IRS to Audit Sole Proprietors

Apparently the IRS has made auditing self-employed individuals a top priority. My friend and colleague Mark Minassian, CPA, shares this inside tip: "In a recent telephone conference, IRS commissioner Mark Everson said that they will be conducting more audits on individuals running unincorporated businesses...." in his post, IRS to Target Schedule C Filers. Mark should know. He's the About.com Guide to Business Law and Taxes.

More news from around the tax web

While a slow week for taxes, the tax bloggers continue to provide timely news and tips. Kay Bell reminds us that charitable donations must be made by the end of the year, and points us to the Carnival of Personal Finance. Gina Gwozdz, CPA, has summarized 13 federal tax credits, a timely reminder for those of us trying to plan out our end of the year tax strategies. Tax professor Paul Caron has pointed out a very interesting article from the Wall Street Journal over tax-deductible investment expenses. Since I don't subscribe to the WSJ, I rely on Professor Caron's summaries and excerpts to keep me in the loop. Finally, Joe Kristan at Roth & Company remembers President Gerald Ford and provides an interesting tax angle. Ford became VP after Spiro Agnew was caught on tax evasion charges.

There's plenty of humor circulating around the tax web. Kerry Kerstetter, CPA, unearths amazing tax cartoons, including this Farcus cartoon about back taxes. Unfortunately, I see clients all the time for whom this cartoon is a serious reality. So does "Tax Mama" Eva Rosenberg, who answers questions about wage garnishments in her daily TaxQuips podcast.

On a much lighter note, humorist Taxalicious shares this story that Santa overstated his charitable contributions.

For those hoping Congress might adopt tax reform as a new year's resolution, Professor James Maule urges the legislature to "take the opportunity to clean up the income tax mess." The Tax Foundation continues the same theme, with yet another warning that the tax code is too complex.