Posts Tagged ‘Brian Mahany’

Tax Roundup, 5/6/2013: Iowa tax policy receives recognition! And – potassium forever?

Monday, May 6th, 2013 by Joe Kristan

20130117-1David Brunori doesn’t think much of the tax wisdom of the Iowa House of Representatives ($link):

The Iowa House of Representatives recently passed the Iowa Reinvestment Act, which would allow companies to keep sales tax revenue they collect rather than turning it over to the general fund as the citizens think will happen. Basically, the act is designed to allow businesses to recoup the cost of development. The state has done that before to allow the public to help finance a speedway and other projects that apparently  can’t be justified in the free market. The vote for that abomination of tax policy was 87 to 9. That’s what we call bipartisan bad tax policy.

Just more of using your money to subsidize the well-lobbied and well-connected.

Related: David Cay Johnston, Subsidies – Good News and Not So Good (Tax.com)

 

Jim Maule leaps from his blog to Tax Notes, IRS-Prepared Tax Returns: A Theory That Doesn’t Work in Practice.  (Via the TaxProf):

The idea of the IRS preparing individuals’ returns is a classic example of a theory that cannot survive in a practical  world. Like most theories, it deserved an experiment. It had that chance, in California, and it failed, with only a tiny portion of the eligible population deciding to participate.

Making taxpayers’ lives easier is a matter of simplifying the tax law, not enabling the complexities by turning tax preparation over to the IRS.

This strikes me as wise.  I just can’t imagine IRS data processing ever making this possible, considering the complexity of the income tax and the way Congress changes it all the time.

 

Brian Gongol on the Obama Administration’s proposed $3.4 million cap on retirement account accumulations:

On one hand, $3.4 million is a lot of money — nobody should doubt that. But we’re also nearly completely blind in America to how much is “enough” for retirement. Many people would say the word “millionaire” and imagine Uncle Pennybags or Uncle Scrooge. But consider this: If you wanted to get $40,000 a year in retirement income and do it just on interest payments alone (in other words, if you were trying to avoid taking anything out of your nest egg and just live on the interest), then if you had your money in “safe” 10-year Treasuries earning 1.78%, then you’d have to have more than $2.2 million in the bank. Under those conditions, “rich” doesn’t really look so rich anymore.

I don’t think the nation’s biggest problem is people saving too much.

 

Holding your breath for tax reform?  Exhale.  Martin Sullivan says tax reform is on the Fast Track to Nowhere. (Tax.com)

Donald Marron,  Immigration, Dynamic Scoring, and CBO (TaxVox)

 

Kay Bell,  5 tax tips for Cinco de Mayo

Brian Mahany,  FINRA Issues Warning On Nontraded REITs – Stockbroker Fraud Post

We have written several times about the dangers of nontraded or thinly traded REITs. They are a popular way of investing in real estate but they can be difficult to sell or liquidate if an investor suddenly needs cash.

I saw an elderly, ill client with severe cash problems while holding a private REIT investment that he couldn’t cash out.  This really does happen.  This is not a problem with widely-traded REITs, which are as liquid as any stock.

Jim Maule,  Why the “Toss Tax Records After Three (or Seven) Years” Advice is Bad.  I never throw away tax returns, and you need to keep records to support the cost of shares and big assets.  If you have loss carryforwards, you need to keep the records that support the losses as long as you are using the carryforwards.

Trish McIntire, RAL Fees in Court

Scott Hodge, In Memorial: Gordon Paul Smith.  We lose an important tax scholar.

 

Jack Townsend,  Article on Singapore Crackdown on Singapore Bank Accounts Used for Other Country Evasion

 

The tax law: is there anything it can’t do?  Scientist Pitches Proposal to Curb Bird Deaths: A Tax On Cats  (TaxGrrrl)

 

Potassium forever?  An accused embezzler apparently was in no hurry to stand trial.  From StarTribune.com:

A Texas man faces more than 16 years in federal prison for his role in a scheme to bilk nearly $400,000 from his former Eagan employer, Advantage Transportation.

Clayton “Craig” Hogeland, 43, also obstructed justice by faking a life-threatening medical condition, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz found. That caused delays for both his trial and sentencing hearing.

How did he delay his trial?

Further health-related delays stretched out the trial before his conviction on Dec. 6, 2011. He was placed in custody Jan. 8, 2013, and the erratic blood potassium readings stopped. Six days later, his wife reported to federal authorities that she found in his belongings four zip-top bags of what turned out to be potassium chloride.

Despite his continuing complaints about symptoms after being jailed, tests revealed no abnormal blood potassium levels, the prosecution said.

I’m not sure this was well thought-out.   What’s the next move?  More potassium?  Maybe when you are looking at 16 years in federal prison, delay is its own reward.

 

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Tax Roundup, 3/15/13: Corporate return day! And: Can you audit a myth?

Friday, March 15th, 2013 by Joe Kristan

Calendar-year corporation returns are due today! They are easy to extend on Form 7004 if you can’t finish them today.  If you don’t extend an S corporation return and you file late, the penalty starts at $195 for each late K-1, and $195 each for every additional month the return is late.

 

If Iowa's tax law were a car, it would look like this.

If Iowa’s tax law were a car, it would look like this.

Joseph Henchman,  Iowa House Passes Alternative Maximum Tax: Income Tax Option Clear of Carveouts (Tax Policy Blog).  Joseph has some good things to say about the Iowa alternative tax that passed the house this week (HF 478):

I’ve never filled out an Iowa income tax form but it looks like one of the harder state tax returns. Iowa allows you to deduct what you pay in federal income tax, which is nice but is that much more calculation work (and probably drives up tax rates). There are lines for the lump-sum tax, the minimum tax, the K-12 textbook credit, the school district surtax, the motor fuel tax credit, and the earned income tax credit. I’m sure each one of these has their explanations of necessity but together it sounds like a lot of paperwork, record-keeping, and Tax Filing Day frustration.

…

Hence, I’m impressed by a bill passed yesterday (House File 478)  by the Iowa House which would offer an alternative to all Iowa taxpayers: a 4.5 percent tax on all income above about $15,000, which no further deductions or exemptions. It’s not perfect: our friend Joe Kristan pointed out that a credit for taxes paid to another state and a deduction for federal interest are probably constitutionally required, and offsetting deductions to certain kinds of income (allowing gambling losses if you tax gambling winnings) is good policy. But as Joe said, the bill “is a welcome step towards improving Iowa’s income tax.”

I’m hoping it’s a step towards the Tax Update Quick and Dirty Iowa Tax Reform Plan.

 

 

It’s a myth, so they’re cracking down on it!

Huffington Post, The Millionaire Migration Myth: Don’t Fall for This Anti-Tax Scare Tactic.

Bloomberg News, States Crack Down on Top Earners Who Flee as Levies Rise: Taxes

If they feel have to “crack down” on something, maybe there’s something to that myth.

 

The Ultimate Swiss Army Knife. Flickr Image courtesy redjar under Creative Commons license.

The Ultimate Swiss Army Knife. Flickr Image courtesy redjar under Creative Commons license.

Janet Novack,  Blame Congress, As Well As H&R Block And IRS, For College Tax Credit Mess. Oh, I do!  From the article:

Far be it from me to let either the Internal Revenue Service or tax prep giant H&R Block off the hook for the current mess which has delayed refunds for more than 600,000 taxpayers claiming college tax credits by up to eight weeks. In addition to their operational missteps, both did a poor job (at least  initially) of communicating with taxpayers who desperately need those refunds to pay tuition or other bills.

