In the blogs: Of concern

Audits on the rise; law versus accounting; your summer hours’ note; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Of concern

• Von Lehman CPA and Advisory Firm (https://vlcpa.com/articles/): Just as it’s been the third leg of the retirement stool, Social Security has also been the third rail of American politics. A look at the oft-mentioned potential future funding problems.
• Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (https://itep.org/category/blog/): In statehouses nationwide, tax policy decisions have been moving fast as budgets are signed and plans released and passed. If you’ve noticed an uptick in conversations around property taxes, you’re not alone.
• University of Illinois Tax School (https://taxschool.illinois.edu/blog/): No Surprise Dept.: IRS audits of Employee Retention Credit claims have begun to increase.
• Don’t Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): Sort of on the up and up: ID theft in tax returns just keeps rising.
• Rubin on Tax (http://rubinontax.floridatax.com/): Key questions and answers regarding Florida’s new law restricting real estate ownership by persons of foreign countries of concern.
• Wolters Kluwer (https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/tax-accounting-us/industry-news): A look at the recent IRS admission that audits of African-American taxpayers may be unusually high.
• Virginia – US Tax Talk (https://us-tax.org/about-this-us-tax-blog/): The tax traps of international stock options.
• Procedurally Taxing (https://procedurallytaxing.com): In Polseilli v IRS, the Supreme Court held for the government and found that the IRS need not notify third parties when it issues a summons in the aid of collecting some other person’s tax liability. Why is the notice important?
• Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): Though the administration is mainly concerned with increasing the top individual income tax rate, it’s helpful to understand what the existing tax burden looks like for workers.
• AICPA Insights (https://www.aicpa.org/blog): Feel your firm’s growing but unsure how you stack up against regional competition? Enter the National Management of an Accounting Practice Survey from the AICPA Private Companies Practice Section.
• EideBailly (https://www.eidebailly.com/taxblog): Amid all the news that recently fit, a surly senator and an angry aunt.
• TaxProf Blog (http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/): Fav headline of the week: “How the Accounting Profession Wrecked Itself and Made a Legal Career Preferable to a CPA.”

Cyber culture

• Tax Vox (https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/): After its public debut in November, ChatGPT reached a million users in five days, 100 million users in less than two months and 1.16 billion users in five months. But can it do a tax return? 
• HBK (https://hbkcpa.com/insights/): Four “vulnerability management assessment and response” initiatives to maintain your “culture” of cybersecurity. 
• Boyum & Barenscheer (https://www.myboyum.com/blog/): A recent webinar looks at how you can manage artificial intelligence to keep a business safe. (Worth a look just to see which side AI’s on…)
• Sikich (https://www.sikich.com/insights/): How to assemble an incident response plan for cyberattacks.
• Armanino (https://www.armanino.com/articles/): If you or your client have ad hoc cybersecurity or privacy frameworks — or lack a framework altogether — you may be open to risk. Industry-standard frameworks like those from the National Institute of Standards and Technology are good tools to maintain regulatory compliance and strengthen cyber and privacy practices.
• Vertex (https://www.vertexinc.com/resources/resource-library/filter/field_asset_type/blog?page=0): If your tax function is ready for the next level, what automation options should you evaluate and what functionality should a next-generation solution offer?

Stranger things

Exiting

• Summing It Up (http://blog.freedmaxick.com/summing-it-up): A look at how the “Rural Emergency Hospital” designation can increase revenue and expand health care services in rural areas.
• Surgent Income Tax School (http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/): During the season, you likely spend significant time engaging with clients: emails, texts, meetings. But what happens after the returns are filed? Seven ways to re-engage with clients.
• Tax Pro Center (https://proconnect.intuit.com/taxprocenter/): When you start any conversation with clients about their exit plans, the first question that comes to mind is why is an exit conversation valuable for your practice and your clients? Is it still relevant if they aren’t thinking about an exit? And what happens next if they’re interested in exiting now?
• Solutions For CPA Firm Leaders (https://ritakeller.com/wordpress/): A sample note to clients regarding your summer hours.