Friday, January 30, 2015

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


FYI, this will be the last BUZZ installment before my tax season hiatus.   

So you don’t suffer from BUZZ withdrawal while I am “away” I suggest you check with Joe Kristan’s daily Tax Roundup at THE ROTH AND COMPANY TAX UPDATE BLOG, and look for the weekly “In the Blogs” recap from Jim Stimpson at ACCOUNTING TODAY.

And while I will not be posting to TWTP during the tax season, my Tax Tips series will continue at Main Street.

* Fellow tax pros - if you have not already done so please check out the January “issue” of THE TAX PROFESSIONAL and PLEASE send me your comments on my editorials.

* Have you seen this week’s post at BOB’S BABBLINGS yet?  I talk about superheroes on Broadway.    

* MainStreet.com continues with my filing season Tax Tips – “What to Ask a Potential Tax Preparer Before You Start a Working Relationship

* Looking for a tax professional to prepare your 2014 returns? Start your search at FIND A TAX PROFESSIONAL.

* It was one of BO’s SOTU tax proposals that I did not talk about in my TWTP posts – and it was just as well.  The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports “Obama Drops Plan to Raise Taxes on ‘529’ College Savings Accounts” -

The Obama administration said it would drop a plan to tax so-called 529 college savings accounts, after the proposal sparked widespread criticism over its potential impact on the middle class.”

Anywho - it is all academic, as none of BO’s SOTU tax proposals will become law.

* Jason Dinesen tells us “What I’m Asking My Clients Regarding the ACA” at DINESEN TAX TIMES.

In “ACA Due-Diligence” from the January “issue” of THE TAX PROFESSIONAL I talk about this issue –

And I do not have to verify that a client has health insurance coverage.  I simply ask the client and he or she tells me yes or no.

If they tell me yes I do not need to do anything more.  Unless I have independent personal knowledge or information to the contrary I assume he or she has told me the truth.  To repeat I do not need to “verify” via independent documentation that the client does, in fact, actually have coverage.”

And-

In most cases I will know if a client had full-year insurance coverage without even asking the question – based on the forms, returns and information he normally gives me every year.”

* My post on an interesting, and unintended, way New Jersey screws retired residents is included in this weeks “In the Blogs” installment at ACCOUNTING TODAY titled “If You’ve Told Them Once …”.

* “In the Blogs led me to “Why Learning to Prepare Tax Returns by Hand is Crucial” by Charles McCabe at THE INCOME TAX SCHOOL blog -

While established tax preparers will be putting their tax software into overdrive this season, we’d like to take this opportunity to talk about the importance of NOT using tax software as a student learning to prepare taxes.”  

Great minds do think alike.  I have always said that the best way to learn how to prepare tax returns is to prepare tax returns – and by hand.

* Before I go – one more plug for my “Tax Professional Forms, Schedules, Worksheets, and Client Memos”.

THE FINAL WORD-

It looks like I am screwed.  A sign on the door of a library in suburban NJ said that it would not have many tax forms available during the season due to IRS budget cuts.

So I will have to get my 1040 an 1040A forms for clients online.

I remember the days, 40 years ago, when I would take a suitcase to an IRS warehouse in Newark NJ and fill it up with paper tax forms and schedules.

As other bloggers have observed – the IRS has cut customer service in response to the budget cuts. 

The notice on the library door said that if you are unhappy about the lack of tax forms you should write to your idiots (my word) in Congress – and it listed the addresses of the applicable idiots.

TTFN

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