But let’s put some of the blame where it rightly belongs: on the Washington politicians. For more than two decades, Congress has been expanding  “tax expenditures” with little regard for how complicated such provisions might be for taxpayers to use and for the IRS to administer,  let alone for whether they do enough good to justify their cost and the economic distortions they create.  A new 1065-page Congressional Research Service compendium lists 250 different tax expenditures. Happy reading.

Every little break like this diverts IRS resources from actually collecting income taxes and makes the income tax a little less effective and useful.  Yet Congress still sees the tax law as the Swiss Army Knife of public policy.

 

Jim Maule,  Tax Depreciation: Do the Math:

No matter how well a student in the basic tax course masters the depreciation deduction to the extent it is studied, that student knows that the total depreciation with respect to a property cannot exceed its cost. All of the students would find themselves bewildered by the proposition that depreciation deductions on a property that cost $34,799 would total $56,000.

So was the Tax Court.

 

Tony Nitti,  Golfer Sergio Garcia Comes Up Short In Tax Court, But Is The Decision A Victory For Other Athletes? He won on his endorsement royalty income, so while he may not have had an undisputed win, he did OK, like a PGA golfer who gets second-place prize money.

 

William Perez,  Delays in Issuing Tax Refunds Related to Education Tax Credits

Going Concern,  IRS Won’t Be Sorry If You Never Get Around to Claiming Your Refund.  Over $900 million in 2009 refunds will be out of reach of their rightful recipients after April 15, when the 3-year window for claiming them expires.

Trish McIntire, Don’t Lose Your 2009 Refund

 

Paul Neiffer,  Will Large Farmers Be Able to Use Cash Method in the Future?!  Farmers should get the same tax rules and breaks everyone else does, no less and no more.

Kay Bell,  Will a relationship neutral tax code save traditional marriage?.  Not every problem is a tax problem.

Howard Gleckman, The Ideological Chasm Between the House and Senate Budgets

William McBride, Dave Camp Floats a Rewrite of Small Business Tax Rules (Tax Policy Blog)

 

Jack Townsend, U.S. Taxpayer Pleads to FBAR and Tax Perjury Violation

Brian Mahany, IRS Agent May Be Headed To Prison For Info Leak – Whistleblower Protection

Brian Strahle, State Tax Revenues:  Corporate Income Tax Not That Important?

Oh, Goody.  Applying for Obamacare Subsidies Will Be as Complicated as Doing Your Taxes (Megan McArdle)

 

Argo pay your taxes.  It turns out Iowa isn’t the only government whose film tax credits attract scammers.  From London comes this via Boston.com:

In some ways ‘‘A Landscape of Lies’’ was a typical indie film, with a tiny budget, a B-list cast and an award from an American film festival.           

What made it special is that it was created solely to cover up a huge tax fraud.

…

In fact, officials say, the project was a sham, set up to claim almost 1.5 million pounds in goods and services tax for work that had not been done, as well as 1.3 million pounds under a government program that allows filmmakers to claim back up to 25 percent of their expenditure as tax relief.

No word on whether Leo Bloom prepared the fraudulent returns.

 

News you can use: Polish Up Your Guccis. (Christopher Bergin, Tax.com).

Will there be tax reform? I think there has to be. But I don’t think it will look like theTax Reform Act of 1986 because, in short, it’s not 1986, and we don’t have the same problems or even the same tax system. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of lessons to be learned from the ’86 experience. But I don’t think tax reform will happen soon. And a few of the reasons I think that come right out of “Gucci Gulch.”

I have a copy of Showdown at Gucci Gulch, the book about how the 1986 tax reforms were enacted.  I haven’t brought myself to open it; it seems too much like reading about my job.

 

TaxGrrrl,  Arrest of Dancing Mascot Puts Liberty Tax Wavers In The Spotlight

He should have hidden the cash across the pond.  Opening statements underway in Beavers tax evasion trial (WGNtv.com)

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Tax Roundup, 3/11/2013: Five weeks left edition. And Accumulated Earnings Tax agitation.

Monday, March 11th, 2013 by Joe Kristan

20130311-1The 1040 filing deadline is five weeks from today.  The 1120 and 1120S deadline is this Friday.  The penalty for filing an 1120-S late is $195 per shareholder, with the penalty repeated each additional month the return is late.  Proceed accordingly.

 

A Des Moines tax lawyer lets us know what we are in for:  Just a Little Bit More? Yeah Right. Get Ready to Pay More Taxes in 2013 (William Brown).  He illustrates what will happen to one of his clients, “Fred,” when he pays his 2013 taxes:

Fred’s federal taxes have increased by 9% with no change in his earnings.  If Fred does not increase his distributions from his business to pay these increased taxes, his disposable income will decrease by 19%.  Might these increased taxes have no substantial impact on the prospects of his small business and its employees?  Not a chance.

Read the whole thing.  Related:  Phil, we have altered the deal.  Pray we don’t alter it further.

 

David Cay Johnston pushes for harsher accumulated earnings tax.  As I predicted, we’re starting to see people pushing for enforcement of the Accumulated Earnings Tax to deal with the pretend problem of corporations “hoarding” cash.  Mr Johnston takes the podium in an (unfortunately gated) article in Tax Notes:

     American nonfinancial corporations held more than $2.2 trillion of cash and near cash offshore at the end of 2010 in current dollars, IRS and Federal Reserve data shows. And that is on top of the almost $1.7 trillion of liquid assets owned by firms and subsidiaries with U.S. addresses that we will see when the 2012 corporate income tax data becomes available in a few years. That global cash and near cash pile of almost $4 trillion came to $12,600 per American — well more than triple the $3,500 in per capita federal income tax revenues that year.

     There is no possible business justification for that much cash. As Tax Court Judge David Laro wrote in Haffner’s Service Stations Inc. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-38  “a need to retain earnings must be directly connected with the needs of the corporation itself and must be for bona fide business purposes.”

No “possible” business justification for that much cash?  It’s pretty easy to come up with potential justifications.  If you are a corporation sitting on a lot of cash, you have a lot to think about.   You have unusual opportunities, which you need to evaluate carefully.  The imposition of the shareholder-level tax on earnings is certainly a factor.  Does that mean I trust corporate management and boards?  No.  But I trust them a lot more than second-guessers at the IRS.

The Judge Laro cite that Mr. Johnston uses only restates the legal background of the accumulated earnings tax — not the economics of it.

If you want to really encourage corporations to free up their cash, end the double-taxation of corporate income by allowing full deductibility of dividend payments — with an excise withholding tax on non-profit and non-U.S. distributees to ensure the income is taxed once.  That will give corporations a powerful incentive to distribute cash they aren’t using – one that will work a lot better than beefing up the IRS Second-Guess Division.

Update: Mr. Johnston e-mails:

            I have written in favoring of restoring tax-free dividends for modest sums or encourage savings, partly because most Americans have little saved in the tax system and even though only one in four gets dividends directly: [$link Ed.]

And I called for a two-year test of dividend deductions in this column a few months later, arguing that dividends have the virtue of separating actual value-added managers from those who play accounting games since you need need cash to make dividend payouts. [gated links here and here. Ed.].

Unfortunately I don’t have links to free versions of the original articles.

