Friday, December 30, 2016

It Still Doesn’t Make Tax Cents

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Sixteen months ago, in Does It Make Tax Cents? , I commented on several stories about taxpayers trying to pay tax bills with pennies. I note...
Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Looking for an Exclusion That’s Not in the Documentation

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Section 104 excludes from gross income damages received for physical sickness and injury. It is axiomatic that for these purposes the langua...
Monday, December 26, 2016

Updating Two Tax Cases

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During the past week, two judicial decisions have been handed down that deal with issues I have previously discussed on MauledAgain. It is l...
Friday, December 23, 2016

How Not to File a Tax Return

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There are all sorts of things that taxpayers ought not to do when filing a tax return. There also are all sorts of things that taxpayers oug...
Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Ignorance Reaches a New Low

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Wow. Just wow. There is an epidemic of ignorance sweeping through the nation, and tax does not escape the tide. What has me so astounded? ...
Monday, December 19, 2016

Music, Medicine, and Tax

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A long-time reader pointed me in the direction of a report about the impact of music on performing a task . A study by a team from Imperial ...
Friday, December 16, 2016

No Deduction for Sanctions Imposed on Lawyer

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A recent Tax Court decision, Chaganti v. Comr. , T.C. Memo 2016-222, following up on an earlier opinion, Chaganti v. Comr. , T.C. Memo 2013-...
Wednesday, December 14, 2016

So How Long Does It Take to Determine a Tax Liability?

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People have long complained about the amount of time it takes to do a tax return. Not only is there the time required for entering numbers o...
Monday, December 12, 2016

If You Want a Professional Sports Team, Pay For It Yourselves; Don’t Grab Tax Dollars

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The wealthy continue to line up for financial assistance. A profitable business conjures up arguments for why the public should contribute t...
Friday, December 09, 2016

Uncle Sam Does Not Collect California Income Taxes

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For some reason, the fact that professional athletes must pay income tax to a state in which they play a game seems to disturb some people. ...
Wednesday, December 07, 2016

When Taxes Go Down or Don’t Go Up, Other Taxes Go Up

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The advocates of tax cuts claim that cutting taxes puts more money in taxpayers’ pockets. Not only do tax cuts not benefit the economy if th...
Monday, December 05, 2016

Why I Don’t Have a Family Foundation

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One of the emails that bring me daily tax updates included, among its more than a dozen headlines, this one: Trump Has a Family Foundation. ...
Friday, December 02, 2016

Another Flaw in the New Jersey Tax Break Giveaway

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In a series of posts, I have criticized the New Jersey tax policy of dishing out tax breaks to companies that it entices to move to New Jers...
Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Gambling With Tax Revenue

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As soda taxes gained voter approval in four cities earlier this month, Philadelphia continues to encounter challenges in its attempt to imp...
Monday, November 28, 2016

A 180-Degree Tax Turnaround

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Five months ago, in A Not So Hidden Tax Increase? , I commented on the decision by New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie to explore the termi...
Friday, November 25, 2016

Tax Meets Constitutional Law Ignorance

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Several days ago I received an email containing a press release from a publicity specialist on behalf of DeVere Group , which describes itse...
Thursday, November 24, 2016

Thankfully Repetitive

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It has been said that love is something that can be shared without diminishing what remains to be shared again. The same can be said about e...
Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Write the Check to the Charity; It’s Easier

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A few days ago, someone posted a question to the Reddit Tax Forum .It’s the sort of question that can find its way onto an income tax exam b...
Monday, November 21, 2016

When Tax Isn’t About Numbers: What is a Bank?

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Law students, not unlike people generally, think that tax “is all about numbers,” or, worse, “involves lots of math.” As I try to explain to...
Friday, November 18, 2016

Deferring Death as a Tax Planning Tool

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In Four Post-Election Tax Moves To Make Today , Phil DeMuth offers three unsurprising suggestions, though the deferral of income and acceler...
Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Is a Tax Provision in a State Constitution Eternal?

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Last week, a reader directed me to this report explaining that voters in Missouri approved an amendment to the state constitution prohibiti...
Monday, November 14, 2016

Thinking About Chocolate and Taxes

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Seven years ago, in Tax Credit for Chocolate? , I facetiously suggested that the “growth, manufacture, sale, purchase, and consumption of ch...