There are three industries that I have been involved with in my adult life-agriculture,
pharmacy, and construction. I have always been involved in agriculture but my grandpa
was also into politics. Mainly trying to make things better for farmers. I learned at a
young age to read the Farm and Dairy; this is a regional agricultural newspaper. It
contains many articles about the politics of farming, not only on the local or regional
level but on the national level. Once I was older, I learned to google what I had read to
get a less opinionated version. I feel that there would be other industries that may have
sources such as this that would allow them to at least find the basics of what is
changing on a tax level. In the pharmacy world, there are many different organizations
that publish newsletters and magazines that cover the changing laws, including taxes.
For the construction industry, one of my co-workers suggested I sign up for an email
newsletter call 'The Hill Report' that is provided by the Manufacturer and Business
Association. This always has the latest updates on tax laws and is broken out into the
state and federal level. We have found several articles that gave us a heads up of
changing tax laws. I feel if one searched for similar news letters in their industry or
interest, they should be able to find solid leads. For tax professionals these are good
non-primary sources that can lead you to the best primary source. Tax professionals
must keep in mind that these sources are anything but primary and can even be more
opinion than fact, but due diligence should lead to the primary source.
The company I work for currently is a small business and the farm I grew up on, I also
consider a small business but we can keep up with changes at our level by utilizing the
sources I listed above. I have also asked the accountants that manage the farm
accounts questions about what I have read. They can usually break it down in a way
that I can explain it to my uncle. (He is 71 and does not do technology, so telling him to
google it will get you yelled at!) For the company that I work for, we have a CPA firm on
retainer and they provide us with updates. I asked this week where they received their
updates and they told me the same type of newsletters that we receive at our company.
They just end up doing more research than we have time to accomplish.
I feel on where to draw the line is going to depend on each client. For the company I
work for, we are all accountants and have a better grasp on IRC's and such. But for
someone like my uncle on the farm, he would need a Readers Digest version of the tax
law changes and even then, if it does not affect him, he does not need to know. I
understand that some business owners may have a good grasp on tax laws and how
things work but need a tax advisor for some more complicated transactions. Others may
want the tax advisor to handle everything, just tell me where to sign. So, for me,
drawing the line would have to be a client-by-client decision, but if they refuse to take
my advice, I would probably suggest they find another tax advisor. I know that for some
a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
There are many ways for tax professionals to keep abreast of tax law changes. Tax
professionals can subscribe to Bloomberg Tax Alerts where they will email you updates
on many different topics for free. These update topics include but not limited to: Section
163(i) Limitation on Business Interest, Section 250 Foreign-Derived Intangible Income,
and any coronavirus policy decisions and legislation (Bloomberg.com)
There are conferences also available for tax professionals to attend in person or virtually
that are put on by different sites. In my opinion, the best ones to attend are the ones
that have an IRS-APPROVED Continuing Education Provider on their website.
The IRS website has a wealth of information for tax professionals. For instance, in the
News Releases for the Current Month page, there is an article dated July 21, 2023,
telling the reader about a free webinar to help employers and tax professionals with the
Employer Retention Credit.
Small businesses can use not only Bloomberg’s or the IRS’s website, but also rely on
their accounting firm to help keep them updated on new tax laws. If the small business
does not use an accounting firm, they can sign up for webinars for small businesses that
the IRS offers on IRS.gov. I do think that if a business owner uses an accounting firm to
help them file their taxes, that the accounting firm should be responsible for keeping
their client up to date on tax law changes. I feel that is part of what the clients pay the
accountants for.
References
Great Minds Stay Ahead of the Times – Tax Regulatory Alerts. (n.d.). Bloomberg Tax.
Retrieved July 26, 2023, from https://pro.bloombergtax.com/tax-regulatory-
alerts/?trackingcode=BTXF23109240&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_source=bing&keyw
ord=latest%20tax%20updates&matchtype=e&gclid=21ec74518fa312feac3410901280bdf3
&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=21ec74518fa312feac3410901280bdf3