Related: Garett Jones,  Redistributing from Capitalists to Workers: An Impossibility Theorem, on why the economically-optimal rate of tax on capital is zero. (Econlog)

 

 

No more paper Internal Revenue Bulletins.  The IRS has discontinued its old paper Internal Revenue Bulletin, where it published tax guidance.  From Announcement 2013-12:

The IRB is available on IRS.gov before printed copies are available. Also, the majority of items (about two-thirds) that appear in the IRB are released with a News Release about a month ahead of when the item appears in the IRB. Since all items in the IRB are available electronically, almost a month in advance of being available in the printed IRB, we are eliminating the printing of paper copies of the IRB, which are distributed directly from the IRS. The cost savings to printing and postage would be $148,000 annually.

It makes sense.  Another bit of my accumulated tax training goes the way of the Dodo.

 

Russ Fox,  If You’re a Sole Proprietor, Get an EIN…Now!.  Otherwise it’s too easy to get your identity stolen.

William Perez,  Minnesota Revenue Department Finds “Unacceptable” Errors in TurboTax.

TaxGrrrl, IRS Explains Delays In Processing Some Returns Claiming Education Credits

Kay Bell,  Federal workers owe $3.5 billion in back taxes; Expect renewal of legislative efforts to fire federally-employed tax debtors.  Some people don’t buy the “better to give than to receive” thing.

Brian Mahany,  IRS Begins Rejecting OVDI Filings – Important News For Fence Sitters

Jack Townsend,  Bank Leumi U.S. Clients Rejected from OVDP

Robert Goulder: Taxation & Morality: Odd Bedfellows (Tax.com)

 

Peter Reilly,  Render Unto Caesar – Mormon Tithe Not A Necessary Expense In IRS Collection Case

Patrick Temple-West,  Tax haven hunter Levin to retire, and more

 

The Critical Question: Who Are Your Tax Policy Friends? (Jim Maule)

Going Concern,  No, We Can’t Help You Pass the Ethics Exam.  When I took it, it was mailed to successful CPA candidates to do at home and mail in.  No wonder there are no ethical problems with our generation.  Oh, wait…

 

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Tax Roundup, 3/1/2013: Apocalypse, Day 1. Also: Iowa “flat tax” advances.

Friday, March 1st, 2013 by Joe Kristan
Post-sequester commuting.

Post-sequester commuting.

So the sequester takes effect.  That made my commute like “Mad Max,” where I threaded my car between craters on shattered, lawless roadways before picking up the office Friday bagels, ignoring les miserables begging for a bagel crumb outside the door.

Well, OK, it was like my usual Friday commute, but with snow.  But we will keep our eyes open for the chaos we know is right around the corner!

 

Iowa Senate advances limited property tax bill.  The Sioux City Journal reports:

Senate Study Bill 1136, which passed the Senate Ways and Means Committee on a 9-6 party-line vote, would enable all businesses to be taxed at a lower rate on the first $324,000 of their assessed property value. Commercial property values above that threshold would be taxed at the current 100 percent rate.

$324,ooo isn’t really that much property for a business, even at Iowa property values.  The Governor proposes to reduce the taxable value to 80% of the value for all commercial property over four years.

 

House GOP advances “flat tax” idea (Radio Iowa). The Iowa House Ways and Means Committee sent HF 3 t0 the House floor yesterday.  The bill would enact an optional income tax of 4.5% of adjusted gross income; taxpayers could elect to file under the HF 3 system or Iowa’s current system.

I don’t see this as a serious effort to pass a bill, given the flaws in using AGI as a tax base that I have pointed out.  It has next to no chance of approval in the Iowa Senate, controlled by Democrats.  At best it’s an attempt to keep much-needed income tax reform alive at a time when the Governor seems only interested in property taxes.  Maybe next time they’ll get serious and pursue The Tax Update Quick and Dirty Iowa Tax Reform Plan.

 

Russ Fox, Important Court Ruling for Entities Owned by Californians Located Outside of California.  A California owner shouldn’t by itself make your corporation taxable there.

TaxProf,  Dow Chemical Loses $1 Billion Tax Shelter Case

Brian Mahany,  Dow Chemical Suffers Billion Dollar Tax Shelter Loss – Accounting Malpractice

Jack Townsend,  Mr. Cummings’ Defense of Aggressive Tax Shelter Professionals

Kyle Pomerleau and William McBride,  Another Misleading Analysis of Income Inequality (with Pictures!) (Tax Policy Blog).  They call out David Cay Johnston.

Martin Sullivan, A Moral Obligation to Aggressively Lobby (Tax.com)

 

 

Signs of sequester apocalypse:

 

TaxProf,  The Impact of Sequestration on the IRS

Kay Bell, Despite sequestration, IRS plans to continue filing season as planned, start accepting more updated forms next week

TaxGrrrl, IRS Won’t Delay Tax Season For Sequestration

Howard Gleckman, The Sequester is Not Too Big, It is Too Stupid

Patrick Temple-West,  Obama sees leverage in tax fight, and more

Paul Neiffer, Farmers Should Be Able to File Tax Returns by Monday

The Saratogian, Rapper Ja Rule in New York City jail on tax evasion charges; scheduled for July release

Huffington Post: Matthew Bender, Detroit Tax Preparer, Charged with Fraud For Preparing False Returns.  Really, since Lexis-Nexis pulled the plug, it’s been all downhill for him.

Going Concern, Let the sequester blamestorming begin!

 

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Tax Roundup, 2/18/2013: Your tax dollars at work for somebody else.

Monday, February 18th, 2013 by Joe Kristan

 Why don’t some big companies complain about Iowa’s highest-in-the-nation corporation tax rate?  Because they are on the receiving end.

20130218-1The Department of Revenue last week issued the 2012 list of recipients of of the Iowa Research Activities Tax Credit over $500,000.  Like the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor, the Research credit is “refundable.”  If a recipient doesn’t actually owe tax, the state will send a check for the amount of the credit anyway.

For the working poor, the EITC is unabashedly a welfare program.  For the corporate recipients, the credit is touted as “economic development.”  I’m sure EITC recipients feel the same way about their government checks.

The report shows that about $34.2 million of the $50.5 million claimed in research credits was refunded — about 2/3.  The biggest recipient of the credit was Rockwell Collins, which received $13.8 million in credits.    The report doesn’t say how much credit was refunded for each large recipient; If 2/3 of the Rockwell Collins credits were refunded, that means Iowa taxpayers gave the company $9.2 million

I don’t believe Rockwell Collins, or anyone else, should pay Iowa corporation income tax.  It is a bad tax whose repeal would make life better for Iowans.  But that’s a long way from saying that taxpayers should actually cut annual welfare checks to corporations doing business in Iowa.   While I don’t blame them for taking the checks — who turns down free money? – don’t try to tell me that it’s good for me.

Repeal of giveaways like the refundable research credit and the “economic development” credits given to the big fertilizer companies would go a long way towards paying for repeal of the corporation income tax for businesses lacking the lobbyists and wire-pullers needed to hit the corporate welfare jackpot.  Maybe some day we’ll demand the legislature replace the tax-some, pay-others Iowa tax system with something better, like The Quick and Dirty Iowa Tax Reform Plan.

Speaking of Iowa Tax Reform, I have posted my analysis of the proposed Iowa 4.5% optional flat tax.

 

Dislike.  The left-wing high-tax advocacy group Citizens for Tax Justice is scandalized that Facebook isn’t paying income taxes on its 2012 income (via the TaxProf):

Earlier this month, the Facebook Inc. released its first “10-K” annual financial report since going public last year. Hidden in the report’s footnotes is an amazing admission: despite $1.1 billion in U.S. profits in 2012, Facebook did not pay even a dime in federal and state income taxes.

