Friday, March 30, 2018

Send a Check or EFT, Not a Tax Break

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No sooner had I posted Why Is Taxation Almost Always the Solution of First Resort? , criticizing use of the tax law to solve problems that a...
Wednesday, March 28, 2018

A Bit of Cryptic Tax Trivia

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In his commentary about cryptocurrencies , Mark Zandi not only explained why digital currencies, despite some periods of rapid growth in va...
Monday, March 26, 2018

Why Is Taxation Almost Always the Solution of First Resort?

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Readers of MauledAgain know that I am not a fan of using taxes as a mechanism to encourage or discourage behavior. Taxes, user fees, tolls, ...
Friday, March 23, 2018

Lawyers Who Don’t Practice Tax Cannot Ignore Basic Tax Principles

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There are some basic principles of tax law that every teenage and adult American should know and understand, though it might be expecting t...
Wednesday, March 21, 2018

How Not to Lower Taxes or Reduce Tax Increases

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The headline did not mention tax, but something about it, Jersey Shore ice cream wars. Who gets to sell? , caught my eye and I read the Phil...
Monday, March 19, 2018

The Tax Consequences of Embryo and Egg Damage

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The intersection between tax and biotechnological developments, and between tax and technological development generally, has always captured...
Friday, March 16, 2018

What Tolls and Transportation Taxes Purchase

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Earlier this week, the Philadelphia Inquirer published a letter to the editor from Nathan A. Benefield, vice president and CEO of Commonweal...
Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Arguing About Tax Crumbs

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In his March 7, 2018, Institute for Policy Innovation commentary, Whose Crumbs? , Tom Giovanetti criticized Democrat Minority Leader Nancy P...
Monday, March 12, 2018

Tax Opposition: A Costly Road to Follow

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With great delight, Americans for Prosperity issued a press release proudly quoting Paul Ryan’s promise, “We’re not going to raise gas taxe...
Friday, March 09, 2018

What Is a Successful Tax?

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For almost a decade I have been criticizing the so-called soda tax. It fails to get my support because it is both too narrow and too broad. ...
Wednesday, March 07, 2018

More Proof Supply-Side Economic Theory Is Bad Tax Policy

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Readers of this blog know that I am an advocate of demand-side economic policy. Logic and experience have established the failure of tax cut...
Monday, March 05, 2018

A Second Man Who Made a Difference in the Tax World

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Two weeks ago, in One Man Who Made a Difference in the Tax World , I reacted to the passing of Leonard L. Silverstein by describing the posi...
Friday, March 02, 2018

How To Use the Tax Law to Create Jobs and Raise Wages

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On Monday, in How To Use Tax Breaks to Properly Stimulate an Economy , I stated that, “The worst way to use the tax law to encourage behavio...
Wednesday, February 28, 2018

In the Tax World, Form Matters More Than Substance

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There are times when doing something the wrong way is a problem even if the outcome is the desired result. Sometimes, the “no harm, no foul”...
Monday, February 26, 2018

How To Use Tax Breaks to Properly Stimulate an Economy

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As readers of this blog know, I am not a fan of using the tax law to encourage or discourage behavior. If a taxing authority wants to encour...
Friday, February 23, 2018

Celebrating Tax Cuts Too Soon

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Recent news about increased approval of the recent federal tax legislation, such as this report , is generating celebrations among the legis...
Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Making Life Difficult for Taxpayers: Another Congressional “Accomplishment”

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Friday a week ago the legislation to keep the federal government operating became law. But that legislation did much more. Among other thing...
Monday, February 19, 2018

One Man Who Made A Difference in the Tax World

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Last week I learned of the passing of Leonard L. Silverstein. I had the good fortune to have known Leonard for many years. In 1983, when I r...
Friday, February 16, 2018

How to Pay for a $1.7 Trillion Tax Cut

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The tax legislation enacted in December of last year adds roughly $1.7 Trillion to the national debt. Even some opponents of increasing the...
Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Will My Reaction to Their Tax Plan Break Their Hearts?

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The federal tax legislation passed in December limits the deduction for state and local taxes to $10,000. In some states, many taxpayers‘ st...
Monday, February 12, 2018

You’re Doing What With Those Tax Cuts?

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Readers of this blog know that I consider the December 2017 tax legislation to be unwise, misdirected, and harmful to the economy. I have sh...
Friday, February 09, 2018

Taxes and Geese

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It’s a problem no one wants. It’s a problem many people, perhaps most people, have encountered or at least have seen. Geese descend on a law...
Wednesday, February 07, 2018

Tax Cut Crumbs

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So the supply-side trickle-down crowd pushed a bad tax bill through the Congress. Then, as I discussed in If A Tax Act is So Wonderful, Why ...
Monday, February 05, 2018

Much More Ado About Almost Nothing

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Several weeks ago, in Oh, Those Bonus Payments! Much Ado About Almost Nothing , I elaborated on two previous posts, Those Tax-Cut Inspired B...
Friday, February 02, 2018

If A Tax Act is So Wonderful, Why the Need to Promote It?

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According to this recent story , the Koch brothers have announced that they are willing to spend as much as $20 million “to promote the tax ...
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...