BC’s Chief Financial Officer has asked our office to determine whether to pursue legal action against the IRS, and if so, where. Please draft a memo addressing this issue so that I may advise our client appropriately. Please include as part of your analysis the justification for pursuing, or not pursuing, a case against the IRS in the chosen forum as compared to the other alternatives.

federal tax
Accounting

Our client, Blue Corporation, distributes home improvement products to independent retailers throughout the country. Its management wanted to explore the possibility of opening its own home improvement centers. Accordingly, they commissioned a consulting firm to conduct a feasibility study, which ultimately persuaded BC to expand into retail sales. The consulting firm billed BC $135,000, which BC deducted on its current year tax return.

The IRS disputes the deduction, contending that, because the cost relates to entering a new business, it should be capitalized. BC’s management, on the other hand, firmly believes that, because the cost relates to expanding BC’s existing business, it should be deducted. As a result, BC’s management wants to pursue legal action against the IRS.

The state of judicial precedent is as follows: the federal court for BC’s district has ruled that the cost of expanding from distribution into retail sales should be capitalized. The appellate court for BC’s circuit has stated in dictum that, although in some circumstances switching from product distribution to product sales entails entering a new trade or business, improving customer access to one’s existing products generally does not. The Federal Circuit Court has ruled that wholesale distribution and retail sales, even of the same product, constitute distinct businesses. In a case involving a taxpayer from another circuit, the Tax Court has rules that such costs invariably should be capitalized.

BC’s Chief Financial Officer has asked our office to determine whether to pursue legal action against the IRS, and if so, where. Please draft a memo addressing this issue so that I may advise our client appropriately. Please include as part of your analysis the justification for pursuing, or not pursuing, a case against the IRS in the chosen forum as compared to the other alternatives.

A letter to my congressman/ legislative letter

A letter to my congressman/ legislative letter

The APA assignment has two parts – the development of a “talking points” document and a letter to your legislator( from Alabama). Both are submitted to the dropbox as a single paper.

This assignment is a practice project for writing talking points and legislative letter that you would send to a legislator.
Find legislative bills at Thomas.loc.gov (named after Thomas Jefferson and LOC stands for Library of Congress). Search under 112th Congress (no earlier sessions).
Note that you cannot ask a Legislator who votes in your state capital, to vote on legislation that is before the Congress.

 

Your talking points should be written as follows:
-House of Representatives (HR) or Senate (S) bill name and number as title
-at least 5 but no more than 8 bulleted items with a different reference for each talking point
-should include at least 2 bullets (one each) on national and state or regional statistics concerning the number of patients/nurses that the issue affects.
-at least one bullet or point about the impact of the problem as it relates to monetary cost, or days lost in work, or pain and suffering for those affected.
at least one bullet on the estimated impact of the bill or an alternative solution to the problem if you are opposed to the bill.
-no more that one page
-“zero in” on the concern or problem addressed in the bill
-point out why your particular legislator should sponsor the bill to help his/her own constituents.
-Reference page that includes cites where you obtained the information you cited in your talking points.