Despite 13 Months At Site and Living in Mom’s Home, Taxpayer Allowed Away From Home Costs

The question of what is a temporary assignment and whether the taxpayer was away from his tax home were the key issues in Senulis v. Commissioner, TC Summary Opinion 2009-97. Mr. Senulis undertook a project in an out of town location on a month to month basis. The technological feasibility of the project was in [...]

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IRS Releases New Audit Technique Guide on Hobby Loss Issues

The IRS released an Audit Technique Guide on the Hobby Loss rules under Section 183. The guide, meant to instruct IRS examining agents on procedures to be used to determine if the limitations under §183 may be applicable to taxpayers they are examining, details that the provision applies not only to individuals, but also to [...]

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IRS Chief Counsel Advice Outlines What Documents Will Be Needed for Noncustodial Parents to Claim Exemptions

Generally the custodial parent is granted the right to claim the exemption for a child under §152(e) unless that right is waived in writing by the custodial parent to allow the noncustodial parent to claim the exemption. The IRS was granted the authority to write regulations prescribing the form of such a written declaration. The [...]

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Foreign Bank Account Reporting Relief and Limited Amnesty Program

Proving that sometimes you have to check in places that don’t appear to be the appropriate location to find revised IRS guidance for your client, the IRS inserted a combination amnesty and extension of time to file foreign bank account reporting forms normally due each June 30 into a revision of the document that describes [...]

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Flat tax plan could take all income tax rates to 3 percent or lower

A flat income tax plan that is part of budget plans being crafted by the Arizona Legislature and Gov. Jan Brewer would take Arizona’s five personal income tax brackets down to one rate of between 2.6 percent and 3 percent and substantially cut corporate income tax rates.   http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~r/bizj_phoenix/~3/z85A4Ou_tKs/daily61.html Posted by J. Michael Stolp from my [...]

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Loyalty – You Tell Me

“Dogs are loyal, cats are satisfied,” observed Jim Kane, http://jameskane.com/. He then expanded on his comment during a presentation I attended last week. “Loyalty does not equal satisfaction.  Loyalty is about the future. Satisfaction is about the past.” Listening intently during Jim’s two hour presentation, I came to realize that it’s essential for the ASCPA [...]

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Medical Analysis By Milton Friedman

My good friend and Phoenix-based economist Barry Asmus Ph.D. has continually repeated these ideas from Milton Friedman as it relates to national health care for years. Medical Analysis By Milton Friedman Forbes.com, by Peter Robinson, 06.19.09, 12:01 AM EDT Insights of old should inform health care today. President Obama, the press, all the Democrats and [...]

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Marketing for Professionals

My personal friend & professional colleague Ike Devji wrote these articles for Advisor Today magazine.  These marketing ideas are simple, easy-to-implement and will produce dramatic results if you follow them consistently.  As we carry out our daily tasks, we sometimes forget to do the one thing that is guaranteed to keep us in business: marketing. [...]

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ASCPA Contest – How do you pay for your membership? Win a $50 Amazon.com gift card

In this tough economy, we know people have to get creative to pay for things. We are looking for your stories of how you pay for your membership with your ASCPA benefits or if your employer pays, how you show them they get $175 or more of value from your membership. Example: I took advantage [...]

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The American Spectator : Demand and Supply

Here is a terrific article that Dr. Stephen Happel, the keynote speaker at the recent ASCPA Financial Planning Conference, referenced.  Dr. Happel is a well known economist at ASU.  If you were not at the conference, you missed a great presentation and great day filled with timely presentations.  The conference chairman John Chichester and his [...]

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