Friday, September 28, 2018

Giving Back a Tax Break

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A reader pointed me to an article describing something that rarely happens. The author of the article points out that when someone does wha...
Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Tax and Budget Ignorance Goes Global

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Most American anti-tax advocates understand and usually admit that they have a choice. Cutting taxes requires increasing budget deficits, cu...
Monday, September 24, 2018

Yet Another Easy Tax Issue for Judge Judy

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Now it’s getting closer to “from famine to feast.” After going quite some time between opportunities to comment on television court show epi...
Friday, September 21, 2018

Getting Exercised About A Sales Tax Exercise Exception

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Reader Morris contacted me last week with a question and a controversial answer. He asked, “Is yoga considered exercise for sales tax purpos...
Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Goofy Tax Proposal Withdrawn in the Nick of Time

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Some months ago, Philadelphia’s City Council passed legislation, by a bare 9-8 vote, described in this article , to impose a one percent tax...
Monday, September 17, 2018

Tax Court Declines to Rewrite Statute

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In a recent case, Gartlan v. Comr. , T.C. Summ. Op. 2018-42, the taxpayer asked the Tax Court to create an exception to the statute based on...
Friday, September 14, 2018

More Tax Breaks for Those Who Don’t Need Them

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Several weeks ago, according to this report , the corporation that owns the New York Islanders National Hockey League franchise has been giv...
Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Another Easy Tax Issue for Judge Judy

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It’s not unlike “from famine to feast.” After going quite some time between opportunities to comment on television court show episodes, I wa...
Monday, September 10, 2018

Tax Breaks for the Wealthy Leave the Wealthy Begging for Handouts from Taxpayers

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Is it simply greed? Is it money addiction? Is it a deep insecurity that no matter how much money one has, even when it is more than enough m...
Friday, September 07, 2018

An Easy Tax Issue for Judge Judy

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It has been a while since I commented on a television court show episode. It’s a combination of not seeing very many new episodes, and the a...
Wednesday, September 05, 2018

Do Animals Pay Taxes?

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Reader Morris alerted me to a report of a Chester Co., Pa., Orphans Court decision . My attempts to find an online publication of the court’...
Monday, September 03, 2018

Another Example of When Tax Isn’t About Numbers

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It is not unusual for students about to embark on a semester’s journey in a basic tax course to worry that their perceived inability to “do ...
Friday, August 31, 2018

Tax Definitions That Are Surprising and the Need for More Tax Education

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Reader Morris directed my attention to a web site that contained the following statement: Taxable income is the amount of money you owe the ...
Wednesday, August 29, 2018

A Not Surprising Proposed Income Tax Regulation

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When the Congress, in its 2017 tax legislation, chose to limit state and local income tax deductions, states with relatively higher state an...
Monday, August 27, 2018

A Tax on Reproductive Failure?

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Reader Morris directed my attention to an article describing a proposal by Hu Jiye, a finance professor at China University of Political Sc...
Friday, August 24, 2018

Those Federal Corporate Tax Cuts Apparently Aren’t Enough

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Reader Morris alerted me to a story that is showing up in multiple reports, including this one from Fortune At least three large corporatio...
Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Who Should Fix Congressional Tax Errors?

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It’s no secret that the tax legislation rushed through the Congress late last year is infected with errors. These are not simple mistakes th...
Monday, August 20, 2018

Tariffs: Taxes By Another Name

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It amuses me when someone who disagrees with a point that I make tries to classify me as an adherent of one or the other of the two competin...
Friday, August 17, 2018

Indeed, Check Your Withholding, and Do It Now

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Almost two weeks ago, in The Realities of Income Tax Withholding , I discussed the extent to which the revised withholding tables will cause...
Wednesday, August 15, 2018

The Wrong Type of Tax Education

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It’s no secret that I support education. Education is the antidote to ignorance, and ignorance is the fertilizer of undesired and unpleasant...
Monday, August 13, 2018

Defending the Indefensible Tax Idea: A Reflection on Tax Policy Ignorance

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A week and a half ago, in Tax Hogs at The Tax Trough , I criticized the proposal that Treasury, independent of Congressional action, index a...
Friday, August 10, 2018

Who Can Bank on Those Tax Breaks?

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My criticism of the 2017 tax legislation as a sloppily-drafted, terrible-for-most-Americans giveaway to the oligarchs is no secret. I have w...
Wednesday, August 08, 2018

When It Pays to Pay for Use Tax Collection Work

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I have been writing about the collection of use taxes on internet transactions for more than fourteen years. I started with Taxing the Inter...