This was my second class with Professor Palombo and really enjoyed it. I feel like I have
expanded my knowledge on tax research and memo writing. One of the takes aways is that
it is okay to look at secondary sources to help you interpret tax laws as I have had a prior
professor say you can never use secondary sources. While secondary sources should not be
used when responding to the IRS, they can be very helpful when the tax laws or regulations
just do not make sense to you. b
One of the tax law changes that I was not aware of from the American Rescue Plan of 2021
is the one that affected third-party settlement organizations, like PayPal and CashApp. They
must start sending their users 1099s when they have sales of $600 or more. This was
supposed to start for tax year 2022 but was delayed giving additional time to help reduce
confusion and issues. I am not sure how well known this tax rule is and there will be some
people who will be surprised by it.
After taking this class there has been a lot, I have been able to learn that I can apply to my
current job, and continue to use in the future. I have been able to better myself when it
comes to tax research and understanding how to navigate the complex Internal revenue
code. I’ve learned that as an accountant it’s not always about how much you know, but
rather how to figure out the correct answer to questions asked by clients by using proper
research. I look forward to continue improving my tax research and real-world application
of what I have been able to learn in this class for the future.
What I learned in this course that will help me better in the future is I have more
knowledge on different tax codes and guidance. Some takeaways from this class are I
understand tax laws more, I know to do a tax research paper, and the ability of better
problem-solving real-world tax problems. The best aspect of this course that I can use in
my career is in-depth knowledge on tax laws, regulations, and procedures to handle
difficult tax issues. This class as also help with information that help me with taking my CPA
exam. The research I did that I would have never thought of from a tax perspective was
home office deduction. I never knew that you could do deductions on a home office. Of
course, there are regulations and rules that you must follow. But overall, I did find this class
be very helpful and beneficial to my career path in the future to. There were so many
things I learned in this class. It is amazing how much we can learn in 10 weeks. The good
form tax memoranda were very helpful to learn. It provided a great foundation to structure
all the information needed and eventually make a memo for the client. Another great
takeaway is knowing where and how to find the primary sources and how secondary
sources can clarify the primary source. It is important to know where to find all primary
sources when using the information for our client’s questions.
The Tax Cut and Job Act and researching it and really understanding what it means and all
the changes that have taken place. Understanding the large changes across the tax code
reducing the corporate tax rate and increasing the standard deduction. Learning and
understanding Section 179 of the TCJA provides a seduction to business owners. There is so
much to unpack from TCJA but will help me for future reference. I really did not know
much about TCJA, but I feel more prepared in my accounting career. This class has taught
me a lot regarding how to research different tax scenarios. It will be very useful in my
career to know how to research the IRS Tax Code and interpret the meanings in order to
apply them to real life scenarios. I have not had to do any research like this in my career so
far, but I see how valuable it can be and am happy I will be prepared for when a research
project may come up. This class has also showed me how the code can be interpreted in
different ways so it is important to read all parts of the code section carefully to ensure it
applies to the tax scenario that is being investigated.
I have never had to write memos, whether it be a research memo or a client memo, so I
feel this course helped my writing skills and prepared me for this scenario if it happens to
come up in the future. I can absolutely see myself using the skills I have learned in this class
in the future, and am very thankful for all I have learned.
