Wednesday, December 1, 2010

WHAT’S THE BUZZ? TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’ – WEDNESDAY EDITION

* I hope you overcame your BUZZ withdrawal this past week-end by checking out Bruce the MISSOURI TAX GUY’s Sunday “Week In Perspective”.

David Letterman is not funny. His bits are silly and he beats them to death. The one redeeming value of his show is his Top Ten list. Be sure to check out “Top Ten Things I’ve Learned from Being An Accountant”.

I take great exception to the following statement from “9 Out of 10 Accountants Can’t Add” –

And who needs to know the tax code any longer? To do taxes, just fill in the blanks of any number of tax software on the market, and anyone can spit out tax returns.” What he talks about is, unfortunately, actually being done – and is one reason why the regulation of tax preparers is a good thing. However – be sure to read the joke at the bottom of this post.

* Peter Reilly gives us a thorough update of attempts to apply the “Cohan Rule” in his post “Does Cohan Still Rule” at PASSIVE ACTIVITIES AND OTHER OXYMORONS.

* I tell clients and readers that when given a choice of different options when filing a tax return, such as joint vs separate or depreciate vs Section 179, one should calculate the federal and state tax under all options before making a decision. I also point out that you may pay a bit more by filing separate federal returns, but save enough on the state returns to make it worthwhile.

Peter Reilly follows up his Cohan post with another reason why one should not automatically file a joint return in “Think Before Filing Joint Returns”.

* DAILY FINANCE tells you how to “Reduce Your Taxes: 8 Tips for Your Investment Portfolio”.

* Joe Kristan offers another discussion on the evils of “Hiding Government Spending By Running It Through Tax Returns” at the ROTH AND COMPANY TAX UPDATE BLOG.

* Professor Annette Nellen looks at the same issue from a state tax point of view in “Maine Spending in Tax System Greater than Outside It” at 21st CENTURY TAXATION.

* “Is the IRS making a habit of targeting groups said to be opposed to 'established' policy? Is it appropriate to segregate certain applications for additional review when they involve specific countries or issues? Should religion be a part of the review process?

Kelly Phillips Erb discusses theses issues in “Jewish Group Accuses IRS of Discrimination” at TAX GIRL.

TTFN

1 comment:

Peter Reilly said...

Thanks for your kind words on my posts. I'm still waiting to hear what song it was that almost got cut from South Pacific.

BTW I think I may have a scoop.
PMTA 2010-058 is about IRS policy on liens in short sales. Seems like it should be of interest but nobody else seems to have picked up on it yet.