Roger Russell

Despite other hearings being held in Washington this week of a more political nature, it’s nice to know that the Ways and Means Committee is continuing to search for ways to make life easier for small businesses, at least as far as complying with the Tax Code. A hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures on Wednesday, May 15, on the Ways and Means Small Business Tax Reform Discussion Draft.

There is sometimes a disconnect in the handling of dependency exemptions and related tax credits between what courts advise a taxpayer to do and what the Tax Code actually permits.

It’s become an annual rite of spring, at least for me—the release of Bloomberg BNA’s Survey of state tax departments. The survey, Bloomberg BNA’s 13th annual survey, asks questions aimed at clarifying each state’s position on the gray areas of corporate income and sales and use tax administration. Although nexus isn’t the only topic, it has been one of the main emphases of the survey.

It’s been kicking around in one form or another for the better part of a decade, but it looks as though it finally has some momentum.

It might be tempting for small business owners, and their advisors, to contemplate the higher tax rates on individuals spawned by the American Tax Relief Act, and conclude that switching their S corporation to a C corporation makes sense.

Owning your own business is about doing the one thing you love to do, and 99 other things you dislike but must do, according to Roger Harris, president and chief operating officer of Padgett Business Services.

Signs seem to be mixed these days on how well we're doing in the wake of the economic turmoil that has afflicted us. But in addition to the stock market and slight rise in employment, there's good news in the marketplace for sales of small businesses.

In the world of trust and estate administration, where tax planning typically involves special attention to federal tax law compliance, it’s easy to lose focus on state income taxation issues. And while some states do not tax income related to trusts, states that do tax trust income have a variety of rules and criteria for which trusts are subject to tax.

More than four out of 10 working Americans will have had an accountant prepare their taxes this year, primarily because they believe that that's the way to get the largest refund. More than half won't do their own taxes, instead going to an accountant, friend or family member.

Worker classification has long been an area only vaguely understood by many employers. The law is not only not settled, it’s unclear, going all the way back to the common law of England.

The number one concern of leading business tax executives for the year ahead is that in light of the current political and fiscal environment, Congress will enact revenue offsets to fund other legislative initiatives rather than make the U.S. tax system more competitive.

As Presidents’ Day Week winds down, it seems logical to pay a little attention to Presidents Washington and Lincoln, especially their wisdom and the positions they held on a number of the issues they faced in their time.

Last time I played the slots, I lost a small sum of money. But for several accountants and tax lawyers, playing with slots could have cost them significant fines and incarceration.

For taxpayers who scrambled to make last-minute gifts at the end of 2012 to take advantage of the gift tax exemption and lower tax rate, it was a good thing to do despite the fact that within 23 hours of year’s end, legislation passed averting the return to the old-law $1 million exemption and 55 percent maximum tax rate.

Last week I moderated an Accounting Today Web Seminar on Tax Office Workflow.

While tax experts are divided on the immediate future of tax rates as we approach the fiscal cliff (the combination of scheduled tax rate increases and spending cuts by the government), the consensus is that rates will indeed rise precipitously.

Although the legislative trends decided by next month’s elections won’t be known until the lame duck session of Congress and later, based on what we know now it may be a good time to consider selling a small business.

Are you upset at the new tax prep franchise in the strip mall down the street that is siphoning off some of your return business?

With one debate already in the books, we’re not really any closer to knowing what taxes will be in the books, or not, come January. In fact, when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve, we may still need a crystal ball to tell us in what direction we are headed.

Government debt hit a record $16 trillion last week, accompanied by the usual calls for tax increases to help plug the gap between revenue and expenditures. But for those who believe that the way out of our deficit includes raising taxes, there’s a cautionary study that suggests otherwise.