Instead, Facebook says it will receive net tax refunds totaling $429 million. Facebook’s income tax refunds stem from the company’s use of a single tax break, the tax deductibility of executive stock options. That tax break reduced Facebook’s federal and state income taxes by $1,033 million in 2012, including refunds of earlier years’ taxes of $451 million.

So why are “executive stock options” deductible?  Because they are taxable to the recipients as W-2 income.  They are reported as taxable income on the executives 1040s at the same 35% top rate that the corporation pays.  In other words, CTJ is upset because the executives, rather than the corporation, write the checks to the IRS.

There is no actual tax reduction.  In fact, the government actually gets more income from the options than if Facebook had not issued the options and just paid 35% tax. Because they are also subject to the 2.9% medicare tax (3.8% starting in 2013), the option exercises actually generate additional revenue for the IRS.  Presumably CTJ would want the executives to pay tax with no deduction on the other side.  That seems unjust.

 

Another victory for Citizens for Tax Justice!  After Illinois Tax Increase, State Farm Reportedly Moving Operations to Texas (Joseph Henchman, Tax Policy Blog).

 

Peter Reilly, Married Same Sex Couples – Windsor Decision Requires Action This Tax Season

Kay Bell,  Sign up now to pay your federal tax bill via EFTPS.  With the ongoing disintegration of the postal service, it’s good to have a secure and sure way to get your taxes paid on time.  I’m signed up.

Tony Nitti,  Former San Diego Mayor Gambles Away $1 Billion; What Are The Tax Implications?

Martin Sullivan, Taxation of Intangibles: Still Hazy After All These Years (Tax.com)

Roberton Williams, A New Marriage Penalty for High Earning Couples—and a Bonus for Some (TaxVox):

Our new Marriage Bonus and Penalty calculator, despite all its  Valentine’s Day finery, ignores the new 0.9 percent Medicare payroll tax hike buried in the 2010 health law. The extra levy affects only a few high-income couples but in very different ways. Lucky couples will collect marriage bonuses of up to $450. But those less fortunate—if anyone making $250,000 can be considered less fortunate—will incur marriage penalties of as much as $1,350 in additional Medicare tax.

Just another example of the whimsical and poorly-conceived nature of the Obamacare Net Investment Income tax.

 

Brian Mahany, IRS Wins Tax Shelter Case – Will Claims Of Accounting Malpractice Follow?

Jack Townsend,  New Plea Agreement Involving Israeli Banks

Robert Goulder, Jack Lew, the Cayman Islands & FATCA (Tax.com)

Ben Harris, Five reasons Why the Sequester’s Automatic Spending Cuts are Bad Policy (TaxVox).

Yeah, that’ll work.  Newtown Lawmaker Proposes ‘Sin Tax’ On Violent Video Games (TaxGrrrl).

 

Traverse City!  I will be speaking at a Farm Income Tax, Estate and Business Planning Seminar in Traverse City, Michigan June 13-14.  The seminar is co-sponsored by the Iowa State University Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation.  Other speakers include Roger McEowen and Paul Neiffer.  Register now!

 

Chicago! Jackson’s Fall Includes Tax Charge (Russ Fox):

The last three governors of Illinois all went to prison (and it’s equal opportunity corruption: both Republicans and Democrats).  Joining them will be former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and his wife, Sandi (a former Alderman in Chicago).

Mr. Jackson resigned last November from Congress; Ms. Jackson resigned in January from the Chicago City Council.  Both are pleading guilty: Mr. Jackson to conspiracy and Ms. Jackson to filing a false tax return.  They pleaded guilty on Friday.

The scheme apparently had them using “business” credit cards (here, business is their re-election campaign) for personal expenses.  As this blog has highlighted numerous times in the past (and will likely do numerous times in the future), you can’t put personal expenses on a business return.  And we’re not talking nickel and dime purchases; the total is $582,772.58.  Add in filing false campaign reports and you have problems.

When people complain about the need to turn power over to government instead of ”greedy corporations,” there is an implied assertion that the government and its operatives are somehow less vulnerable to avarice and self-dealing.  Against all evidence.

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Tax Roundup, 2/5/2013: Iowa conformity bill clears Senate. Also: the uses of GPS navigation!

Tuesday, February 5th, 2013 by Joe Kristan

20130117-1The Iowa Senate approved the Iowa tax code conformity bill, SF 106, yesterday.  The bill was approved 48-0, which is a good sign that it will pass quickly — enabling Iowans to get on with filing their 2012 business returns.

The bill updates Iowa’s income tax for the Fiscal Cliff tax bill changes passed last month by Congress.    Key items updated to match federal rules include:

- Conforming with the $500,000 federal Section 179 deduction limit for 2012 and 2013.

- Allowing the optional deduction for state and local sales taxes for 2012 and 2013.

- Conforming to federal research credit rule changes

- Continuing the IRA charitable distribution exclusion

- Adopting the federal “above the line” deductions for college tuition and for out-of-pocket expenses of educators.

The bill does not adopt federal bonus depreciation for 2012 and 2013.  The bill does not show up yet on the calendars for the House Ways and Means Committee or for House floor debate, so it may not get to the Governor this week.  Update, 9:00 am: An e-mail from the House floor manager for the bill says the House may take it up as soon as tomorrow.

 

More boffo reviews for the shutdown of the IRS preparer regulation program! 

The Weekly Standard raves:

It’s hard to choose just one IRS knee-slapper, but here goes. The agency insists IJ’s “suggestion that the return preparer program is the product of a tainted lobbying effort is belied by support for the program from the Taxpayer Advocate, the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee, numerous consumer advocacy groups, and comments from individual practitioners.”
The ETAAC is an IRS-administered panel whose members include lawyers and CPAs—who weren’t subject to the regulations—and people with connections to H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt, big businesses happy to help the government force the little guys out of the industry.

Protecting the taxpayers has never been the point.

The Wall Street Journal weighs in:

Rather than continuing to fight in court, the agency would do better to cashier the rules on legal and economic grounds. They are a classic example of big business harnessing government power to aid the powerful at the expense of small-business competitors. Meantime, won’t someone in Congress tell the IRS to stop exceeding its legal authority?

Sadly, no.

Meanwhile, the IRS has re-opened its PTIN registration system. It appears the IRS will still charge for them, though it’s not clear why anymore.

 

Nick Kasprak, Weekly Map: Sources of State and Local Tax Revenue: Sales, Excise, and Gross Receipts Tax:

20130205-1

 

Leave Gennifer Flowers Alone!  Clinton woman pleads guilty to false tax returns.  Clinton, Iowa, that is.  From the Clinton Herald:

Regina Jimenez, 60, of Clinton pleaded guilty to two counts of filing
false tax returns. She faces up to three years of prison, a fine of up
to $1 million and costs of prosecution on each count.

According to court documents, Jimenez operated AA Accounting & Tax
Services, Inc. in Clinton from approximately 2007 through 2011. Jimenez
used the business to facilitate the theft of more than $200,000 from a
client who believed that Jimenez would use the money to pay the client’s
taxes.

There’s never a good reason to have your tax preparer pay your income taxes for you.  If your preparer tries to get cash from you “to give to the IRS,” ask many questions.

 

Paul Neiffer, Hedging Versus Speculation:

Remember, if the farmer purchases a corn call option as part of this hedging strategy, this no longer qualifies as a hedge (even though is a normal strategy of selling actuals and buying the “board”, for tax purposes, it is not a hedge)  and is considered speculation.  In many cases, the tax treatment can be harsh since if the option produces income, the IRS will treat it as ordinary and if it produces a loss, it will be considered a capital loss (the worst of both).

