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

 

* Congratulations to Russ Fox on the 20^th Anniversary of his blog TAXABLE TALK – “20 Years Ago Today . . .”

* The latest in the BOI saga – “FinCEN Extends Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Deadline by 30 Days; Announces Intention to Revise Reporting Rule”.

“With the February 18, 2025, decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Smith, et al. v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, et al., 6:24-cv-00336(E.D. Tex.), beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) are once again back in effect.”

* The damage of the Trump/Musk Administration has hit the IRS.  Michael Cohen tells us “IRS lays off thousands of employees” at ACCOUNTING TODAY -

“The threatened layoffs of Internal Revenue Service employees appeared to be underway Thursday, with estimates of between 6,000 and 7,000 employees being laid off at the agency in the middle of tax-filing season.”

* And at FORBES.COM Howard Gleckman warns “How DOGE’s Access To IRS Data Puts Taxpayer Information At Risk” (highlight is mine) -

“The Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency has pressed the IRS for permission to access individual tax return information of U.S. households and businesses. While the DOGE team says it needs taxpayer data to search out ‘waste, fraud, and abuse, such a move puts at risk deeply personal information on more than 150 million tax filers, with no clear benefit.”

The only true “waste, fraud, and abuse” is by Trump and his cabinet of incompetent, unqualified, and inappropriate arse and ring kissers.

THE LAST WORD

Here is a quote from Prof Jim Maule’s MAULED AGAIN post “Tax Rates -- Just Two Generations Ago” -

“It's a wonder what the lack of education cand do to a person. It's also a wonder what a bad education can do to a person. What's sad is what it does to everyone else.”

It is truly sad that a lack of education, or poor education, put a deplorable and despicable, crooked and corrupt, ignorant and incompetent demagogue who is intent on destroying American democracy and true American values in the White House!

TTFN

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

 

* Michael Cohn reports “H&R Block turns 70 in time for tax season” at ACCOUNTING TODAY.

Back in the mid-70’s I remember Jim Gill telling me he wished an H+R Block office would move next door to us because we would get many new clients who would need us to fix the errors Block made on their returns.

One year in the 80’s Jim got a hold of the fee schedule for H+R – and we were shocked at how expensive Henry and Richard were compared to Jim’s prices.  I seem to recall H+R charged by the number of W-2s and 1099s – I think an additional $5.00 for each form.

Over the years H+R has gotten in lots of trouble for its auxiliary services, and most recently “H&R Block to Pay $7 Million to Settle FTC Case Alleging Deceptive Advertising”.

* New York and Pennsylvania state tax returns and instructions are now av available online.

* The IRS has begun to accept tax returns – but you shouldn’t race to be among the first to file.  Kay Bell discusses “5 reasons to wait to file your tax return” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.

The first two items on the list are very important - #1 To allow for all your tax statements to arrive and #2 To ensure you have all other tax information.

Decades ago, a client came into the office to have his return prepared on February 2^nd.  I prepared the return and he signed and mailed it.  The very next day he received an additional Form 1099 in the mail to report more income that was not included on the return he had mailed.

And if you have a brokerage account the broker will very likely issue a corrected Form 1099 in mid to late February.

* And Kay lists “7 tips for first-time tax return filers”.   

I already commented on #6 – “Don’t be in such a hurry” – above.  But her #7 is equally important – “Don't wait too long”.

THE LAST W

There are two types of people in America today -

People who support Trump, and

People with a brain and a conscience.

TTFN

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

* Michael Cohn reports “IRS to start tax season on Jan. 27” at ACCOUNTING TODAY.

Of course, before retiring the tax season would always begin for me on February 1^st.

* And Russ Fox tells us “IRS Extends California Fire Disaster Area Deadlines Until October 15^th” at TAXABLE TALK.

* Kay Bell provides a detailed list of “Tax statements you need to file your 2024 tax return” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.

* And Kay identifies “Questions to ask, and answer, before you tackle your 1040”.

A few notes –

If you received unemployment the state may not mail out your 1099-G form.  You may need to go online and print it out.  This is the case for NJ residents.

If you did “tie the knot” in 2024 and changed your last name, make sure you have notified the Social Security Administration of the change.  As I have said here many times (going back to 2007) –

“The IRS is very picky about matching names to Social Security numbers. If a Social Security number and name reported on your tax return does not match exactly the name in the files of the Social Security Administration the IRS will remove the name and dependency exemption of that person and automatically recalculate the tax liability as Head of Household, Married Filing Separately or Single.

