A group of Republican lawmakers have sent a letter to the incoming administration asking that it end the IRS Direct File service, ideally via a day one executive order. 

The IRS piloted the program—developed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2021—this past tax season, available in 12 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Around 140,000 taxpayers used the service, and the response, according to surveys of users, was very positive, with over 90% rating their experience either “excellent” or “above average.” The IRS said it aims to double the reach of the program next filing season. 

Republicans have long been critical of the program, saying it was not officially authorized and that its overall implementation has been highly wasteful. The letter divides the total amount budgeted by the total number of taxpayers who took part and concluded that the cost was $814 per return. Beyond procedural issues and cost, Republicans have also raised concerns about the fact that Direct File makes the IRS a tax assessor, collector, preparer, and enforcer in one, which they believe represents a clear conflict of interest as well as an invitation for government overreach. The letter sent to the income administration went over these points again, saying the government can find better use of its resources. 

“This is not an efficient use of government resources, especially when the private sector offers better tax preparation services at no cost to the federal government and taxpayers already have the option to file their taxes for free using the pre-existing public-private partnership between the IRS and many tax preparation and filing software companies—Free File. The IRS can, and should, spend a fraction of the resources it spent on creating a government run program on promoting existing free options. The results of such efforts would be better for all taxpayers,” said the letter. 

In contrast, Democratic lawmakers in October urged the IRS to make the Direct File program more accessible, specifically by relaxing some of the identification requirements. The service, said the Democrats, operates at a significant disadvantage compared to commercial tax prep services due to its stringent identity verification requirements in the form of the ID.me service, which is used by both the federal government and several state governments. ID.me credentials are assessed against the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Identity Assurance Level 2 standard. The letter noted that private tax preparation companies are not assessed against IAL standards but basically operate at a Level 1 basis, as users simply assert their identity.

“Requiring them to use ID.me is creating yet another needless barrier to exactly these taxpayers who need Direct File most to claim tax benefits, as it has been with other government benefits,” said the Democrats’ letter.  

OK, I admit it. I tend to procrastinate. I also tend to lose track of what the date is, or sometimes what year it is (just kidding on the last one). Nevertheless, I’ve been accumulating stuff for a gift guide column for a while, and it’s time to start actually writing about at least a few of them. One or all of these would be appropriate for staff, coworkers and clients, or to surprise yourself with on the gift-opening holiday (Oh! How did you know? It’s just what I wanted!)

I do a lot of reading. Physical books are my favorite, but so many books these days are available in Kindle or other electronic formats. I’ve been using a tablet for the past several years to do much of my reading, especially if I’m traveling. The tablet I’ve been using is a fairly decent one, but it’s several years old. It’s been replaced by a new TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper. While the Nxtpaper is a very workable tablet, it’s also excellent when you want to relax with a book. The 10.4-inch screen has a resolution of 2,000 by 1,200 pixels and a brightness of 600 nits, similar to some laptops. The screen has a finish that cuts down on glare and reflection, though it’s a little hard to read outdoors in the sun. It offers several settings that change the appearance of color pages, which is great when you are reading a color book or magazine. The tablet offers 5G cellular connectivity, but right now Verizon is the only carrier supported.  What I like about the tablet is that it offers a really good reading experience. At the moment, it’s priced at $240 from Verizon, so if you (or the intended user) have service from another carrier, this might not be the best choice. I don’t use my tablets on cellular service (most of the airlines I fly offer internet connectivity, as do the hotel rooms) so the 5G connectivity feature is not a deal breaker for me, though it might be for you or the person you have in mind.

Another great gift item is a USB monitor to use as a second display for a laptop. With more people using a laptop for their main PC, being tied to a single screen can diminish productivity. My main productivity PC has a 35-inch main display and a 27-inch secondary display, so I used to feel really constrained when I’ve had to use my laptop. I’ve been using a second monitor for several years and I find it a must to get much work done when I’m at a conference. But monitor technology, like everything else, has progressed over the years, so I replaced my old USB monitor with a ViewSonic TD1656-2K. The TD1656-2K isn’t the least expensive solution, coming in at about $350, but the features make it worthwhile. It has a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 display and a touch screen. The screen offers auto-pivot, so if you want to use it in portrait mode rather than landscape, just turn the monitor and the display will flip. The cover does dual duty as a stand, and weighs 2.8 pounds with the stand, about the same as an extra laptop. The sound is actually pretty good from the two 2.5-watt speakers, and there are two USB-C ports at the left and right bottom of the display. Both of these ports support 65-watt pass-through if your laptop offers power delivery. Best of all, the 16-inch screen is larger than the one on my laptop.