 

Because partnership tax isn’t screwed up enough?    Why the IRS Should be Taxing the Profits of Private Equity Funds as Ordinary Income (Steven Rosenthal, TaxVox).

Robert D. Flach, tax man of La Mancha New Jersey Pennsylvania, chases his favorite windmill: BEFORE I GO – MY “CRUSADE”

Windmills everywhere!  Carl Levin Continues to Play the Role of Don Quixote (Jeremy Scott, Tax.com)

Patrick Temple-West,  Democrats target corporate tax breaks, and more

TaxGrrrl, Guess What Turned 100 This Weekend?

Kay Bell,  Happy 100th birthday federal income tax

Brian Strahle,  The Maryland Wynne Case is Decided, Will The State Appeal Further?  A possible refund for Maryland residents with taxes in other states.

Brian Mahany,  OVDI – It’s Not Just For Unreported Foreign Accounts

 

Why you should spring for a good GPS unit.  You might get lost otherwise, like a star-crossed couple in my home town of West Des Moines.  The Des Moines Register reports:

The incident occurred at about 2:12 a.m. Friday, when a car pulled into a police station driveway at 250 Mills Civic Parkway marked for “Authorized Personnel,” according to a police report.

Police said the car passed two patrol cars and drove up a private drive before turning around when it reached a garage. An officer in one of the patrol cars then turned on his top lights and stopped the car.

The driver told officers they were trying get to Beach Girls, an adult entertainment venue at 6220 Raccoon River Dr., West Des Moines, according to the report.

The two officers reported that both the driver and passenger had bloodshot, watery eyes and that the vehicle smelled of marijuana.

If they mistook the West Des Moines cop shop for a strip club, either they already had enough fun for the night, or strip joints have changed a lot since my bachelor days.

 

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Tax Roundup, 1/31/2013: Happy IRA mulligan day! And on brief, the Tax Update!

Thursday, January 31st, 2013 by Joe Kristan

20111109-1Today is the last day to make a charitable IRA rollover for 2012.  Yes, 2012 is over, but taxpayers who are required to make IRA minimum annual distributions may still have one 2012 transaction left in them.

- Taxpayers who are born before July 1, 1942 who took cash from an IRA in December 2012 can contribute up to $100,000 to a charity today and have it excluded from their 2012 income.

- Taxpayers who have failed to take their required minimum 2012 distribution can avoid the 50% penalty for failing to take their distribution by arranging for the IRA to transfer the minimum amount, up to $100,000, to a charity today.

These opportunities are part of the retroactive extension of the rule allowing up to $100,000 to be transferred from an IRA directly to a charity without including the amount in the IRA owner’s income.  This avoids the 50% of AGI charitable contribution limit.  It also avoids other potentially unpleasant consequences of having the IRA income above-the-line, like making your Social Security taxable.

 

On brief, the Tax Update Blog.  The Institute for Justice, the victorious legal team behind the shutdown of the preparer regulation program, has filed a brief opposing a stay in the injunction against the program.  Making their case airtight, they cite the Tax Update, along with tax bloggers Kelly Phillips Erb (TaxGrrrl), Robert D. Flach  and Jason Dinesen.  From Footnote 18 of the brief:

For an example of the disruption routinely caused by the IRS’s misadministration of the RTRP regulations, see Alban Decl., Ex. 3 (the comments from preparers are illustrative and reference previous examples of similar disruptions); see also Joe Kristan, IRS quietly delays CPE requirement under new preparer regulation scheme , Tax Update Blog (January 8, 2013), http://rothcpa.com/2013/01/irs-quietly-delays-cpe-requirement-under-new-preparer-regulationscheme/ (describing IRS message as “a quiet admission of failure”).

With the Tax Update Blog on their side, who can be against them?

 

What does a poor college student have that could be lucrative to a thief? A Social Security number.  From the Memphis Business Journal:

With tax season bearing down, the IRS has a warning about a new refund scam aimed at college students, seniors and church members.

The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday the scam tries to get students to give their personal identification and file tax returns claiming fraudulent refunds. It has sent misleading and bogus refund claims using the American Opportunity Education Tax Credit on college campuses throughout the Southeast.

Be very cautious about giving anybody but your employer, your bank, a medical provider or the IRS your Social Security number.  And never give it to a scammer.

 

David Brunori, Stifling Lefty — Political Correctness in the Tax Debates (Tax.com):

So the pro tax people managed to shut Mickelson up. Rather than engaging  in a discussion about why it is okay to take his money, they stifled him.

Shut up, they explained.

 

Paul Neiffer points out that now that penalties are waived for farmers who file after March 1, they may not want to file by their usual deadline:  File Your Return After March 1 Not Before!

 

Have you mailed your 1099s and W-2s?  Today is the deadline for sending them to recipients.  Russ Fox has the scoop.

TaxGrrrl, Ask the taxgirl: Tax ID Numbers and 1099s

Kay Bell,  Tax e-filing and Free File is now available for most taxpayers

Trish McIntire,  Freebies.  Don’t ask for them.

Chris Sanchirico,  Camp’s Investment Tax Plan: Implications for Lower Rates on Capital Gains? (TaxVox)

Tax Foundation, New Report: Cell Phone Taxes Exceed 20% in Several States

Margaret Van Houten and Jodie Clark McDougal,  Iowa Trust Industry Breathes a Sigh of Relief after the Supreme Court’s Reversal in Trimble

Cara Griffith, Kentucky DOR’s Disregard of Transparency (Tax.com)

Jack Townsend,  Another UBS Depositor Pleads

Patrick Temple-West,  India sees end to Vodafone tax dispute, and more

 

News you can use. IRS: No One Is Too Old, Too Poor Or Too Sympathetic To Avoid Prosecution  (Brian Mahany)

How to catch a dinosaur.  Not Income Tax Evasion – Structuring – That’s How They Got Kent Hovind (Peter Reilly)

Robert D. Flach goes into blog hibernation for the remainder of tax season:  SO LONG, FAREWELL, AUF WIEDERSEHEN, GOOD NIGHT!

These are a few of my favorite things…  Guns and Tax Returns. (Christopher Bergin, Tax.com).

 

Today’s morale builder: Les Misérables-Inspired Video Reminds You That Busy Season Kills Your Dreams (Going Concern)

 

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Tax Roundup, 1/28/2013: Should Iowa rebate its budget surplus? And PTIN limbo.

Monday, January 28th, 2013 by Joe Kristan

20130117-1Iowa is collecting more tax money than it is spending.  Iowa House Republicans propose to give the money back as a one-time tax credit.  The Des Moines Register reports:

The proposal would capture the state’s estimated $800 million budget surplus, divide it equally among the state’s income tax payers and issue an income tax credit to every taxpayer for his or her share. Senate Republicans said last week the credit amounts to $375 for individuals or $750 for couples who file jointly.

That means, for example, if a married couple’s state income tax liability was $1,000, they would receive a $750 tax credit, reducing the amount they were actually required to pay to $250. If a payer’s burden was less than $375, he would receive a credit equal only to his actual bill.

It’s a simple plan that treats the surplus as a non-recurring event.  Unfortunately, there is nothing simple about Iowa’s tax law otherwise.  I’d prefer to see it returned as part of a tax reform plan.

