This edition of the Tax Advisor Weekly covers key updates for financial professionals. We start with a piece about the Treasury Department announcing it will not enforce beneficial ownership information (BOI) penalties on U.S. citizens or businesses, a significant shift in regulatory enforcement. We also dive into how decision-makers are navigating the impact of tariffs on input costs, a state-by-state breakdown of 2025 property taxes, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) latest statement on the current state of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). To round things out, we provide a refresher on the most common tax return mistakes to watch for this season.
Did you miss last week’s edition? You can find it here.
Industry News
Treasury Says it Won’t Enforce BOI Fines or Penalties Against U.S. Citizens, Businesses
(Martha Waggoner, The Tax Adviser)
U.S. citizens and businesses will not be subject to fines or penalties for failing to file beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports after new reporting deadlines are set, Treasury said Sunday in a news release. Last week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said it would announce new BOI reporting deadlines no later than March 21.
AICPA Releases Statement on IRS Services for this Tax Season
(Isaac M. O’Bannon, CPA Practice Advisor)
In the wake of recent reports of workforce reductions at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), President and CEO, Mark Koziel, CPA, CGMA, of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) released a statement on the current state of the IRS, recent developments with staffing & funding, along with the significance of the IRS in our country and profession.
Untangling tariffs: Consumers expected to bear the brunt
(Bryan Strickland, Journal of Accountancy)
While the ultimate shape of a burgeoning tariff war remains unclear, CFOs and finance leaders made one thing clear in a recent survey: The majority of any added costs incurred will be passed on to consumers. In a Gartner survey last week of 192 CFOs and finance leaders at organizations with global operations, respondents reported that, on average, 73% of cost increases related to tariffs would be absorbed by their companies’ customers. Nearly three in five (59%) leaders from a cross section of industries said their companies would absorb 0% to 10% of any increased costs.
Property Taxes by State and County, 2025
(Andrey Yushkov, Tax Foundation)
Property taxes are the primary tool for financing local governments. Local governments rely heavily on property taxes to fund schools, roads, police departments, fire and emergency medical services, and other services associated with residency and property ownership. Property taxes accounted for 70.2 percent of local tax collections in fiscal year 2022. While no taxpayers in high-tax jurisdictions will be celebrating their yearly payments, property taxes are largely rooted in the benefit principle of taxation: the people paying the property tax bills are most often the ones benefiting from the services (think about K-12 education, local surface roads, police and fire service, and parks).
The Most Common Errors on Tax Returns
(Jeff Stimpson, Accounting Today)
Tax preparers never make mistakes filing returns, of course, but out of professional curiosity the question arises: What are the most common goofs on returns? The Internal Revenue Service has compiled a list on that very subject. On it you will find the main items are surprisingly simple (but not easy) items like Social Security, Filing Status, Basic Information, and Bad Credits.
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