Or how about a mini home theater?  Many of us, or our clients or children, don’t have room for a home theater. And gifting a large screen TV is usually not an option. Video projectors are a great way to get many of the benefits of an enhanced video experience without having to dedicate a large amount of room and wall space to a big screen TV. Or maybe you have a staff member who has to travel and make presentations. The $400 Nebula Capsule Air is one of the smallest projectors you can buy, about the size of a can of soda. It’s not tremendously bright (as is common for projectors this small and inexpensive). With a light output of 150 lumens, you’ll need to use it in a darkened room. It has Google TV built in, and an optional $140 Power Bank Tripod gives you an extra two hours of runtime, added to the two-hour run time of the Capsule Air itself.

If you have a teenager, staff member, or have a client who is into technology or the Maker movement, how about a 3D printer? A great printer for a beginner is the Bambu Lab A1 mini. The $200 price is pretty easy to handle, and at $349, you can get the Combo, which includes the printer and an accessory that provides four-color printed objects. The A1 mini is pretty much assembled out of the box. You just have to cut some zip ties and attach a few pieces. It shouldn’t take more than about 15 minutes until it’s up and running. The internet has thousands of models to print. 

Finally, if you are willing to go really overboard and have someone on your gift list who is an audiophile, a gift of a pair of in-ear monitors offers a really superior audio experience. In-ear monitors are like super bud earphones. They have a wider range than most earbuds and truer sound reproduction. When you watch a performer and notice they have ear buds while performing, they are wearing in-ear monitors. They are pretty expensive. The one I’m recommending is the $500 Sennheiser IE 600 model, but it’s far from the most expensive model available. In-ear-monitors, especially for performers, can run into the thousands.

That’s it for this time. I’ll dig further into the review pile in later blogs. Oh, and if you want to get in touch with me, you can DM me on Facebook.

Business management solutions provider Zoho announced the U.S. release of its payroll solution, Zoho Payroll, on top of enhancements to its existing finance products, which include Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory and Zoho Practice.

Zoho Payroll offers users federal, state and local tax compliance across all 50 states with automated calculating, paying and filing of taxes. The product also sports automated compliance updates to keep up with changes in law and regulations. Users can configure the software for how their organizations work, with the ability to set custom salary structure, unique benefits and more. There are also features for auto-generated exportable reports allowing users to gain more visibility into payroll expenses and tax withholdings. Beyond pay, the software can also handle employee benefits, including health care, retirement savings and paid time off, and manage contributions to an employee’s 401(k), 403(b), health savings account and flexible spending account. 

The solution also offers access to a mobile-first employee self-service portal, available on iOS and Android devices, which enables employees to view pay slips, benefits contributions and salary breakdowns, modify tax-withholding preferences, and communicate with HR. 

Zoho Payroll integrates with Zoho People, Zoho Expense and Zoho Books, which enables automatic syncing of employee data, initiation of expense reimbursements, and posting of payroll journal entries

“Zoho Payroll addresses the struggles our customers were facing in finding a system to keep up with endless revisions to tax codes, maintain accuracy and compliance across departments, and generate financial reports,” said Raju Vegesna, chief evangelist at Zoho. “The growth of our array of finance apps is driven by our customers, and that will never change.”

Zoho Practice has several new capacities. The new workpapers feature automatically fetches client financial statements from Zoho Books, enabling comparisons, adjustments, document management and collaboration for review and approval. The self-service portal enables accountants to collaborate with clients who use third-party services, facilitating document requests, digital signatures and communication. The solution boasts workflow automation, custom functions and scheduling options that support tailoring of operational workflow.

Zoho Books has also introduced a suite of new features, including support for direct filing of 1099- MISC and 1099-NEC forms with the IRS, with provisions for collecting and managing W-9 forms from contractors. Furthermore, the new progress-based invoicing capacity allows businesses to invoice customers incrementally. There are also new bill pay capabilities, which lets users auto-scan bills, set up vendor approval flows, perform three-way matches for accuracy, and process batch payments. Other advanced features include revenue recognition, which automatically recognizes revenue based on contractual obligations or when the service is delivered, and fixed asset management, allowing the recording of asset details, automatic depreciation calculations, and the generating of forecast reports. 

Finally, in Zoho Inventory, advanced warehouse management capabilities—such as enhanced location tracking and labeling, stock counting, stock out alerts, and role-based access to the warehouse operations—offer more inventory control, accurate stock levels, and faster order processing. The product’s mobile apps help warehouse employees perform tasks more efficiently.