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The Weekly (Tax)Buzz - October 30, 2019

The Weekly (Tax)Buzz - October 30, 2019

If you feel like the news is tough to keep up with these days, you aren't alone. Every week, we publish a curated list of some of the top articles in tax and finance. Tune in every Wednesday to read the latest thought leadership pieces from our favorite bloggers, US tax proposals, tax crime stories, and much more.

The (Tax)Buzz this week: Taxes as a 100th birthday gift, all the taxes that make up the cost of your plane ticket, taxes on NCAA scholarship recipients, and more.

Newsweek: North Carolina Republican Senator Richard Burr said Tuesday he will “introduce legislation to tax scholarships of student athletes who profit off their likeness to make extra money,” in response to the recent NCAA announcement that they will allow student athletes to make money off their likenesses. 

Tax Foundation: What all goes into the price of your plane ticket? Well, if you've taken a deeper look at what's included in the advertised price, you probably noticed several kinds of taxes. Here's what they mean.

Reuters: The US government ended fiscal year 2019 with the largest deficit since 2012, as “gains in tax receipts were offset by higher spending and growing debt service payments.”

AccountingToday: Nathan Wheeler, a Portland-based CPA, has been sentenced to 51 months in prison for wire fraud and tax evasion after embezzling almost $1 million from Olympic snowboarding medalist Daniel Kass.

CNBC: If you turn 100 and “beat” your life insurance company, the insurer could cash you out and leave you owing the IRS — as opposed to your heirs getting a tax-free death benefit payout if you die. 

USA Today: Having your limited income taxed as a senior can be very stressful. Here are a few income sources you can set up that the IRS can't tax you on later in life.

Business Insider: This self-employed writer insisted on doing her own taxes via TurboTax for years, until she was hit with a huge tax bill that a CPA ended up getting her a refund for. She vowed never to do her own taxes again.

Forbes: The overall goal of tax-loss harvesting is to lower your overall taxes, whether through selling off losing investments or offsetting “some long term gains by selling investments that may have lost money over the long term.”

AccountingToday: A new survey of corporate board members showed that not as many companies are planning to increase employee wages as a result of the lower corporate tax rate after the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. “Last year, 14 percent of them said they planned to increase employee wages, but this year, only 8 percent of them did.”

For tax professionals: The Big Book of Taxes 2019 edition is here! This is the cornerstone of our continuing education program. The Big Book of Taxes includes over 1,000 pages of helpful tax research, charts, and examples. If it is about individual taxation and small business taxation, we have you covered. You can even earn 24 hours of CPE credit.

Don't miss our latest TaxBuzz posts: 

  • The Difference Between Tax Credits and Tax Deductions
  • What is the Statute of Limitations on Unpaid Taxes?
  • Employee Stock Options Can Be Taxing

Who said accountants don't have a sense of humor? Not us! Our team just launched a t-shirt store with 11 awesome designs to choose from. Check it out here.

Did we miss a great article this week? Let us know in the comments below!

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Lauren Detweiler

Lauren Detweiler

I am equal parts marketer, traveler, and writer, and I've been doing all three for as long as I can remember. I have spent most of my time since graduating university traveling and working remotely in Africa and Europe. My passion lies in conveying the right messaging to the right people, and being a part of the CountingWorks and TaxBuzz team means I get to do that not only for our company, but for clients across the country as well.

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