By Stacie Clifford Kitts, CPA
Today I received an upsetting tweet from a tweeter @eZeetax. Mr. eZeetax stated the following:
“you are copying and pasting IRS newsletter without even linking to the original article. Major FAIL.”
Although I mention on my About Stacie’s More Tax Tips home page that besides original commentary and tax information, I also post information directly from the IRS, I thought it might be a good idea to explain in more detail to people such as @eZeetax how this site works.
I’m no journalism expert, but I get the whole credit your source thing. Here are my observations – for what they are worth.
When a website picks up an article that has been released by a news service, they will for the most part cite the source including the author of the article. For example if a website picks up an Associated Press article, they will show that by placing “AP” before the first line of the article. There may even be a link back to an author’s website, as in this example of a post by CNN from a Frisky author, where CNN is linking to the Frisky website [but not necessarily back to that particular article].
Although I do not link back to the IRS’s website on each post written by an IRS author, I do link back to the IRS on my site. I do not consider that to be a major “fail” as indicated by @eZeetax. To be clear, I only do this with IRS posts. I never repost something written by another blogger or journalist without indicating a proper cite and link. When posting something written by the IRS be it Tax Tips or News Releases, I always indicate that the article is from the IRS either in the body of the post or in the title. I never take credit for an article that I do not write. For example, a post titled “The IRS Presents,” indicates that – duh, the IRS presents this information. If I have written an article, it will include By Stacie Clifford Kitts, CPA at the top of the page.
The idea of Stacie’s More Tax Tips is to provide information that I think is helpful to taxpayers. And really, that is all that I am trying to do. I sure do hope that I am not “failing” in my attempt to accomplish this goal.
If you are a reader of Stacie’s More Tax Tips and you believe that my IRS posts are a “Major FAIL”, I would like to hear back from you. If my readership feels I need to be more specific in my posting of IRS information, then I am happy to do so. Of course, if you think this whole thing is “no big deal” – or my posts are more like a Major WIN, then I would like to hear that as well.
Thanks for reading!
Stacie
Stacie's Tax Stuff 
SCK-
I have been blogging since 2001 and I certainly know how much time writing a blog takes up – and how difficult it is to come up with original content on a daily basis.
My business is seasonal – and I do not work 9-5 on taxes once the filing season is over. So I have more “free” time to devote to my blog than those who are running a true year-round accounting and tax business.
The purpose of a tax blog is to provide information on federal, and perhaps state, income tax issues to clients and to the general public. Whatever else one can say about the IRS, their press releases do provide excellent information on various tax topics that are helpful to taxpayers. There is nothing wrong with a tax blogger reprinting IRS information releases as a way of providing tax information to its readers.
You clearly identify that certain posts are “reprints” of IRS information releases. And you print the release in full. What benefit to the reader is there in linking back to the original press release when you have published it in full? I certainly do not consider it a MAJOR FAIL. It falls into the “no big deal” category for sure.
I look forward to your original content, and wish there were more, but I do understand the reason behind printing IRS releases.
Keep up the good work. Remember what Rick(y) Nelson said – “you can’t please everyone, so you have to please yourself”.
TWTP
Thanks for the support. If I had more time, I would definitely write more posts.
And congrats on the writing gig. I will need to link to your new column on my site.
Not linking back to the original IRS newsletter is NOT a “major fail”. (Sorry about the double negatives.)
I could easily find the original newsletters if I wanted to, but it’s easier to read them here. I also enjoy your original posts.
I love your blog and have turned others onto it. You’re doing a great job!
James
Whew, I am so glad that the site is providing the resource I intended. It would really suck if people just didn’t get it.
Thanks for your support, and for letting others know about the site.
I hope you had tweeted me that you responded to my tweet so that I could at least respond to why I said you copying off IRS newsletter and posting it on your blog is a “major fail.”
That said, you say it is OKAY because you mention IRS all over your blog. Well, you are talking about taxes and IRS and taxes go hand in hand so if you are spraying IRS all over your blog, that doesn’t mean your readers know that you simply copy paste from IRS.
There is nothing really wrong with what you are doing, everyone else does it too. It is about how do you feel after you do something like that, if you think you are satisfied then keep on doing it.
I get ideas for my blog posts from IRS newsletters too but I add value to my posts by talking about my experience as a tax professional. For me personally, copy pasting from IRS newsletter is a “major fail.”
I would like to apologize for being harsh, the comment I made on Twitter was more of a “gotcha” and I didn’t foresee the strong reaction from your side.
Mr. Lilani,
Where I do appreciate your feelings regarding how you choose to post to your blog, I think it is clear that the intention of my blog is informational. The value added to the tax information provided by a tax blogger by including personal commentary or adding tidbits about your personal experience is certainly anecdotal.
Although many of my commentaries have received praise, I find the real value in this blog is the helpful tax information it provides.
Because I have a busy practice, it is hard to find time to maintain an active blog. Therefore, my “strong” reaction was a result of my wondering if I was wasting my time – hence the call for opinions. I am happy to report that 100% of the feedback I received via Facebook, Twitter, and my blogsite was in support of the information that this blog provides -including the IRS information.
You of course are welcome to your opinion and I do welcome the apology. As Robert mentioned in a comment above, you can’t please everyone.