery in the lobby of historic Driskoll Hotel on 6th Street, a more moderately priced choice.

The Hilton lobby was surprisingly empty. No gift shop or Tour Desk – or even a rack with tour information. There was only a UPS store, instead of a “Business Center”, and a clothes boutique tucked in a corner, which never seemed to be open (not that I planned to shop). I also found it inconvenient that, while there was an ice dispenser, there were no vending machines on any of the room floors. One had to trek down to the lobby to Java Jive and pay $2.50 for a soda.
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I did learn while waiting for the elevator one day that the Austin Hilton is "pet friendly". For $50.00 per night extra you can share a room with your dog!

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I located the Austin Visitor Center on 6th Street and booked the Austin Duck Adventure – “an amphibious {1 hour 15 minute – rdf} tour of Austin’s downtown and beautiful Lake Austin inside one of our Unsinkable, US coast guard inspected, Hydra Terra vehicles”. I had previously been on Duck tours of Branson MO, Washington DC, and Boston.

The Visitor Center was also the starting point for “Austin in 90 Minutes” — “a narrated Austin sightseeing tour that familiarizes you with over 30 of Austin's major historical, cultural, significant points of interest in just 90 minutes” – and had information on several walking tours. I did not take the 90 minute tour, and I certainly was not going to do any walking in 96+ degree heat!

The Center also had a discount table for area entertainment. I considered getting a ticket for ESTHER’S FOLLIES, a live show of “original topical satire, mystifying magic, & musical parody” with performances on Thursday thru Saturday at 8:00 and 10:00 PM on 6th Street, but the only offerings on the board were for Friday evening.

I had checked into the theatre scene before leaving home and found only a touring production of THE DROWSY CHAPERONE at the Zach Theatre (I was not interested) and an Agatha Christie mystery that was too far away from the hotel. JERSEY BOYS is coming to BASS HALL in August – too late for me (I have not seen the Broadway production yet).

Austin, Texas is not a location I would have chose to visit if it had not been for the NATP conference. I am glad I came, but, unlike neighboring San Antonio (where I had attended a National Society of Tax Professionals convention several years ago) I do not plan to return to Austin. As I said upfront – it’s too darn hot!

TTFN