Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Tax Law Warning: Don’t Cut Mom a Rent Break

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When I teach section 280A, I point out to students the necessity of reading section 280A(d) very carefully. Section 280A(d) specifies rules ...
Monday, January 28, 2013

Tax Planning: A Chore That Never Sleeps

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Six years ago, I had the opportunity to review Julian Block’s "Year Round Tax Savings," and shared my thoughts in Another Tax Book...
Friday, January 25, 2013

A Tax Question: So What Do You Do With Your Time?

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One of the pieces of advice that I give to newly enrolled law students is that they should budget their time. The demands of law school are ...
Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Tax Ignorance and Its Siblings

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There’s just something about ignorance that disturbs me. It always has. Even as a very young child, it bothered me more than just a little b...
Monday, January 21, 2013

Transportation Infrastructure Funding: Tax and Spending Policy Hypocrisy?

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On Friday, in How Not To Pay for Transportation Infrastructure , I criticized the proposal made by the Governor of Virginia to shift the cos...
Friday, January 18, 2013

How Not To Pay for Transportation Infrastructure

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The governor of Virginia has presented a plan for funding transportation infrastructure in his state. For those who think that infrastructur...
Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Still More Joys of IRC Section 86

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More than eight years ago, in The Joys of IRC Section 86 , I explained the convoluted manner in which Congress has specified that taxpayers ...
Monday, January 14, 2013

Taxes and Spending: Theory Meets Reality and Questions Go Unanswered

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A reader forwarded to me a commentary that showed up on the Tea Party Christian Issues Explained for You web site. Carrying the title Its ...
Friday, January 11, 2013

Biting the Taxpayer Hand That Feeds You

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When I was a child, I remember asking someone to explain the expression, “Never look a gift horse in the mouth.” I also learned to say “Than...
Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Government Spending v. Government Investment

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In an opinion piece on Sunday, George Will made an important point. There is a difference between borrowing to finance investment and borro...
Monday, January 07, 2013

Spinning Taxes and Tax Spinning

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As I pointed out on Friday in Fiscal and Tax Irresponsibility , the recently enacted legislation that postpones the impact of the so-called ...
Friday, January 04, 2013

Fiscal and Tax Irresponsibility

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So we’re told that the nation avoided the fiscal cliff. No, the nation did not. The nation backed away from the cliff, by pushing it two mon...
Wednesday, January 02, 2013

The Howling Void of Taxes and Spending

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The debacle over the so-called “fiscal cliff” should compel Americans to re-examine the various claims that government spending cuts will so...
Monday, December 31, 2012

Is This Tax Preparation Nightmare Reawakening?

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Almost ten months ago, in Tax Return Preparation Disaster , I wrote about a tax return business called Mo’ Money Taxes, that had created nig...
Friday, December 28, 2012

When Tax Revenues Fall Short, Who Gets Paid?

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Almost two years, in The Price of Insufficient Tax Revenue , I described how the “success” of tax reduction in New Jersey compelled the city...
Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Why Not Read the Entire Sales Tax Statute?

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A little more than a month ago, in A Not So Dopey Tax Question , I considered a tax question raised by the operator of New Jersey’s first l...
Monday, December 24, 2012

Tax Pledges: Never Say Never

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When House Speaker John Boehner floated his since-abandoned “Plan B,” he put most Republican members of Congress into a bind. Under Plan B, ...
Friday, December 21, 2012

The Postponed Pain of Foolish Tax and Spending Decisions

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Eleven days ago, in When Tax Revenues are Short-Changed, What Should Be Cut if Taxes Are Not Raised? , I expressed my continued bewilderment...
Wednesday, December 19, 2012

User Fees: When Users Should Pay

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In some areas of this country, the words “beach tag” can spark intense discussions and even arguments. For some people, the thought of being...
Monday, December 17, 2012

Go Ahead, Cut Taxes

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A little more than a year ago, in Infrastructure, Tolls, Barns, Jackasses, and Carpenters , I explained why the anti-tax and anti-toll force...