Tools and Resources

Why Tax Planners are Turning to ELI5 – The Results Will Amaze You!

Taxes can be a maze of numbers and jargon that leave even the savviest individuals scratching their heads. But what if there was a secret method that tax professionals were using to make it all seem as easy as child's play? Introducing the ELI5 approach!

Tax Court Roundup – May 2023

BY Lewis C. Taishoff

As always, much has happened in the tax courts this past month; let's jump right in!

2023 Summer Education Series Event Calendar

BY Lucien P. Gauthier, Esq., LL.M., CPA

We are so excited to announce the 2023 Summer Education Series! All summer long we will be bringing our loyal subscribers monthly webinars featuring some of the brightest minds in tax! Each webinar will feature our usual blend of high-quality education and entertainment and include continuing education credits for those who qualify. All of this is included in your regular subscription! Continue reading to see what we have in store...

Live Webinar Event: The DeFi & Digital Asset Taxation Course

BY Matt Metras, EA

Join nationally recognized speaker and educator Matt Metras, EA, as he guides you through the ins and outs of mining, staking, forks, airdrops, DeFi swaps, yield farming, liquidity pools, NFTs, and more. With little guidance in these areas, you'll learn how to apply existing code sections to cryptocurrency situations, with a focus on finding tax-saving opportunities. We'll also cover how to extract transactions from the blockchain and introduce you to a number of helpful tools. This two-hour course is packed with valuable information, but it’s more than just information - we're also offering continuing education credits to qualifying attendees, courtesy of the American Institute of Certified Tax Planners.

Live Webinar Event: Qualified Plans with Unique Options

BY Sean H. Adams, CPA

The IRS is deploying technology and big data to combat compensation under-reporting. What does this likely mean for you and your S Corps? That Reasonable Compensation challenges will likely occur outside the traditional exam process. A challenge may come from the ongoing Employment Tax Program or the recently launched CIP. From our polling, we find most tax advisors and their S Corp clients are dangerously unprepared for an IRS reasonable compensation challenge. If you are working with S corps, here’s the news you need to know...

Live Event! Reasonable Compensation for S Corps Webinar

BY Paul S. Hamann

A TOTTB Live Webinar Event sponsored by our friends at RCReports! For two decades the IRS has been preparing an assault on reasonable compensation for S Corps. Their arsenal is now fully locked and loaded. In it, there is everything from commonsense tools to obscure memos. We will explore key court cases, IRS guidelines, preparer penalties and some of the obscure weapons the IRS has put in place. We debunk common myths and fiction on how reasonable compensation should be calculated and replace it with facts and methodologies that the IRS relies on.

Real Estate Developments Investments with Mineral Easements Option Course

BY David Johnson

This session will cover the basics of tax-efficient real estate strategies, specifically real estate development investments with a conservation easement option. The structure of each type of offering will be outlined in detail. The history of the laws addressing conservation easements will be discussed including an in-depth explanation on the current legislative landscape. Since the nature of each deal is driven by an underlying commodity, details outlining valuation and current market trends will be covered including the appraisal processes. Partnership voting will also be explained.

The Inflation Reduction Act Tax Credits Course

BY Thomas Gorczynski, EA USTCP CTP

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 expanded existing energy credits and created brand new ones. There are now several new ways tax professionals can help taxpayers save thousands of dollars a year by planning for these tax credits. In this webinar, we will cover the credits likely to be used by individuals and small businesses. We will also discuss tax planning considerations and areas in need of additional guidance.

The Inflation Reduction Act Town Hall

BY Dominique Molina, CPA MST CTS

We’re hosting a live open discussion forum to help educate you on the new Inflation Reduction Act! The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) makes some big promises: lower energy costs, provide tax credits for electric vehicles, negotiate cheaper medications for seniors, deliver faster tax refunds, and create more responsive IRS agents! How all these promises are paid for and how they impact the average American are already the topic of intense debate and, in some cases, the cause of outright fear! In fact, there has been so much concern and debate around this new bill that we’ve decided to hold a town hall on the subject! Keep reading to get all the details...

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CURRENT EDITION

Building a Strong Personal Brand as an Accountant: Strategies for Success

Marie Torossian, CPA

What is a personal brand?

If you asked me that question in 2018, I would not know how to answer it.

As I embarked on my journey to entrepreneurship, I took on any accounting-related project that came my way. I had yet to learn about the meaning of a personal brand. Fast forward to 2020, I launched my CPA firm just before the COVID shutdown. While established CPA firms could sustain or pivot to new services, I still had to figure out how to get clients, build my online presence, and establish trust to create my brand.

I learned on my journey that in today’s competitive landscape, a personal brand has become more critical than ever. Professional success is directly related to one’s brand, especially in service-based industries such as accounting. Surveys show that more business owners and young entrepreneurs are looking for accountants they can rely on for not only their technical skills and qualifications but also for a personal connection. Therefore, creating a solid personal brand distinguishes accountants from the rest of the crowd, enhances their credibility, fosters loyalty, and opens doors for new opportunities.

I will share my experience, dive into the significance of a personal brand for accountants, and provide actionable strategies to help you build a solid personal brand that resonates with your target audience.

Salt Miner’s Run for the Roses Ends with a Big Tax Bill

Peter J Reilly CPA

Judge Mark Holmes of the United States Tax Court expressed admiration for the achievements of Joseph G. Bucci Sr. whose American Rock Salt provides the salt to keep many of the streets in the Northeast passable in the winter. You can learn a bit about that from an interview in New York by Adriane Quinlan . The positive remarks were no help in the ultimate result. Judge Holmes agreed with the IRS that Bucci’s three side hustles — a real estate enterprise, a farm, and some racing horses — were “Activities not engaged in for profit” making losses unallowable. The total tab including accuracy penalties for 2016 and 2017 was $711,980. Judge Holmes explained the result in a bench opinion, which is less formal than a memo decision. The trial began in Buffalo on June 14, 2023.

Injured Spouse Relief

Timalyn Bowens, EA

“It feels like a sucker punch to the gut.”

I was on the phone with a client who was a newlywed and filing with their new spouse for the first time. They kept their paycheck withholding as single. So, they were anticipating a larger than usual tax refund.

Like a lot of taxpayers, they spent their refund before they even received it. Each day, they were checking “Where is My Refund ?” and even their IRS account. Then, it happened.

Code 898: Refund applied to non-IRS debt .

It looked as if they wouldn’t receive that refund they already spent. Now, my client did not know what to do. Before getting married, my client’s spouse told them, “I never get a tax refund.”

But they failed to mention why they never got a refund. Honestly, they did not know what their refund was paying for. We later found out that each year the Treasury Department garnished the refund for back child support. My client knew their spouse had child support but did not know they were behind on it.

If you have a client in this situation, all hope is not gone. I could help my client find out what offset the tax refund. We could also get a portion of the refund back.

You can do the same thing for your client. That is assuming that one spouse is not liable for the debt that offset the tax refund. The IRS calls this injured spouse relief.

I’ll walk you through how you can help your client with their refund garnishment sucker punch. Yes, you can help them get their part of the refund back. Let’s start with what injured spouse relief is. Then we’ll look at who qualifies as an injured spouse and how to request injured spouse relief.