Lots of BUZZ this
installment!
* Check out “My Final Word on CPA vs EA or RTRP" at THE TAX PROFESSIONAL. And let me know your opinion.
Joe Kristan, a CPA,
commented on my CPA vs EA vs RTRP post, as I expected he would, in his Tuesday
“Tax Roundup” at the ROTH AND COMPANY TAX UPDATE BLOG.
Here is some of
what Joe said (highlight is mine) -
·
“Robert
is correct, though, when he says
‘A CPA is not automatically a 1040 expert, but a specific CPA may be a 1040
expert’.
·
I do think that
CPAs who do tax work tend to be very capable, but so are many non-CPA
preparers.
·
You should choose
your tax preparer not just because of initials; you should find out what kind
of work the preparer does. And check
references.”
Peter J Reilly adds
the following to the discussion in his FORBES.COM post “Enrolled Agents Deserve More Respect” (again, highlight is mine) –
“He {me – rdf} does have a valid point. To
become an EA you have to show you know quite a bit about federal taxes. To become a CPA you have to prove you know a
bit about federal taxes but also quite a bit about a lot of other stuff. If, for the rest of your career, you focus on
the other stuff, your limited stock of tax knowledge will quickly wither away.”
* And a reminder - Did
you know “The Energy Credit is Still Here For 2013”? I explain at MAINSTREET.COM.
* The big tax news
of the week was the Supreme Court decision that the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA) was unconstitutional.
PARKER TAX
PUBLISHING provides a good overview of the decision and what it means taxwise
in “DOMA Struck Down - Opening the Floodgates for Amended Tax Returns.”
As PTP points out –
“In the short term, practitioners have an
opportunity to begin filing amended returns to obtain income tax refunds for
any same-sex clients who were married under state law but precluded from filing
a joint federal income tax return. Similarly, for individuals who were in a
situation similar to Edith Windsor, refund claims can now be filed for estate taxes
paid on property inherited from a same-sex partner to whom the individual was
married under state law.”
* At ACCOUNTING
TODAY Mira Fine suggests that the “President’s Tax Proposals Seek to Reduce Deficit while Promoting Investment”.
Here are some of
BO’s tax proposals -
“The administration wants to raise taxes on
the wealthy: by reducing itemized deductions to 28 percent for families in the
top three income brackets; by imposing the Buffet Rule where millionaires pay
no less than 30 percent of their income in taxes; and capping IRA account
values that would provide a 62-year-old person with $205,000 in annual income.
In the estate planning area, the administration wants
to, beginning in 2018, return the generation-skipping transfer and gift tax
exemption rates to 2009 levels, with a top rate of 45 percent and an exclusion
amount of $3.5 million (down from $5.2 million) and $1 million for gift taxes.”
Bad ideas!
And further proof
that BO has no real interest in enacting true tax reform. Unfortunately we must rely on the idiots in
Congress.
* Along those lines,
POLITICO gives us some good news – “Max Baucus and Orrin Hatch Tax Reform Plan: Wipe Slate Clean”.
We are told -
“Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the panel’s top Republican, are preparing to release a
tax reform framework on Thursday that essentially starts from a clean slate,
according to more than a half-dozen lobbyists familiar with the discussion.
That means eliminating virtually all existing deductions, credits and
expenditures to dramatically lower corporate and individual tax rates.”
* Back to
ACCOUNTING TODAY – where Michael Cohn reports “Trial Date Set for IRS Appeal of Tax Preparer Lawsuit” –
“A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.,
has scheduled oral arguments for September 24 to hear the Internal Revenue
Service’s appeal of Loving v. IRS, the case in which a trio of independent tax
preparers successfully sued the IRS to suspend its mandatory testing and
continuing education requirements for tax preparers.”
The absolute worst
case scenario is that the IRS wins the appeal.
Given the lateness in the year the IRS would need to set the deadline
for RTRP candidates to take and pass the competency test at December 31, 2014 –
so I would not have to take the test in order to prepare 2013 tax returns in
2014. And I would have more than a year
to continue to lobby for grandfathering.
But I do believe
that the IRS will NOT win its appeal
– and the mandatory RTRP program will remain dead.
And, considering
the ongoing examples of IRS mismanagement, Congress, despite being composed of
idiots, is not going to give the IRS the authority to force licensure.
* Speaking of
ongoing examples of IRS mismanagement, here is the latest from Robert W Wood of
FORBES.COM – “IRS Using Tax Dollars For Porn, Wine, $100 Lunches?”.
* Two good items of
interest from JK LASSER.
First – the answer
to the question “I sold some municipal bonds at a loss. Can I deduct the loss?”
And second – “Five Tax Rules Every Graduate Should Know”.
The second has good
bottom line advice for the graduate –
“If 2013 is the first year for which you will
have to file a tax return (next April 2014), acquaint yourself now with general
income tax rules. This will help you better understand employee fringe benefits
as well as your annual tax filing obligations.”
Hey – one way to
acquaint yourself with general tax rules is to become a regular visitor to THE
WANDERING TAX PRO!
* Miranda Marquit
also provides advice to graduates in “College Grads: Avoid these 401(k) Mistakes at Your First Job” at BARGAINEERING.
* Oi vey! More news on IRS FUs at FORBES.COM. Kelly
Phillips Erb, the internet’s TAXGIRL, tells us “Millions Of Tax Dollars Improperly Refunded To Unauthorized Workers As IRS Insists It's Getting Better”.
* Terri Eyden explains “Werfel's Report Outlines IRS Changes to Ensure Accountability and Chart a PathForward” at ACCOUNTING WEB.
* Check out these “Strange & Unusual Taxes throughout History from Around the World” shared by
EFILE.COM.
* And last, but certainly not least, this week Bruce
McFarland’s weekly Tuesday “McTax Hangout” YouTube “tv show” dealt with “Travel
Expenses”.
THE
FINAL WORD-
Part
One -
North
West?
What
total idiots!
If the
father was a Mr. Kong would the talentless and self-absorbed Kim K have named
her child Donkey?
I feel
sorry for the child.
Part
Two –
I
ended my post on the Death of DOMA with the following statement –
“I do believe that television shows like WILL
AND GRACE, and MODERN FAMILY {add ELLEN and GLEE} are partially responsible for the widespread acceptance of same-sex
marriage and for this decision being possible.
Television can change the world!”
The
power of tv to influence society is why “reality tv excrement is dangerous!
TTFN
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