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. c
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.
