Monday, October 31, 2016

Beyond Scary: Tax-Based Halloween Costumes

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From the outset, I have made it a point to work Halloween into MauledAgain, usually looking for the silly or goofy but occasionally taking a...
Friday, October 28, 2016

The Tax Downside of a Criminal Conviction

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Most people know that being convicted of a crime brings all sorts of bad news. Convictions generate consequences ranging from prison terms a...
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

The Things Tax Lawyers Must Ponder

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When I taught the basic federal income tax course, I tried to help students understand that the practice of tax law is not simply a matter o...
Monday, October 24, 2016

An Ever-Expanding Tax To-Do List

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Last week I started a project that has been on the to-do list for longer than it should have been. The tile floor in the laundry room, at le...
Friday, October 21, 2016

Trickle-Down Advocate Now Hesitates to Oppose Tax Increases

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The state of Kansas continues to provide excellent insights into the failings of trickle-down economic theory. The theory, long discredited ...
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Tax Ignorance in the Comics

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It comes from every direction. Tax ignorance, that is. Readers of this blog know that dislike ignorance of any kind, and tax ignorance is pa...
Monday, October 17, 2016

Tax Reciprocity Meets Tax Break Giveaways

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Several months ago, in A Not So Hidden Tax Increase? , I commented on the decision by New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie to explore the te...
Friday, October 14, 2016

A Tax Ballot Question for the Indecisive

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Jokes abound about those who cannot make up their minds. “I used to be indecisive. Now, I’m not sure.” So, too, do complaints. More than a f...
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

A Double Tax on Streaming Video?

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According to this story , officials in several dozen California cities are thinking of imposing a tax on video streaming platforms such as N...
Monday, October 10, 2016

Combining an LLC With a Corporation

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A recent Tax Court decision, Costello v. Comr. , T.C. Memo 2016-184, provides helpful instructions about what to do and not to do when combi...
Thursday, October 06, 2016

Understanding Tax Rates

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On Monday morning, a commentator -- who may have been a guest -- on a cable news network claimed that a family living in Connecticut, with i...
Wednesday, October 05, 2016

Getting a Tax Statute Right the First Time is Much Easier Than the Alternative

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When Pennsylvania enacted legislation in 2004 permitting casinos to operate in the state, it also imposed taxes on casinos. One of the taxes...
Monday, October 03, 2016

Debating the ReadyReturn Proposal, In Writing

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As readers of this blog know, I’m not a fan of ReadyReturn. In October 2005, I addressed the ReadyReturn concept, in Hi, I'm from the Go...
Friday, September 30, 2016

Does Not Paying Federal Income Tax Make a Person Smart?

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As reported by many sources, including the Wall Street Journal , “When Mrs. Clinton said there were years when Mr. Trump paid no taxes, he r...
Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Carelessness and Tax Evasion

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According to this story , the owner of several Atlantic City businesses admitted in federal court that he and his associates in one of the b...
Monday, September 26, 2016

Course Enrollment Matters, Even for Tax Purposes

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Most people have heard at least one anecdote about a student who attempts to take a final exam in a course, only to discover that failure to...
Friday, September 23, 2016

Another Lesson in the “Tax Rate Reductions Increase Tax Revenue” Experience

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Supply-siders like to argue that by reducing tax rates, people and businesses will engage in economic activity squelched by higher tax rates...
Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Alimony or Property Settlement? Placement Versus Language

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An attorney is retained to represent a plaintiff, and agrees to be compensated with a contingent fee. While the case is ongoing, the attorne...
Monday, September 19, 2016

Another Angry Clothes Burner, But Without the Casualty Loss Issue

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Yes, this is another MauledAgain post based on a television court show. The list is getting longer, and includes posts such as Judge Judy an...
Friday, September 16, 2016

Money, Taxes, and Education

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In Pennsylvania, public K-12 education is financed through real property taxes. Not long ago, the state legislature imposed a limit on the a...
Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Tax Ignorance is Dangerous

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Too many people are ignorant about taxes. Finding it difficult to complete a tax return is not tax ignorance. Tax experts find tax return pr...
Monday, September 12, 2016

Good at Long-Range Trash Can Hoops? Then You’re Ready to Be a Chemist, or Tax Return Preparer, or Surgeon

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Excuse the sarcastic blog post title, folks. It isn’t a secret that I am a fan of education, a critic of people having responsibilities beyo...
Friday, September 09, 2016

Using the Free Market to Collect The Use Tax

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The drop in sales and use tax revenue experienced by states because online purchases keep growing continues to stymie state governments seek...
Wednesday, September 07, 2016

The Perils of Tax Politics

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Running for office presents candidates with numerous opportunities to slip up. This is particularly a problem when the issue is a complicate...