If you have changed your last name as a result of marriage or divorce during {the year} make sure to notify the Social Security Administration of the change before filing your tax return. You do this by submitting a Form SS-5 to request a new Social Security card. Go to www.ssa.gov/ssnumber.”

BTW, the link still applies.

THE LAST WORD

We must NEVER accept Trump as President, attempt to work with him, or treat him as any other President.

Trump is dangerous.  We must vocally and aggressive oppose, denounce, and fight everything Trump attempts to do as President.  And treat him as the danger to American freedoms, democracy, and justice that he is.

TTFN

A SAD DAY

 

How sad for America and the world that a totally worthless piece of garbage, a truly deplorable and despicable human being, a convicted felon and indicted traitor, completely devoid of intelligence, character, integrity, honor, humanity, sympathy, and empathy who does not possess a single redeeming positive human quality or value, who does not care one ounce about anyone or anything but himself and who has never performed a single totally unselfish act in his entire adult life will be sworn in as 47^th President of the United States today. 

For the next 4 years it will be very literally impossible to believe anything that is said by the President of the United States!

It is vital for the future of our freedoms and our democracy that every intelligent and patriotic American with a conscience aggressively oppose and denounce and fight to defeat every action attempted by Trump and today’s racist and repressive Religious Right controlled Republican Party, and going forward to defeat every Republican candidate for every office in every election at every level.

TTFN

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

 

The first BUZZ of 2025!

* ACCOUNTING TODAY tells us “Private debt collectors recovered fraction of tax debts” – (highlight is mine)  

“TIGTA found that since April 2017, the IRS has assigned the PCAs more than 7.6 million taxpayer accounts, worth more than $64.9 billion. By March 2024, the PCAs had successfully collected more than $2.4 billion in payments.”

I have always opposed the use of private collection agencies – and this report proves that they are not effective.

*  KIPLINGER.COM provides “Two for One:Best and Worst Places to Retire in America”.

No surprise – my former home state of NJ is #49 – the second worst place to retire.  My current home state of PA is #10 on the best place list.

What is surprising is that Florida is considered the best place to retire – odd considering it’s repressive and fascist state government.

* And NJ is #2 – on the list of “The 10 states with the highest property taxes on homeowners” from ACCOUNTING TODAY that is.

The Garden State was beat out for the #1 spot by Illinois.

* Over at TAXABLE TALK Russ Fox has announced “The 2024 Tax Offender of the Year”.

* Andy Weiner explains “Why Filing A Tax Return Is More Important Than Paying Tax” at FORBES.COM.

THE LAST WORD

 A not so fun fact:

Trump won the popular vote in 2024 by less than Hillary won the popular vote in 2016.

Trump won by 2.3 Million votes.  Hillary won by 2.9 Million votes.

Yet the outdated Electoral College put Trump in the White House both times.

TTFN

A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR JOURNALISTS AND BLOGGERS!

 

This post, which I issue every year at this time, is for all of the journalists and bloggers out there.

When writing about taxes this filing season DO NOT advise your clients to ask, consult, contact, or talk to your CPA or a CPA!

The correct advice is – ask, consult, contact, or talk to your or a tax professional.

The mere existence of the initials “CPA” after a person’s name does not in any way, shape, or form indicate that he or she knows his or her arse from a hole in the ground when it comes to preparing 1040s.

The initials related to competence in preparing 1040s are EA for Enrolled Agent.

A particular CPA may indeed be competent and experienced in preparing 1040s, and many are, but it is only because of the education, training, experience, and other factors that are unique to that specific individual, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the initials “CPA”. 

And that specific individual is just one of your many choices among tax professionals.

Got it?

TTFN

 

2025

 

By embracing and supporting Trump as its 2024 Presidential candidate today’s Republican Party and its leadership and elected officials have proven beyond any doubt that it does not care one ounce about American freedoms and democracy, true American values, the Constitution, and the rule of law.

In the entirety of US history Trump is the absolute worst human being to hold the office of President, and the absolute worst choice for President, or any elected or appointed office of power.

In 2025 we must vocally and aggressively oppose and denounce Trump and today’s Republican Party and its racist and repressive plans and policies while continuing to call for holding Trump legally responsible for his multitude of state and federal crimes.

And we must work to defeat every Republican candidate for every election at every level.

TTFN