Wednesday, January 31, 2018

How Not to File a Joint Return

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A recent Tax Court decision, Plato v. Comr. , T.C. Memo 2018-7, demonstrates how not to go about getting one’s spouse to sign off on a propo...
Monday, January 29, 2018

How’s This for a Tax-Cut-Inspired Bonus Payment?

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It is no secret I am not a fan of supply-side economics or trickle-down theory. The reason is simple. They don’t work. They’ve been tried. T...
Friday, January 26, 2018

Red, Blue, Taxes, and Education

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A week ago, in Makers and Takers, Red and Blue, Federal Tax Deductions and State Taxes , I examined William Baldwin’s list of eight states w...
Wednesday, January 24, 2018

So What Will YOU Do With Your Tax Cut?

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So what will YOU do with your tax cut? That question assumes you will be getting one, so apologies to those of you who come out on the wrong...
Monday, January 22, 2018

How to Be Patriotic, Tax Style

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Supporters of the tax break handout to corporations are gloating over the announcement by Apple that its planned activities over the next f...
Friday, January 19, 2018

Makers and Takers, Red and Blue, Federal Tax Deductions and State Taxes

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William Baldwin has taken a look at the impact of the recently enacted limitation on the deduction of state and local taxes for federal inco...
Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Oh, Those Bonus Payments! Much Ado About Almost Nothing

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Two weeks ago, in Those Tax-Cut Inspired Bonus Payments? Just Another Ruse , I explained the deceptiveness of the big deal being made of $1,...
Monday, January 15, 2018

Fixing State Tax Problems Caused by Federal Tax Changes

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Several weeks ago, in So What About Those State Taxes? Surprise? , I pointed out that “The recently enacted federal tax legislation not only...
Friday, January 12, 2018

What Funds Social Security and Why Does It Matter?

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Reader Morris directed my attention to a letter to the editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Helena Robertson claims that “Social Security is ...
Wednesday, January 10, 2018

State Tax Increases Cut the Tax Cuts

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Two weeks ago, in So What About Those State Taxes? Surprise? , I pointed out that “The recently enacted federal tax legislation not only aff...
Monday, January 08, 2018

That Bonus Payment Ruse Gets Bigger

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A bit more than a week ago, in Those Tax-Cut Inspired Bonus Payments? Just Another Ruse , I explained the deceptiveness of the big deal bein...
Friday, January 05, 2018

What Losing Federal Personal and Dependency Exemptions Does to Michigan (and Other) Taxpayers

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Last week, in So What About Those State Taxes? Surprise? , I pointed out that “The recently enacted federal tax legislation not only affects...
Wednesday, January 03, 2018

Just When I Thought Congress Had Reached Rock Bottom When It Comes to Taxes . . .

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Like most Americans, I do not hold Congress in high regard. Actually, I think the Congress has failed miserably in meeting its obligations t...
Monday, January 01, 2018

Getting Tax Cut Benefits to Those Who Need Economic Relief: A Drop in the Bucket But Never a Flood

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A reader pointed me to a Detroit Free Press article explaining that the Michigan Public Service Commission has directed regulated public ut...
Friday, December 29, 2017

Those Tax-Cut Inspired Bonus Payments? Just Another Ruse

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For months, I have been criticizing the Republican tax legislation for a variety of reasons. I have also criticized the defenses that its su...
Wednesday, December 27, 2017

So What About Those State Taxes? Surprise?

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The recently enacted federal tax legislation not only affects federal income tax liability but also changes state income tax liability for m...
Monday, December 25, 2017

Taxmas?

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A week ago, in Giant Tax Cut for Christmas? Ha Ha Ha or Ho Ho Ho? , I criticized the absurdity of the President’s claim that Americans would...
Friday, December 22, 2017

Tax Legislation As a Symptom of National Political Dysfunction

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There is something very wrong with the American political system. That’s not news, at least not to those who carefully observe, study, and a...
Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Tax Propaganda

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There’s a commentary going viral on the world wide web and social media that clearly is designed to suck Americans into supporting a terrib...
Monday, December 18, 2017

Giant Tax Cut for Christmas? Ha Ha Ha or Ho Ho Ho?

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According to several reports, including this one , the President announced, “We want to give you, the American people, a giant tax cut for C...
Friday, December 15, 2017

Understanding the Mileage-Based Road Fee

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For more than a decade I have advocated the enactment of mileage-based road fees to replace the increasingly less effective and less efficie...
Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Tax Cut Cash To Be Used for Job Creation?

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Though it is only one instance of many, the confession from the CEO of the home builder Toll Bros. provides more proof that tax cuts for cor...
Monday, December 11, 2017

A $1.5 Trillion Tax Gamble, With Someone Else’s Money

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In a recent commentary , George Will rushes to the defense of the badly drafted, error-riddled, unwise, and catastrophic monstrosity of a ta...
Friday, December 08, 2017

Robots Doing Tax Planning?

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A bit more than a year ago, in Robots Doing Tax Returns? , I explained the reasons I hesitate to jump on the “let the robots prepare tax ret...
Wednesday, December 06, 2017

A Debt Prevention Tax Cut Escrow Proposal

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Every now and then an idea pops into my head. This time, after reading a story about Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s absurd claim that c...
Monday, December 04, 2017

Tax Cuts for Employers Do Not Create Jobs

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And in the long parade of those claiming that tax cuts for employers create jobs comes nonsense from Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey . Accor...
Friday, December 01, 2017

The Value of Sleep for Law Students

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Reader Morris sent me a link to a four-and-one-half-year-old, but still relevant, article on sleep . Written by Michael J. Breus, the articl...