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

As you are reading this I am in Washington DC attending the annual National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) National Conference.  I will talk about what was discussed, and what I learned, here in subsequent posts.

 

* This week’s post at THE TAX PROFESSIONAL is “If I Had My Druthers”. 

 

* Oi vey!  Over at FORBES.COM Robert W Wood reports “Ignoring 83% Of Payroll Tax Mismatches, IRS Leaves $7 Billion Uncollected...Until Now”.

 

I wonder if the lack of appropriate action on this issue is the result of the underfunding of the IRS by the idiots in Congress or just IRS mismanagement.

 

* Kay Bell welcomed August (well, not really) with “Hot, hot, hot August tax moves can produce cool tax savings” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.

 

* Yes! Yes! Yes!  That is the answer to “Does My Business Need a Separate Bank Account?”.  Jason Dinesen provides the correct answer, and gives three reasons for the answer, at DINESEN TAX TIMES.

 

* In “Be Very Careful What We Wish For” at FARM CPA TODAY Paul Neiffer discusses a very real potential consequence of putting an end to the federal Estate Tax.

 

As Paul points out -

 

“Under current law, when a person passes away, their heirs get a step-up in basis on most inherited assets.”

 

This happens because of the existence of the Estate Tax, which values all assets at market value on date of death (or 6 months after date of death).  Eliminating the Estate Tax could also mean eliminating the step-up in basis.

 

As I have always said, doing away with the step-up in basis would be disastrous – especially, I will selfishly admit, for tax preparers.  Most taxpayers have no clue what they paid for investments they themselves purchased in the past.  It would be almost impossible to properly determine the cost basis of an investment their grandparents purchased decades before they were born!

 

While I am no fan of the Estate Tax – I would only support its elimination if some kind of basis step-up remained.

 

So be careful what you wish for.  Many people wanted to see a real successful and savvy businessman as President – and look what we got!  Arrogant buffoon Trump is not a successful and savvy businessman – he has had more business failures than successes, and he was a reality tv cartoon clown who inherited millions of dollars and invested in real estate in New York.

 

* Have you ever thought about becoming a tax professional?  Check out my SO YOU WANT TO BE A TAX PREPARER.  It is also a good resource for new tax pros.

 

* Scott Greenberg of the TAX FOUNDATION suggests “Five Ideas for Simplifying the Individual Tax Code”.

 

Sound good to me!

 

TTFN