Friday, May 30, 2014

What Does It Mean to Dispose of A Passive Activity?

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Section 469(a) prohibits a taxpayer from deducting passive losses in excess of passive income. Under section 469(b), passive losses that can...
Wednesday, May 28, 2014

When Tax Cuts Matter More Than Pothole Repair

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The danger faced by Americans from the preaching and successes of those who despise taxes and user fees is no less real and surely more exte...
Monday, May 26, 2014

Windfalls Are Taxed, Even If The Taxpayer Thinks It is Unfair to Do So

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It is a basic tax law principle that economic windfalls are taxed. That principle applies to a variety of transactions, and as a recent tax ...
Friday, May 23, 2014

No Deduction If Entitled to Reimbursement

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It is a long-established principle of federal income tax law that a taxpayer is not permitted to deduct an otherwise deductible expense to t...
Wednesday, May 21, 2014

It Seems So Simple, But It’s Tax

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The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released report , Significant Discrepancies Exist Between Alimony Deductions Claim...
Monday, May 19, 2014

The Continued Assault on the Tax Foundations of American Civilization

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The IRS Oversight Board has released a report, FY 2015 IRS Budget Recommendation Special Report , that examines the seemingly eternal proble...
Friday, May 16, 2014

When Potholes Meet Privatization

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My use of potholes as the poster child for what is wrong with the public fiscal policy perspectives advanced by the anti-government, anti-ta...
Wednesday, May 14, 2014

If You Don’t Like It, Call It a Name, But Don't Call It a Tax If It's Not a Tax

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Most of us do not enjoy sitting at red lights. Most of us do not enjoy shelling out money for something because we would prefer to get it fo...
Monday, May 12, 2014

Yet Another Reason Taxes and User Fee Increases Are Cheaper

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One of my many disagreements with anti-tax arguments is that they are so focused on the short-term that they miss the present value of the l...
Friday, May 09, 2014

When Subtracting Isn’t the Opposite of Adding

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The federal budget deficit exists because expenditures exceed revenue. Revenue increases reduce the deficit. Spending cuts reduce the defici...
Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Privatization is Not the Answer to Toll Bridge Problems

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As readers of this blog know, the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) has had more than its share of troubles, almost all of them self-infl...
Monday, May 05, 2014

Pennsylvania’s “Eliminate the Property Tax” Effort Surfaces Again

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Ten years ago, in Killing the Geese , I shared my reaction to a proposal that would replace Pennsylvania’s local school district real proper...
Friday, May 02, 2014

Are the Bells Tolling for Highway Infrastructure Chaos?

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The Obama Administration’s budget, according to this report proposes repeal of a federal law that prohibits imposing tolls on interstate hi...
Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A Painful Way to Evade Taxes

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This recent story about tax evasion is a candidate for the tax-believe-it-or-not hall of fame. More details appeared in another version of...
Monday, April 28, 2014

The Secret to Getting (Tax) Work Done: Pay Us More and We’ll Do More Work

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I last discussed the saga of Philadelphia’s Board of Revision of Taxes in Philadelphia’s BRT Encounters a Provision That Bars Solving the Pr...
Friday, April 25, 2014

Just About Everything Involving a Home is Affected by Tax Law

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Eight years ago, in A New Book on Taxation of Residence Sales: Don't Leave Home Without It I reviewed Julian Block’s book, “THE HOME SE...
Wednesday, April 23, 2014

When It’s Too Late to Change One’s (Tax) Story

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A recent Tax Court case, Henson v. Comr. , T.C. Summ. Op. 2014-36, demonstrates how unwise it is to say one thing and then to say something ...
Monday, April 21, 2014

When Taxes Sneak Up on the Inattentive

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A recent Reuters report discloses that, according to tax return preparers, at least some wealthy clients “have been surprised” to learn tha...
Friday, April 18, 2014

Know Your Tax Return Preparer

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A recent Tax Court decision, Johnson v. Comr. , T.C. Memo 2014-67, indicates why it’s important to screen one’s tax return preparer. Althoug...
Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Once Again, What’s a Tax?

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Six years ago, in What’s in a Tax Label? , I noted that calling a tax increase a “loophole closer” doesn’t change the reality that a tax inc...
Monday, April 14, 2014

Can a Dead Person Be a Dependent?

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As the April 15 deadline approaches, it seems appropriate to take a look at one of the more “interesting” attempts at a tax deduction to hav...
Friday, April 11, 2014

More Tax Colors

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On Wednesday, in The Colors of Making and Taking , I noted the correlation between states that pay in fewer federal tax dollars than they ta...
Wednesday, April 09, 2014

The Colors of Making and Taking

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A column several days ago in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Where’s the money go? Often, to other states , caused me to think a bit about the gr...
Monday, April 07, 2014

How Shocking is Tax Evasion?

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A few days ago, I heard a story on the local news radio about tax evasion charges being brought against the owners of a pizza shop. I didn’t...
Friday, April 04, 2014

Is Changing One’s Mind on Taxes a Foolish Joke?

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The other day, I noticed a headline in a PhillyClout blog post that required me to stop and read it several times. Superficially, it made n...
Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Tax Court and Eleventh Circuit Disagree on Interpretation of Section 36 Language

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In November of 2012, the Tax Court, in Packard v. Comr. , held that a married couple qualified for the first-time homebuyer credit because t...
Monday, March 31, 2014

One Way the Rich Get Richer: Makers and Takers

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The cultural debate over makers and takers has focused on arguments by one side trying to prove that welfare recipients are mooching off the...