Ask the Experts

Tax Avoidance Rule in Canada Tested in Deans Knight Case
The Expert: Steve Suarez

Question: What does the Supreme Court decision in Deans Knight mean for tax professionals? The general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) in Canada’s Income Tax Act applies when a taxpayer undertakes transactions whose primary purpose is to obtain a tax benefit, in a way that abuses or misuses one or more provisions… Read more »

Tax Credit Investments
The Expert: Paddy O’Brien

Tax credit investments play an important role in strategic planning for tax professionals. We wanted to delve deeper into the crevices of this issue and turned to Paddy O’Brien, vice president of investments at Foss & Co., for answers. Tax Executive’s senior editor, Michael Levin-Epstein, interviewed O’Brien in February. Michael… Read more »

IRS Appeals: Latest Developments
The Expert: Mary McNulty

As the Internal Revenue Service increases enforcement in the wake of the pandemic and receives additional funding, undoubtedly there will be new developments that will impact taxpayers’ experiences when their cases land at IRS Appeals. This article provides tips on navigating these developments at IRS Appeals. What’s New at IRS… Read more »

The Impact of Tax Credits and Incentives on Business Plans
The Expert: Matt Kelley

If you’re steeped in high-impact tax issues, you know how important tax credits and incentives can be when developing and implementing a business plan. They’re not only important—they also can be complex, especially in today’s economic climate. That’s why we thought a one-on-one interview with an expert would be valuable… Read more »

Hiring Needs
The Expert: Jack Hart

Obtaining and retaining the best talent for your team has been an ongoing battle for hiring managers for many years now, but with the complexity that COVID has brought, accompanied by “the Great Resignation,” this challenge has become even more difficult. Question: How has the pandemic changed hiring, and what… Read more »

All About Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Experts: Katrina Welch and Wayne Hamilton

In this Ask the Experts column, we’re taking a slightly different approach. Instead of asking our experts to answer one question, we posed several questions on the crucial topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We covered this subject at our Annual Conference in October, and we wanted to continue… Read more »

IRS Appeals Conferences During the Pandemic
The Expert: Bill Colgin

A few months after COVID-19 closed Internal Revenue Service buildings and employees were sent home to work remotely, the reality of a backlog of pending matters led IRS Appeals to awaken and move forward again. Appeals officers, Exam teams, and taxpayer representatives tentatively began holding Appeals conferences and meetings using… Read more »

Excise Taxes
The Expert: Debbie Gordon

Often to their detriment, many businesses are not focused on excise taxes and in fact may be unaware of them entirely. The truth is, excise taxes may have serious financial impacts on companies. In some cases, excise tax exposure may be material to a business. In the current uncertain economy,… Read more »

Automation and Analytics Through a Digitally Transformed (and Remote) Workforce
The Experts: Andy Ruggles and Allison LeClair

Our current environment is magnifying pressures on tax functions to take action in a changing regulatory landscape characterized by marketplace uncertainty, demands for accelerated reporting, better risk management, and greater use of technology in day-to-day operations. There is no perfect time to take the first step toward implementing new automation… Read more »

IRS Transcripts
The Experts: Alina Solodchikova, Mary Slonina, and Whitney Brady

Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts can be a valuable tool when a tax professional is amending a tax return, filing a tentative claim for refund, verifying entity elections, tracking payments and credits, monitoring the IRS’ processing of filings, and determining information about an entity, like its filing status and the… Read more »