Latest Articles

  • Taxpayer Advocate Service: A Resource for Tax Professionals

    By:
    Kim E. Randle, Acting Local Taxpayer Advocate (LTA)
    |
    Jan 1, 2017

    The IRS's Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) can help you help your clients. If your client is having a tax problem that you haven’t been able to resolve on your own, our advocates may be able to help. Your client may be eligible for our help if his or her IRS problem is causing financial difficulty, or if you believe an IRS procedure just isn't working as it should.

  • Deconstructing Hedge Fund Schedule K-1s for Individuals

    By:
    Suzy Lee, CPA, MST and Stacy L. Palmer, CPA, MBA, MST
    |
    Dec 1, 2016

    Hedge fund K-1s can be voluminous and difficult when determining how to handle the tax treatment of the income and deductions at the individual level. This article will help you navigate K-1s to understand how certain items would impact the tax treatment at the individual level. The first step in determining the proper treatment of income and expense items is to identify whether the partnership is a trader fund, investor fund, or fund of funds.

  • Straddle Identifications: Making the Best out of a Bad Situation

    By:
    Mark Fichtenbaum CPA, JD, LLM
    |
    Dec 1, 2016

    Straddles are defined in IRC section 1092(c) as two or more offsetting positions in personal property. A taxpayer holds offsetting positions with respect to personal property if the taxpayer’s risk of loss from holding any position is substantially reduced by reason of their holding one or more other positions with respect to personal property—whether or not of the same kind. 

  • State Residency for Professional Athletes: Overview and Traps for the Unwary

    By:
    Corey L. Rosenthal, JD
    |
    Dec 1, 2016

    Fall is an amazing time of the year for sports fans. The NFL season is in full swing, the NBA and NHL seasons are beginning, and—of course—baseball’s World Series is played. As both sports enthusiasts and state and local tax professionals, we also focus on how professional athletes must report their taxes to various states.  

  • Federal Investigators Increase Scrutiny of Offshore Bank Accounts

    By:
    Alicea Castellanos, CPA, TEP, N.P., and Jack Brister, TEP
    |
    Dec 1, 2016

    Federal watchdogs are demonstrating their renewed focus on the illegal use of offshore bank accounts, as the Department of Justice (DOJ) says it is zeroing in on potential tax evaders. 

  • What if Your Spouse Doesn't Want to Study? Visa Requirements for U.S. Tax Practitioners

    By:
    Luciana Zamith Fischer
    |
    Nov 1, 2016
    In a globalized world, where investment and trade continues to flow across borders, investors and companies find it difficult to understand the complexities imposed by countries based on notions of sovereignty and national security. 
  • Form 8865: Return of U.S. Persons with Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships

    By:
    Mitchell Sorkin, CPA, MBA, PFS, CEA
    |
    Nov 1, 2016

    The purpose of Form 8865 is to report the information required under IRC section 6038 (reporting with respect to controlled foreign partnerships). This form also reports transfers to foreign partnerships and acquisitions, depositions, and changes in interest in foreign partnerships.

  • To Have and to Hold But to Not Be Held Accountable

    By:
    Jacalyn F. Barnett, Esq.
    |
    Nov 1, 2016
    New Year’s Eve is not just a time for fireworks and celebrations—it is also the moment when the IRS determines whether or not you are married. If you are married at the stroke of midnight, the IRS considers you to have been married for the whole year. 
  • Exotic Dance Club Wins Battle, Loses War

    By:
    Brian Gordon, CPA
    |
    Nov 1, 2016

    Admission charges to a place of amusement—such as baseball games, museums, and beaches—are subject to New York State sales tax. There is, however, an exemption under New York Tax Law section 1105(f)(1) on admission charges to a theater or place of assembly for “dramatic or musical arts performances.” 

  • Tax Compass: Letters to the Editor

    By:
    TaxStringer Staff
    |
    Nov 1, 2016

    The letters to the editor below are comments from readers in response to Daniel Mazzola’s opinion piece, “Why the Estate Tax Should Concern Us All,” which appeared in the October 2016 TaxStringer.

Tax Jokes
  

If I needed to hire an accountant in Transylvania, who would you recommend? Count Dracula, of course.
 
https://parade.com/1317763/jessicasager/accounting-jokes/

*Outside the Box is a new addition to the TaxStringer featuring important articles on financial and investment management topics by top authors who have expertise both inside and outside the realm of taxation.

 

 

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Views expressed in articles published in Tax Stringer are the authors' only and are not to be attributed to the publication, its editors, the NYSSCPA or FAE, or their directors, officers, or employees, unless expressly so stated. Articles contain information believed by the authors to be accurate, but the publisher, editors and authors are not engaged in redering legal, accounting or other professional services. If specific professional advice or assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.