Friday, May 29, 2020

Does the Donor of Brain Tissue Get a Tax Deduction?

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That’s the question reader Morris posed to me a few days ago. He directed my attention to a February 2020 article with the interesting titl...
Wednesday, May 27, 2020

So How Long Does It Take to Read the Internal Revenue Code?

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Reader Morris found a doozy. The folks at TaxAct offer a free Tax Code sleep track which they have named Tax Code Coma . Someone had the un...
Monday, May 25, 2020

Re-examining Damages When Tax Software Goes Awry

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For me, there are advantages to watching television court shows. Whenever I see one that involves a tax issue, or in which tax is a factor, ...
Friday, May 22, 2020

How NOT To Collect Unpaid Taxes

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The caption for this morning’s commentary comes from reader Morris. It’s the subject line from his email, though I put “not” in upper case l...
Wednesday, May 20, 2020

When Needing Tax Advice, Don’t Just “Google It”

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Those television court shows with a tax angle do come in bunches. There’s another one to add to the list of these shows on which I have comm...
Monday, May 18, 2020

The Meaning of an Interesting Phrase in a Tax Law

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Like most states. Michigan has a sales tax. Like most states with sales taxes, Michigan provides for exemptions from its sales tax. Here is ...
Friday, May 15, 2020

Need Money to Pay Taxes? How Not To Get It

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Another television court show with a tax angle popped up on the screen recently. The list of these shows on which I have commented continues...
Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Using a Tax Agency to Collect Tithes: A Very Bad Idea

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A little more than a week ago, in Using a Revenue Agency to Collect a Fine Does Not Convert the Fine Into a Tax , I answered a question from...
Monday, May 11, 2020

Reading Tax Instructions Is Important But Why Not Make Things Easier for Taxpayers?

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Reader Morris sent me an email titled “Read tax instructions carefully." I knew he wasn’t trying to get ME to read tax instructions car...
Friday, May 08, 2020

A Tax That Won’t Accomplish Its Purpose

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Governments around the world are facing the challenge of persuading and compelling people to maintain physical distancing. Understandably, m...
Wednesday, May 06, 2020

Why Tax Law Is More of a Mess Than It Needs to Be

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Ever wonder why the federal income tax law is a mess? Ever wonder why it keeps getting changed? Ever wonder why it’s unclear. Here’s a good ...
Monday, May 04, 2020

Using a Revenue Agency to Collect a Fine Does Not Convert the Fine Into a Tax

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Reader Morris directed my attention to this story and asked, “Is this a case where a fine becomes a tax?” According to the story, the presi...
Friday, May 01, 2020

When One Tax Break Giveaway Isn’t Enough

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It’s been about a year since I last reiterated my opposition to the use of tax breaks to finance construction of facilities for, or operatio...
Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Tax and “Write-Offs”

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Reader Morris referred me to an entry on the Seinfeld Law blog . It describes one of the plot threads in the episode, “The Package.” The fac...
Monday, April 27, 2020

Tax Fraud, Alameda Style

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According to this story , two tax return preparers in Alameda, California, have been charged with conspiring to file dozens of fraudulent ta...
Friday, April 24, 2020

Even in a Crisis, Tax Breaks Disproportionately Benefit the Wealthy

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In a report covered in many stories, including this Philadelphia Inquirer article , the Joint Committee on Taxation has revealed that more t...
Wednesday, April 22, 2020

A Most Horrendous Children’s Tax Story

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It started with “Tax Story,” which I discussed in A Frightening Tax Story , and continued with “The Bike Shop,” which I discussed in Another...
Monday, April 20, 2020

Was It Tax Fraud?

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It’s time for another television court show commentary, this time with tax front and center. Sometimes that happens, but often the tax issue...