House Democrats prefer to spend the money, and the Governor wants some of it to fund his education reform plan.  ISU economist David Swenson says the money should be run through the government:

Drawing on a statistical model that predicts economic impacts, he said  $780 million in government spending could support roughly 2,000 more jobs than the same amount of spending by households.

Yes, the magical power of the government to transform your money into jobs.  If we just gave the government infinite money, we’d get infinite jobs.   If that worked, you’d think we’d have more jobs than ever, considering that Federal and state governments are spending more money than ever.

20130128-1

Link: Text of HF 1.

 

Tax Notes, Preparers in Limbo as IRS Shutters PTIN System After Loving Decision ($link):

     Tax return preparers who just recently were rushing to get their preparer tax identification numbers from the IRS before it starts accepting 2012 tax returns on January 30 are in limbo after a federal district court enjoined the Service from enforcing requirements under the registered tax return preparer (RTRP) designation.

     The IRS’s online PTIN system appears to be unavailable. People familiar with the system are uncertain why the IRS took it offline and what its unavailability means for the hundreds of thousands of potential PTIN registrants.

     “From a practical point of view, [the IRS] has already shut the [PTIN] system down,” said Dan Alban of the Institute for Justice and the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in Loving v. IRS, No. 1:12-cv-00385 (D.D.C. 2013)  “Whether they are legally required to do so is the question.”

Well done, IRS!  Preparers are required to have a PTIN.  The IRS apparently tied it’s PTIN software to the preparer regulation system overturned earlier this month.  Another triumph for tax administration.

TaxProf,  What’s FATCA Got To Do With It? Tina Turner Renounces U.S. Citizenship.  It’s always easier for the wealthy to avoid the ridiculous paperwork the tax law imposes on Americans abroad.  It’s the little jaywalkers that get shot to ensure the serious money-launderers get slapped on the wrist.

Andrew Mitchel has posted two videos explaining Form 5471.  Think that sounds dull?  If you fail to report your interest in a foreign corporation, the $10,000 fine will make it interesting.

Martin Sullivan, UK Conservative Policies in Trouble (Tax.com)

Brian Mahany, Tiger Woods and Tax Migration – The Wealthy Flee High Tax States (tax planning post)

Patrick Temple-West,  Republican governors open new front in tax debate, and more

Paul Neiffer,  AMT Causes a Few More Capital Gains Tax Rates!

Robert Goulder, The Pepperdine Papers: Advice for Obama’s Second Term (Tax.com)

Kay Bell, Deducting sales tax on your new car … or boat or airplane or home

Jim Maule,  Tax Planning: A Chore That Never Sleeps.  I think it works better if it does.

Trish McIntire,  Who Do You Believe?.  If your tax advisor contradicts your bar buddy on a tax issue, go with the tax advisor.

Dan Meyer, Will Tax Benefits Later Cost You Now?

Robert D. Flach,  THE RESIDENTIAL ENERGY CREDIT IS BACK FOR 2012 (AND 2013)!

Joseph Henchman,  Municipal Bankruptcies Since 1988. (Tax Policy Blog).  He lists about 43.

Russ Fox,  Cash and Carry Doesn’t Work for Strip Club Owner.  I don’t think it’s allowed for the patrons either.

Worth a try.  Shop Till Your Taxes Drop  (TaxGrrrl)

 

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Tax Roundup, 1/24/2013: Tax increases for everyone, anyone? And more bad news for tax season!

Thursday, January 24th, 2013 by Joe Kristan

 

Tax Foundation graphic.

TaxProf,  NY Times: it Is Time to Raise Taxes on Everybody — Including the Middle Class.  Paul Caron links to a New York Times Op-ed:

To make ends meet, both parties agree, spending must be drastically cut. Under the White House budget proposal, discretionary spending on everything except the military is projected to shrink to its smallest share of the economy since the Eisenhower administration by the beginning of the next decade. Though he has resisted Republican demands to slash entitlements, President Obama remains willing to look for further savings from Medicare.

This is not, however, the only option we have. There is an alternative: raising more money from all taxpayers, including the middle class.

Nobody wants to talk about this. … Yet Americans would benefit from a discussion of this possibility.

It’s not true that “both parties agree” that spending must be drastically cut.  It’s not clear that either party, as a whole, admits it, and at least one party remains in firm denial.  The President’s campaign was all about spending money and sending the bill to the rich guy.  Still, it’s nice that finally somebody at the New York Times admits that the rich guy isn’t buying.  He can’t.

 

Janet Novack,  As IRS Tax Filing Season Begins, Bad News For Honest Taxpayers.  She20130121-2 speaks with Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson.  The article has some depressing truth:

Customer service at the Internal Revenue Service is dismal and deteriorating. (Only 68% of telephone callers who wanted to talk to a human at the IRS last tax filing season eached one, and then only after an average 17 minute wait.)  The epidemic of identity theft refund fraud hasn’t yet been contained.  Hope for a major reform that might simplify the tax code is waning.

The article also has some serious nonsense about last week’s ruling shutting down the IRS preparer regulation power grab:

“If the injunction stands, the taxpayers of the United States will be grievously harmed,” IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson told Forbes. “The practical effect of not having some kind of consumer protection for taxpayers going to return preparers is enormous. And I say that seeing all the return preparer fraud, and the return preparer negligence, and the return preparer inadvertent mistakes that happen.”

Enormous?  More like what we did forever until two years ago.  If anybody has evidence that last year’s tax preparers were significantly more accomplished and accurate than they were before the regulations, they haven’t shared it.  And the idea that the RTRP literacy competency test and minimal CPE requirement would have changed that is silly.

Ms. Olson believes that depriving consumers of choices in preparers is in their interest because the diminished choices would be better.  That flies in the face of all we know about regulation.  The net result would be higher prices, driving more taxpayers to do their returns and driving some on the margins out of the system altogether, while sending more business to the big franchise tax prep outfits.

 

Robert D. Flach, TAX RETURN PREPARER REGULATION, LICENSURE, AND/OR CERTIFICATION.  Robert’s magnum opus on how tax preparers should be regulated.

While I agree that having the Internal Revenue Service regulate tax preparers is not the best option – it is without a doubt a far superior option to having Congress legislate regulation.  My opinion of the intelligence, competence, and ability, or rather lack of intelligence, competence, and ability, of the current members of Congress is well known.
The optimal source of tax preparer regulation/licensure/certification, whether mandatory or voluntary, would be an independent industry-based organization, not unlike the AICPA or ABA, such as the National Institute of Registered Tax Return Preparers that I have proposed.

Robert also calls me out:

As I have asked in response to Joe’s assertion, would you want a “casual” electrician wiring your kitchen, or a “casual” dentist filling a cavity, or a “casual” architect designing your home?

If I do, what business is it of anybody else?  If I want to pay a talented handyman neighbor or cousin to install a ceiling fan for me, why is it anybody’s business?  Why should he be not allowed to take my money just because he doesn’t have an electrician card from the Bureau of Electrical and Mortuary Science?  As TaxGrrrl noted yesterday, occupational licensing is taking over the economy, and that’s not a good thing.

 

TaxGrrrl, With A Week To Go, IRS Talks Opening Day and Refunds

 

Cara Griffith, Have State Income Taxes Run Their Course? (Tax.com)

The corporate income tax is inefficient and a not sufficiently stable source of revenue for states. It should be eliminated. The individual income tax is likewise not a particularly stable source of revenue for states, and while counterintuitive, progressive tax systems do not work well at the state-level. Income redistribution, to the extent that it should be a goal at all, should not be undertaken at the state-level. So  in a perfect world, yes, the state individual income tax should be eliminated as well.

