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

I haven't had time to devote to writing posts lately - so how about a special Wednesday BUZZ.

.

* How could I have missed this post? Thank God for Alltop, where I found it on the Taxes page. I am speaking about Russ Fox's post "Russ Enters a Debate" at TAXABLE TALK.

.

In this post Russ enters the debate concerning IRS red flags and omitting deductions to avoid an audit. Russ agrees with me that, "If you are entitled to a deduction, you should take the deduction" and that the one really hot alleged red flag is the Schedule C. He also makes other good points, agreeing with me on some items and with my "opponent" in others, and "tweaking" a bit on a few areas.

.

As would be expected Russ stayed "on topic" and chose not to become involved directly in the side topic my "opponent" elected to continue to harp on that has since gotten out of hand.

.

I continue to invite fellow tax preparers and tax bloggers to comment on the topic of alleged IRS red flags and the idea of advising a client not to claim a legitimate deduction because it would possibly increase the chance of an audit.

.

Thanks to Russ for adding his informed and calm voice to the debate!

.

* Oi vey! Trish McIntire warns us that "Social Security Numbers Could Be Compromised"!

.

* While on vacation Joe Kristan scheduled a "serialization" of his chapter in the book "How Business Gets Done: Words of Wisdom by Central Iowa Experts" over at the ROTH AND COMPANY TAX UPDATE BLOG - starting off with "Keep Your Eye on the Cigar Box".

.

* Roni Deutch's TAX HELP BLOG discusses "How To Survive An IRS Audit", and provides some good advice and information. I particularly agree with Roni when she says -

.

"During the audit, you will want to be as brief as possible. The IRS representative is going to ask you a lot of questions, and you should attempt to answer as many as you can with a simple yes or no answer. If you must explain an answer further then try to be as brief as possible - you do not want to give the auditor any more reasons to be suspicious."

.

* The Tax Policy Center's TAXVOX blog reports some disturbing statistics in the post "Pruning the Income Tax Rolls" (the emphasis is mine) -

.

"February's stimulus bill created new refundable credits and expanding existing ones for 2009 and 2010. . . . As a result, 47 percent will pay zero or negative tax this year."

.

If we continue in this way the American taxpayer will soon be the minority!

.

For years I have suggested that every taxpayer of legal age should pay at least $100 in federal income tax - a true "minimum tax"!

.

* One good thing did come out of the recent blog debate debacle - I found another tax blog, namely APRIL 15.COM by Bill.

.

While not a recent post (actually from late January) Bill's "Beware of Part Time Tax Preparers" tells of another undercover "sting" operation that found employees of Henry and Richard and Jackson Hewitt less than competent and possibly unethical. This was a localized operation conducted by an independent non-profit organization called Impact America.

.

An article from the Birmingham News titled "Tax Preparers Cheating Customers, Government, Alabama Nonprofit Finds" provides more information on the operation.

.

Here is a quote from the article (FYI - Black is Impact Alabama Executive Director Stephen Black, and the emphasis is mine) -

.

"Simple tax returns with no itemization took only 40 minutes but often cost $400 or more, Black said. They were often accompanied by offers of advance payment on refunds. Those advances are actually loans bearing an annual interest rate that can top 800 percent, Block said."

.

* Bill's bottom line to the more recent APRIL 15.COM post "IRS Document Matching Letters" echoes what I have been saying for years -

.

"Obviously, the moral is just because you receive a Notice from the IRS, or for that matter any tax agency, don't automatically assume that it is correct."

.

Is anyone interested in the report of the IRS Oversight Board? You can click here to download. I have not yet had a chance to review the report.

.

* The RAPIDTAX.COM blog covers the "Recovery Rebate Ruckus: Why are TurboTax Users Getting Angry Letters from the IRS?" with lots of links to many related posts from around the 'sphere at the end.

.

More BUZZ on Saturday!

.

TTFN