CURRENT EDITION

Breaking Down Tax Benefits for Higher Education
With the rising cost of higher education and greater reliance on student loans, taxpayers are looking for every opportunity to ease the financial burden of earning a degree. Fortunately, several higher education tax benefits are available to help offset the high cost of tuition, student loans and other education-related expenses. However, certain eligibility requirements — such as income limits and tax filing status — often trip up taxpayers along the way. Understanding the nuances of these tax benefits for higher education can ensure your clients take full advantage of available tax savings.
READ MOREStaying Afloat in Tax Seas: Understanding the IRS’s Moratorium on ERC
Question: Should I even bother assisting my clients with filing new ERC claims? Answer: In light of the IRS's recent moratorium on processing new Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claims and the introduction of a withdrawal option for certain employers, it's understandable that you might be wondering whether to assist your clients with filing new claims. The answer, like a well-prepared tax return, is nuanced and deserves a detailed examination.
Read MoreTime for Year-End Tax Planning
This year is far from over for tax planning – for some moves, you have even longer – but now’s the time to start looking and acting on your tax tactics given your circumstances and the 2023 you’ve had so far. What you do or don’t do now could save or cost you next April.
Read MoreAn Alphabet Soup of Confusion: LLCs, BOI, and UPL
By now I hope that all tax professionals have heard of the FinCEN requirement for certain entities to report beneficial ownership information starting in 2024. The requirement is causing confusion because tax and accounting professionals feel that this could be an opportunity to either add value to an existing engagement, could be a new revenue stream, or could be a huge potential for liability. What follows is a brief review of the law and the requirements, an analysis of the main issues, and some recommendations for practitioners wondering how to help their clients while limiting their professional liability.
Read MoreTAX COURT ROUNDUP – NOVEMBER 2023
A very mixed bag this month: IRS shifting ground on the eve of trial, plenty of discovery, loyalty programs, the end of the road for meaningful Section 6751(b) supervisory approval, and arrival of a new Special Trial Judge. And, as always, a lot of questions.
Read MoreElectronic Commerce Creates Confusing Sales Tax Obligations
Any company engaged in e-commerce, i.e., selling online, knows that the ability to reach buyers and customers remotely can juice the bottom line. State and local tax jurisdictions around the country know that, too, especially the bottom line of their sales tax coffers. Now every state with a statewide sales tax has a threshold past which remote sellers must collect and remit state sales tax. Failure to do so can incur big penalties, or worse, and there’s a lot to know based on where and what you sell online.
Read MoreContent Marketing for Accountants: Creating Valuable and Engaging Content
If you read my article Building a Strong Personal Brand as an Accountant: Strategies for Success you’d have learned about how I started my entrepreneurial journey in 2018, knowing absolutely nothing about marketing. I was one of those CFOs who would need to understand why a company has to spend more money on marketing; however, I did understand that having a robust online presence was necessary for a new digital age. Little did I know that marketing is senior to any other activity in a business.
Read MoreSome Harsh Lessons on Being Late from the Tax Court
Penalties for procrastination in tax matters can be somewhat harsh. Judge Albert Lauber of the United States Tax Court gave us some lessons on the topic earlier this year. The “strategy” of over withholding so that you can file your return whenever the spirit moves you rather than by the due date has a serious downside. The statute of limitations will not work in your favor, but it will work against you. It is a little like you are playing in a chess tournament and you and your opponent are staring at the board. Your clock is ticking and theirs is not.
Read MoreCan You Write Off Your Vacation on Your Taxes?
I saw a meme that said, “accountants go on vacation just so they can work from another location.” This might be true. So maybe, just maybe you can write your vacation off on your taxes. But on a serious note, this is a question that taxpayers have. “Can I write off my vacation on my taxes?” I hate to blame everything on the internet but...it is a dangerous place for taxpayers. There is an infamous Tik Tok video turned reel that has found its way into my DMs and e-mail inbox several times. I’m often amused by the bad tax advice that goes viral online. The comments tend to make me giggle or give me cause for concern. This particular video gave me more cause for concern. The main reason it did this is because of the amount of tax professionals that shared in agreement. I’m all for advertising on social media but often we must be careful as tax professionals. We have certain ethical obligations that unfortunately do not apply to other industries. We do not want to mislead taxpayers for “likes” or potentially going viral. Let me get to the details of the video. A tax professional whose credentials I won’t mention, was sharing how taxpayers can use their entire family vacation as a write off on their Schedule C. Rightfully so, this made taxpayer’s ears perk up. Why not kill two birds with one stone, right? What should not have happened was tax professionals sharing the video with filling in the blanks. I know you would never do that, and that’s why you’re here. To find out what parts of travel your client can write off on their taxes. So, let’s look at what constitutes something being a business expense. Then we’ll look at the due diligence you should take to make sure their travel and meal expenses are legitimate.
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CURRENT EDITION

Breaking Down Tax Benefits for Higher Education
With the rising cost of higher education and greater reliance on student loans, taxpayers are looking for every opportunity to ease the financial burden of earning a degree. Fortunately, several higher education tax benefits are available to help offset the high cost of tuition, student loans and other education-related expenses. However, certain eligibility requirements — such as income limits and tax filing status — often trip up taxpayers along the way. Understanding the nuances of these tax benefits for higher education can ensure your clients take full advantage of available tax savings.

Don’t Forget About the Refund Statute Expiration Date
Have you ever found an amazing strategy for a new tax prospect that they missed in previous years? Even worse, have you realized that you overlooked a client’s eligibility for a credit when you prepared their tax return? Not only that, but you had them make an unnecessary estimated tax payment. Well, it may not be too late for your client and prospect to take advantage of those credits for the year in question. The fate of your client isn’t sealed after filing their tax return. The IRS gives taxpayers a set amount of time to make a claim for a credit on their return. The IRS calls the date that this time sunsets the Refund Statute Expiration Date.

Syndicated Conservation Easement Promoters Continue to Lose In Tax Court
The Tax Court docket has been inundated with syndicated easement cases. In 2024, the IRS was mostly winning. That trend has continued in 2025. So far there have been three IRS wins. Here they are.