Monday, March 30, 2020

Tax Makers and Tax Takers

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Perhaps I should call this commentary “Revenue Makers and Revenue Takers.” I’ve written about makers and takers in the past, mostly in react...
Friday, March 27, 2020

Tax Hindsight and Damages for Broken Promises

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Readers of MauledAgain know that I have been a critic of the 2017 tax legislation, because it is terrible for most Americans, is mostly a gi...
Wednesday, March 25, 2020

A Good Time for a Tax Laugh?

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With all the unpleasant news, uncomfortable restrictions, and inconvenient precautions so widespread and unavoidable, I thought an email con...
Monday, March 23, 2020

Horrific Punishment for Allegedly Not Paying Taxes

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It is one of the most troubling stories involving taxes that I have read. A few days ago, reader Morris directed my attention to this news r...
Friday, March 20, 2020

More Tax Return Preparation Gone Bad

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Almost fourteen years ago, in Should Tax Refund Anticipation Loans Be Blocked? , I mentioned that “Liberty Tax Services of Virginia Beach wa...
Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Fortune Cookies and Taxes: Part II

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Last Friday, in Fortune Cookies and Taxes , I shared the discovery by Reader Morris that advertisers have been buying space on the reverse s...
Monday, March 16, 2020

Taxes and the Virus

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The current Administration seems to think that cutting payroll taxes is an effective approach to deal with at least some of the economic pro...
Friday, March 13, 2020

Fortune Cookies and Taxes

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Reader Morris had an experience that surprised me. He went to his “regular Chinese restaurant,” had his meal, and opened his fortune cookies...
Wednesday, March 11, 2020

A New and Questionable Type of Tax

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Last week, voters in San Francisco, by a 69.6 percent to 30.3 percent margin , approved a vacant storefront tax. Though the margin appears o...
Monday, March 09, 2020

The Primary Goal of the Philadelphia Soda Tax: Not a Reduction in Soda Consumption

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The soda tax is one of those topics that probably will never go away. I have been writing about the soda tax since 2008, in posts such as Wh...
Friday, March 06, 2020

If This Were An Exam Answer, It Would Earn a Low Grade

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This time, reader Morris directed my attention to a MoneyWise article titled “What Is Taxable Income?” Though questions on the basic federa...
Wednesday, March 04, 2020

Some Observations on Recent Articles Addressing the Mileage-Based Road Fee

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In the past several weeks, the mileage-based road fee has been popping up in a variety of stories, shared with me by reader Morris. I’ve bee...
Monday, March 02, 2020

Seizing a Tax Refund to Pay a Fine Owed by the Taxpayer Does Not Change the Fine Into a Tax

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Reader Morris directed my attention to an article and asked a question. First, the article. According to the article, in 2018 the Mississ...
Friday, February 28, 2020

Characterizing a “Meals Tax”

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Reader Morris directed my attention to this article about a proposed increase in the Charlottesville meals tax . He asked, “Is a meals tax a...
Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Another Example of a Problem That the Mileage-Based Road Fee Can Solve

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Reader Morris sent me a link to a letter to the editor written by Tamara Porter and sent to the La Crosse Tribune. Porter objects to the $7...
Monday, February 24, 2020

How Difficult Is It to Release Tax Returns?

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I did not watch the debate last Wednesday evening. But according to a variety of sources, including this report from The Hill , this article...
Friday, February 21, 2020

Why Publicly Admit to Potentially Fraudulent Tax Reporting?

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The question from reader Morris was simple enough. He asked, “Why would someone admit to possible tax fraud in a newspaper article?” Of cour...
Wednesday, February 19, 2020

The Illogic of Tax Cuts Based on Supply-Side Theory

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It amazes me how difficult it is for those sucked into the now-discredited trickle-down, supply-side theory of tax cuts to let go of their d...
Monday, February 17, 2020

Gross Income or Taxable Income: Does It Matter?

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Last week, reader Morris contacted me with a question. He pointed me to several stories about an IRS ruling on the taxability of grants fund...