Christopher Bergin agrees.

 

Good. Another bid to ban traffic enforcement cameras in Iowa. (O. Kay Henderson, via The Beanwalker).  Traffic cameras are your local government’s most sincere way of showing their contempt for you.

 

Trish McIntire,  Form 8332 and Fairness.  How the IRS enables bitter ex-spouses.

Paul Neiffer,  Why Imputed Interest Matters For 2013 (And Beyond)

Kaye A. Thomas,  Another Demutualization Case

Robert W. Wood, Golfer Phil Mickelson Is Not Alone In Fleeing Taxes (Via Kerry Kerstetter)

Peter Reilly, Why Phil Mickelson’s Remark Was Really Dumb

Brian Mahany, Is FATCA In Trouble? Unfortunately, NO

Joseph Henchman,  CBPP’s Misleading Chart on Debt Stabilization (Tax Policy Blog).  A study in cherry-picking.

Jen Carrigan, Should Capital Gains Be Taxed Differently? (Guest post at The Missouri Taxguy blog).

Patrick Temple-West,  Firms keep stockpiles of ‘foreign’ cash in U.S., and more

Tax Trials,  District Court Decision Prevents IRS from Regulating Certain Tax Return Preparers

Kay Bell,  Fiscal cliff tax provision could help stem fraudulent refund claims by prisoners

 

News you can use:  Passing the CPA Exam While Billing Over 2500 Hours in a Year Is Way Harder Than Having a Baby.  (Going Concern).  Also less useful and not as smart.

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Tax Roundup, 1/18/2013: Iowan gets 87 months on Ponzi, tax charges.

Friday, January 18th, 2013 by Joe Kristan
87 months? Holy Cow!

87 months? Holy Cow!

Iowan gets 7 years on Ponzi scheme, tax charges.  An Ottumwa man who used funds he was supposed to invest to finance his online dating life was sentenced yesterday to 87 months in federal prison on federal fraud and tax charges.  John Holtsinger, 52, will serve the federal sentence after he completes a state OWI sentence.

Mr. Holtsinger entered a guilty plea last year.   The indictment said he sold this improbable investment opportunity:

After conducting trades on behalf of investors for a short period of  time, Holtsinger offered and sold investments to the investors in the form of promissory notes.  He represented that the notes would yield high returns with no risk including, but not limited to, what he called an “inheritance investment” that would be invested through his mother and pay out upon her death.  The “inheritance investment” required a $20,000 deposit and was to pay annual returns of 9% with automatic liquidation and payout if the investment dropped below 3% of its initial value.

“High returns with no risk” is a rare beast indeed, nearly as rare as the Unicorn.  I doubt if they show up in Ottumwa very often.

 

IRS stimulates prison system economy by $35 million in 2010.  From a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration:

Refund fraud committed by prisoners remains a significant problem for tax administration. The number of fraudulent tax returns filed by prisoners and identified by the IRS has increased from more than 18,000 tax returns in Calendar Year 2004 to more than 91,000 tax returns in Calendar Year 2010. The refunds claimed on these tax returns increased from $68 million to $757 million. Although the IRS prevented the issuance of $722 million in fraudulent tax refunds during Calendar Year 2010, it released more than $35 million.

The new IRS regulation of tax preparers isn’t going to do much for this problem.  (via the TaxProf)

Related: Doing Your Time (Jack Townsend)

 

TaxGrrrl, As We Creep Closer To The Debt Ceiling Limit, Is Your Tax Refund At Risk?

Kay Bell, Government report fuels fear (again) of federal mileage tax proposal

Russ Fox, The Walking Dead Come Back.

Brian Mahany,  Taxpayer Advocate Questions OVDI, FBAR Penalties

David Cay Johnston, Foundering Tax Avoidance (Tax.com)

Paul Neiffer,  Watch Out For Those Retroactive State Tax Gotchas!

Nanette Byrnes, Facebook’s slump hits California’s budget, and more (Tax Break)

Joseph Henchman and Elizabeth Malm, New Report: Gasoline Taxes and Tolls Pay for Only a Fraction of Road Spending (Tax Policy Blog)

Catch your weekend Buzz early!  From Robert D. Flach.

Howard Gleckman,  A Tiny Little Blog Post on a Tiny Little Tax Bracket. (TaxVox).  Hey, I noticed it first!

News you can use:  Retaining CPAs Is As Easy As Letting Them Work in PJs and Attend Boring Meetings, Says Guy (Going Concern)

 

When outsourcing goes too far.  A story of how a model employee outsourced his own job. (Greg Mankiw).  Nice work if you can get paid while some guy in China does the dirty work.

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Tax Roundup, 1/17/2013: Iowa alternative maximum tax introduced. Also: cash for clunkers, firearms edition!

Thursday, January 17th, 2013 by Joe Kristan

20130117-1Alternative Maximum Tax introduced in Iowa House.  The Republican leadership of the Iowa House of Representatives has introduced a new way to compute Iowa personal income tax.  HF 3 would create an optional ”alternative base income tax”at a 4.5% flat rate.   The bill would allow taxpayers to elect to be taxed on their federal Adjusted Gross Income before net operating losses, less a $6,200 standard deduction ($12,400 for joint filers and heads of households).  The only credits allowed would be for estimated taxes and withholding.  Taxpayers could instead continue to follow the existing tax law.

There is an obvious flaw in the statute as drafted: federal AGI includes interest on federal debt, which states aren’t allowed to tax.  Maybe that’s just assumed, but the existing Iowa income tax law specifically excludes U.S. interest.  This tax is different from that proposed by Iowans for Discounted Taxes, which would exempt all investment income from the tax base.

The bill would be a huge step forward for Iowa tax policy if it were enacted as a replacement for Iowa’s current tax, rather than an option.  Eliminating all of the tax credits and special state deductions would greatly simplify everyone’s tax life, and lowering the rate would make Iowa much more attractive to businesses and newcomers.  In this form, though, it’s just another computation, an alternative maximum tax.  It’s like the alternative minimum tax, except you pay the lower tax computed, rather than the higher one.   It was probably drafted this way to avoid a fight over eliminating the current deduction for federal income taxes on Iowa returns.

I will run some numbers to see how the HF 3 tax would compare with taxes computed the current way.  The bill is co-sponsored by 54 representatives, including House Speaker Paulsen, so it’s a given that it will pass the House in some form.  It will be interesting to see whether the Senate, controlled by Democrats, will bring this to a vote.  The Governor has made clear income tax reform isn’t his priority this year.

 

This plan might be half-cocked.  From William McBride at the Tax Policy Blog:

This week Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) proposed an assault weapon buy-back program that would operate through the tax code:

“The SAFER Streets Act creates a $2,000 refundable tax credit ($1,000 for two consecutive years) for an assault weapon owner who turns in their firearm to the state police.”

…

This assumes the gun manufacturers cannot produce additional guns as
fast as the old ones are destroyed, and that they cannot be produced, at
this rate of production, cheaper than the buy-back price. 

Cash for Clunkers, firearms edition.

Kay Bell,  Guns, ammo, violence and taxes

 

TaxProf, TIGTA: IRS Has 60% Error Rate in Policing Noncash Charitable Contribution Deduction.  I’m sure they’ll do lots better implementing the Affordable Care Act.

