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MISSING THE TAX BLOG BOAT

July 31, 2007

Tax Analysts is still struggling with this "blog" thing. Six or seven years into the blogging era, Tax Analysts still doesn't have an in-house blog. It's a shame, really, because they have a stable of some of the best tax commentators around. A free-for all discussion amongst Tax Analyst's contributors of Lee Sheppard's strange but provocative attack on deferred compensation ($link), with Ms. Sheppard figuratively swatting back criticism with her Fendi handbag, would be great fun. (My short take: Ms. Sheppard is trying to solve a corporate governance problem with the tax law; it's been tried, it's not working, so she wants to do it more and harder). But while the Wall Street Journal has figured out how to charge for core content while still sponsoring free blogs, Tax Analysts still hasn't taken the plunge.

A piece today indicates that State Tax Analysts, while aware of this "blog" thing, still doesn't get it. In his State Tax Merry-Go-Round column, Billy Hamilton laments the state of state tax blogging ($link):

I am a little disappointed with the state tax content in blogs, but I'm getting used to the situation -- the great American preoccupation with the federal income tax. Of course, I realize it is the major tax event in most people's lives, but I have to think that with 70 million blogs, there is room for one or two that summarize state tax happenings and comments on some of the more important issues in an up-to-the-minute way. I would love to see what Bill Fox is thinking on a given day. Or Rick Pomp. Or Harley Duncan at FTA for that matter. I will not, however, hold my breath until I see it.

Such a blog would not displace publications like this one. Tax professionals are always going to need a source that carries both tax news summaries and more detailed analysis, something that the transitory nature of blogs aren't equipped to handle. But I'm betting the Internet is here to stay, and in the vast reaches of cyberspace there ought to be as many sites for people interested in state taxes are there are for people interested in Justice League of America comics. I am not asking for Harry Potter levels of interest, just a nice warm, cozy place where state taxes are the focus on the Web.

I talked to a few tax professionals -- both public and private -- about my idea -- a state tax blog -- but to no avail.

Actually, there is a blog that discusses state tax policy issues almost every day. It's name would seem to give it away: the Tax Policy Blog. The article mentions it only in passing, and not by name. Right now there is no other place like it for regular state tax policy coverage in the blog world. It doesn't look as though Mr. Hamilton has spent much time reading it.

Mr. Hamilton seems to not appreciate a key strength of blogs: you blog what you know. For example, he says:

The Wandering Tax Pro site (http://www.wanderingtaxpro.blogspot.com/index.html) is maintained by a tax professional in New Jersey. It does have some interesting commentary on New Jersey income and property taxes that would be useful if you lived in New Jersey.

That's a feature, not a bug. A Jersey guy is going to have a lot more to say about how property taxes actually work on the ground than somebody talking about property tax theory from an Arlington, Virginia office park.

Mr. Hamilton does notice the Tax Update in passing:

There is another CPA site run by Roth & Co. in Des Moines (http://www.rothcpa.com), probably your one-stop shop for corn-themed mailbox installation deduction strategies.

Whatever that means. Regular readers here (Hi, Mom!) know that we talk state tax policy here regularly, especially during the Iowa legislative session. Corn-themed mailbox installation deductions, though? Haven't covered that one.

If Mr. Hamilton wants some serious state tax blogging, he could organize some of us flyover-country bloggers, or maybe aggregate our posts. Or maybe he can shake Tax Analysts out of its blogging torpor and get it done under their banner. That would be a state tax blog worth checking out.

CORRECTION TO ORIGINAL POST: The Tax Policy Blog is mentioned, though not by name, as a blog linked by the TaxProf. The original version of this post said it was mot mentioned at all. My apologies.

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