Monday, October 24, 2016

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

* Professor Jean Murray details “First Steps to Starting a Business” at THE BALANCE.

* Manasa Nadig EA explains “Running A Gig or Two? What You Need to Know!” at the nicely named THE BUZZ ABOUT TAXES blog -

If you participate in the Gig or the Shared Economy, there are certain tax obligations you have to fulfill.”

* Jason Dinesen gives a straight, firm answer to the question “Do Property Managers Send 1099 Based on Gross Rent or Net Rent?” at DINESEN TAX TIMES.


* Did you celebrate?  October 22nd was the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Tax Reform Act of 2016 (aka TRA86), the last major reform of the federal income tax laws.

Annette Nellen and Jeffrey A. Porter have written an article for THE JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTANCY on what led to the TRA86 and what happened afterwards titled “30 years after the Tax Reform Act: Still aiming for a better tax system”.

* And for THE TAX ADVISOR Annette discusses “Form 8332 Challenges for Divorced Couples”.

The rules for divorced parents claiming children as dependents can cause lots of agita.  What is agreed upon in the divorce agreement is not always carried forward properly at tax time.  Annette’s piece offers some “lessons learned” from some court cases.

This piece just underscores the importance of having your, or a, tax professional review your divorce agreement before you sign it.  Many divorce lawyers are highly competent and knowledgeable in divorce law but don’t know their arse from a hole in the ground when it comes to tax law.

* Now that the tax filing season is truly officially over – the extended deadline has passed – Russ Fox borrows my annual tax season review post title to talk about “That Was the Tax Season That Was” at TAXABLE TALK.

Russ warns that the 2017 tax filing season, for 2016 returns, will bring new problems – more late K-1s (which I truly hate) for limited partnerships because of more extended Form 1065s due to the new earlier initial filing deadline, and more, in my opinion erroneous and unnecessary, work for tax preparers due to additional due diligence for certain tax credits.

My 1040 tax filing season has not yet ended, as I am currently finishing up my last GD extension.  

* Let me end with an interesting item from Kay Bell’s DON’T MESS WITH TAXES – “N.J. man files toilet paper tax class action lawsuit”.

THE FINAL WORD

It is vitally important that anyone out there who is still “on the fence” about dangerous and despicable Donald Trump and is considering a vote for him as an option on November 8th, as well as those who already plan to vote for him, read in full the humongous 14-chapter 7,900-word editorial in Friday’s New York Daily News titled “Bury Trump In A Landslide”.

Click here to read this editorial.

It begins (highlights are mine) –

When deliberating over a presidential endorsement, the Daily News Editorial Board strives to identify the person who offers the greatest promise to brighten the futures of Americans and to safeguard the national security.

Never have we questioned a candidate’s fitness to serve.

Then came Donald Trump — liar, thief, bully, hypocrite, sexual victimizer and unhinged, self-adoring demagogue.

The 16-month campaign since Trump vaingloriously entered the race has horrifyingly revealed that the Big Lie brazenly told — built on smaller falsehoods and spread by social media and a lust for TV ratings — can bring the United States to the brink of electing an aspiring strongman with no moral bearing or self-control.”

And goes on, in 14 separate sections from “Trump the demagogue” to “Trump the enemy of democracy”, to describe in detail, using Trump’s own words and actions, the reasons why he must never become President, and identifying his many, many, many failures as a businessman, a candidate, and a human being.

Here are just two of the multitude of facts the editorial presents, and certainly not the most heinous –

During the campaign, Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact has rated fully 71% of Trump’s statements as mostly false, false, or pants-on-fire false. The Washington Post Fact Checker has given 65% of the Trump statements it reviewed four Pinocchios, its worst rating for truthfulness.”

And –

Researchers at NBC News have catalogued Trump’s positions on major issues since the start of the campaign.

They found, as of early October: 18 different positions on immigration reform; 15 different positions on banning Muslims; nine different positions on how to defeat ISIS; eight different positions on raising the minimum wage; seven different tax plans, and eight different strategies for dealing with the national debt.”

It is impossible to read this editorial without coming away with the firm belief that we must, as its title suggests, “bury Trump in a landslide” defeat in November.

Please, please, please read this editorial in its entirety, and forward it to anybody you know who is planning on or thinking about voting for this vile piece of excrement.

As I have been saying throughout the campaign – if Trump wins America, and the world, truly loses!

TTFN

 
 It’s that time of the year again –
time for year-end tax planning!
 
Check out my 2016 YEAR-END TAX PLANNING GUIDE
 
Only $3.00 sent as pdf email attachment
or $4.00 in print form send via postal mail.
 
Click here for more information.
 







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