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TO REDUCE TAX?
New tax reduction strategies carefully explained and exhaustively researched every two weeks. Receive breaking news updates on tax law changes. Members only monthly AMA with TOTTB.tax.
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FEATURED CONTENT
How Things Go Criminal
If you were to ask most taxpayers what they worry about when it comes to their tax returns, they might say an unexpectedly high tax liability or even a late penalty. Next to none will worry they are at risk for criminal prosecution. There is a sound reason for this. In the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, taxpayers filed over 261,000,000 tax returns. During that same period, IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) initiated only 2,581 investigations—a paltry 0.00098% of all tax returns filed. While CI entanglements are not a common experience, there are still lessons to be learned from looking at how things can go awry. So what types of scenarios have resulted in criminal investigations by the IRS, and what can this teach the everyday taxpayer? First of all, working with an expert, such as a Certified Tax Planner, will help you better understand what is permissible by the IRS and reassure you that your returns are fraud-free. For a few tips on what not to do, read the cases below and review our key takeaways for each one.
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CURRENT EDITION
Remember, Influencers, the IRS Follows You Too!
The influencer marketing industry was able to grow during Covid as many advertisers had to adjust or cancel their marketing campaigns. This was because more people were sitting at home consuming content on social media. This new opportunity for smaller influencers has created a new group of taxpayers who need to know their new filing obligations. They’ll also be open to tax planning strategies that you have to help them reduce their tax liability.
Hobby Loss Regulations And Loper Bright
For me, the most exciting Tax Court opinion of 2025 was Judge Joseph Goeke’s supplement to his 2024 opinion in the case of Gary M. Schwarz. With a $1,851,878 tax deficiency, it is the largest hobby loss opinion since 2019. (The really big dollar cases tend to settle.)
Consult, Don’t Convince: Turning Discovery Calls into Advisory Opportunities
The most successful accountants aren’t the ones who pitch the hardest, they’re the ones who listen the most. When you ask better questions, you can diagnose problems that clients didn’t even know they had, which then helps us clarify outcomes instead of listing services. When we shift from “convincing” to “consulting,” discovery calls stop being “sales” conversations and start becoming advisory conversations. And advisory conversations naturally lead to advisory engagements.
SIMPLIFIED TAX STRATEGIES &
PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION
Think Outside the Tax Box provides tax reduction strategies along with practical
implementation advice in order to reduce your clients’ federal tax bill with ease.