Patrick Temple-West,  New Yorkers face higher real estate taxes, and more

Peter Reilly,  Are Tax Protesters Actually Winning ?:

Ms. Curtis lost as badly as it is possible to lose in Tax Court.  There is the 75% fraud penalty and the maximum sanction, $25,000, for frivolous arguments. She still might appeal, though.  Presumably the Circuit will make relatively quick work of that and maybe pile on some more sanctions.  Fine.  Now the IRS has to start trying to collect from her. 

Tax protester arguments can slow down the tax collector, but the tax man wins in the end.

 

Robert D. Flach, THE RETURN OF A HOME OFFICE STANDARD DEDUCTION

Kerry Kerstetter,  New option for Home Office deduction

Jason Dinesen,  How the Fiscal Cliff Deal Affects Teachers

Trish McIntire,  Red Forms

Cara Griffith, Should States Just Enforce Use Tax Collection? (Tax.com)

Russ Fox,  California Supreme Court Takes Gillette Case

Joseph Henchman,  The Al Bundy Tax Rule: New Hampshire Governor Pledges to Veto Beer Tax (Tax.com)

If it’s your identity, pretty bad.  IDENTITY THEFT AND TAX FRAUD – HOW BAD IS IT? (TaxTV.com)

Brian Mahany,  Steelers’ Plaxico Burress Pays Off $98,000 IRS Tax Lien

Christopher Bergin, Everybody’s Gone Surfing (Tax.com)

News you can use: Going Concern’s Guide to a Healthy Busy Season: Because No One Should Die at Work

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Tax Roundup, 1/15/2013: Branstad not leading on income tax reform. And: Cage Fight! CPAs vs. RTRPs!

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013 by Joe Kristan
Via Wikipedia

Via Wikipedia

Might the Iowa legislature lead on income tax reform?  If it’s going to happen, they will have to, as Governor Branstad only wants to talk about property taxes this year.  O. Kay Henderson reports:

During a recent interview with Radio Iowa, Governor Branstad made it clear he is focused on cutting property taxes.

“Sure, I’d like to see the income tax reduced, too, but in terms of my priority — and I’ve been working on this for a couple of years and we’re really trying to perfect it — our focus is going to be on significant property tax reduction and replacement,” Branstad said a month ago.

Some legislators are more ambitious, reports Henderson:

Representative Tom Sands, a Republican from Wapello, is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee that writes tax policy.

“I think there is some pressure building from Iowans to cut both income taxes — look at some reform as well as a cut to the individual income tax,” Sands says. “We’re hearing from corporations as well, on the income side.”

I doubt anything good will happen with income taxes this session.  The Iowa Chamber Alliance even wants to to go the wrong way, pushing more tax credits for the well-connected.  No organization seems to be pushing for the rest of us.  But The Quick and Dirty Iowa Tax Reform Plan is ready to go if the legislature needs some ideas.

 

Russ Fox, Estimated Tax Payment Deadline Is January 15th.  For 1040 and 1041 filers. Kay Bell has more.

 

Nick Kasprak, Monday Map: State Gasoline Tax Rates, 2013 (Tax Policy Blog):

 20130115-1

Robert D. Flach, CHOOSING A TAX PREPARER.  I suppose I should be upset by this:

Contrary to the popular “urban tax myth” perpetuated by uninformed journalists, just because a person has the initials “CPA” after his/her name does not mean that he/she knows his arse from a hole in the ground when it comes to preparing 1040s.

But I’m not.  It’s true, if roughly stated.

Robert goes astray in his next paragraph:

Only those individuals who possess the “EA” (Enrolled Agent) or “RTRP” (Registered Tax Return Preparer) designations have demonstrated competency in 1040 preparation by taking an IRS-sponsored test, and are required to remain current in 1040 law by taking a minimum number of hours in continuing professional education (CPE) in federal income taxes each year.

False.  The RTRP test is open book.  It demonstrates that somebody can read.  It’s a literacy test, an empty exercise to justify the IRS power grab over the preparer industry.  It’s different with Enrolled Agents, like Jason Dinesen and Russ Fox,  who have to meet much stricter standards than RTRPs.    One of the underreported nasty consequences of the RTRP designation is that it damages the EA brand.

I also disagree with the implied conclusion that CPAs who prepare returns are less competent as a group than EAs or RTRPs.  Some are incompetent, no doubt, but many tax CPAs are highly-skilled.    I think the competency curve for non EA preparers vs. CPAs would look something like this:

http://www.rothcpa.com/misc/20110118-2.png

Substitute “RTRP” for “unenrolled preparer.”

There are excellent non-CPAs and there are incompetent CPAs.   Still, I think as a group the CPAs who do tax for a living will tend to be more competent.

My rule of thumb for choosing a preparer: buy as much preparer as you need, but no more.  Many taxpayers who only have wage and investment income and routine itemized deductions will do fine with an RTRP (and would have done fine with an unenrolled preparer without the new IRS preparer regulations).  If you have business income, a multistate return, or a complicated financial life, your needs go up; you need a high-end RTRP like Robert, or an EA, or a CPA. As your business gets bigger, you are more likely to want to hire a good CPA.  And when Robert gets to the bottom line of his post, I think he agrees.

But be careful which one you hire: Lawyer, Accountant Implicated in Estate Fraud Case (Brian Mahany)

 

Trish McIntire, Preparer Conflict of Interest

 

Jack Townsend, The Big Boys Get Better Treatment in Our Tax System Than Do Minnows.

I speak again on the basic relative unfairness of the treatment of many, if not most, in the IRS’s offshore voluntary disclosure initiatives.

They have to shoot the jaywalkers so they can slap the real offenders on the wrist.

 

You pay more in taxes this year than last year.  How do you like your tax cut? At Tax.com, Jeremy Scott tries to convince us that we just got a tax cut:

 The income tax rates, the estate tax, and the alternative minimum tax  patch are all here to stay.  And, according to the Tax Policy Center’s (TPC’s) preliminary study on distributional effects, the act essentially provided a big tax cut for almost everyone.

Funny, everybody’s taking home less.  How does that work? My emphasis:

Using the Congressional Budget Office’s old baseline (which assumed that  the Bush tax cuts would expire for everyone) and looking at the effects of the tax cut in 2018, the TPC says that the average taxpayer will receive a $2,335 tax cut under ATRA. 

I see.  Because the tax increase could have been bigger, we got a tax cut.  I’ll see if I can cut staff accountant pay and convince them they got a raise because we didn’t cut more.

Janet Novack, Obama Vows Republicans Won’t Collect ‘Ransom’ For Raising Debt Limit.  No, they’ll ultimately let the President continue the insane spending pace.

 

Paul Neiffer, We Wonder What the Investment Income Tax Form Will Look Like

Avoiding Excess Credit Card Interest Should Not Be A Taxable Event.  But it can be, if you get the bank to forgive unpaid interest that would be non-deductible.

IRS Releases Additional Inflation-Adjusted Figures for 2013

Robert Goulder, Taxes & Corruption: Another Greek Tragedy (Tax.com)

TaxGrrrl, Ask the taxgirl: IRS Delayed Tax Filing Season Applies To Everybody

Martin Sullivan, IRS: Women At Work (Tax.com):

According to the latest IRS Data Book  60,623 of the agency’s 104,402 employees in 2011 were women. That 66 percent is far more than the 44-percent figure for government’s total civilian labor force and the 47-percent figure for the overall US civilian workforce.

 

Ben Harris, Should Louisiana Dump Its Income Tax for a Bigger Sales Tax? (TaxVox)

News you can use.  FYI: Attorneys Think Auditors’ Legal Confirmation Letters Are a Giant Waste of Time (Going Concern)

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