Friday, January 29, 2021

When Fraudulent Tax Return Filing Is Part of A Bigger Fraudulent Scheme

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Usually, taxpayers who file fraudulent returns do so to reduce their tax liabilities, or to create or increase refunds that exceed what they...
Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Is It the Tax or Is It Something Else?

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Recently, in a New York Post opinion piece , Charles Cooke explained his frustration with an unfortunate experience he endured when dealing ...
Monday, January 25, 2021

Tax Return Preparation Indictment: From 44 To Three

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Another tax return preparer has been caught and indicted, and has pleaded guilty. I have written about tax return preparers getting into tro...
Friday, January 22, 2021

Tax Headlines: Difficult to Write But Need to Be Accurate

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Many years ago, after a reporter had written a story about my basic federal income tax class, I asked him about the headline. He explained t...
Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Some Thoughts About the “Wheel Tax”

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A television station in Wisconsin features a “You Ask, We Answer” segment. In last Friday’s episode , the station answered the question, “Wh...
Monday, January 18, 2021

A Taxing WhatAboutIsm Attempt

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Over the years, when I have encountered a tax issue in a television court show, the tax issue has been relevant in some way that affected th...
Friday, January 15, 2021

What If They Enacted a Tax Credit and Nobody Used It?

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Last September, in Suppose They Gave a “Tax Break” And No One Used It? , I noted that many employers had planned to ignore the payroll tax d...
Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Stimulus Payments Make Tax Filing More Complicated (for Some)

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Following the statute, the IRS has explained that eligibility for the 2021 stimulus payment is based on the taxpayer’s 2019 adjusted gross ...
Monday, January 11, 2021

For Tax Purposes, Apparently a Hostel is Not a Hostel

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About a month ago, in Not That More Proof Is Needed, But Here’s Another Example That Taxes Aren’t “Just Numbers” , I wrote about the dispute...
Friday, January 08, 2021

Prison for Tax Return Preparer Who Does Almost Everything Wrong

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I have written about tax return preparers getting into trouble because they falsify client returns or invent fake clients in order to get fr...
Wednesday, January 06, 2021

Tax Cuts, Tax Repeals: When Will They Ever Learn?

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I have written so often about the failure of supply-side trickle-down tax and economic theory that I won’t even try to list all of the posts...
Monday, January 04, 2021

Grabbing Tax Breaks, Sports Franchises, Casinos, and Now, a Water Park

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Readers of this blog know that I oppose using tax breaks to finance construction of facilities for, or operations of, professional sports fr...
Friday, January 01, 2021

Vacation Home Rental Arrangements Pose Tax and Other Legal Questions

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A long-time reader shared with me a situation he has seen raised on tax forums. A parent owns a vacation home that sits empty most of the ye...
Wednesday, December 30, 2020

In the Tax World, Signatures Matter But How Many Taxpayers Fully Understand What That Means?

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A recent U.S. Court of Federal Claims case, Brown v. United States , demonstrates what not to do when it is time to sign an amended tax retu...
Monday, December 28, 2020

High Quality Tax and Economics Research Exposes Money Addiction

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For years I have been arguing that trickle-down supply-side economics, a theory used to persuade people that tax cuts for the wealthy are go...
Friday, December 25, 2020

Christmas Trees and Christmas “Gifts”

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It has been decades since I learned the meaning of “Christmas Tree legislation.” It was when I was working in Washington, D.C., dealing with...
Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Tax and Spending Hypocrisy

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Three years ago, the Congress, or more specifically, the Republican members of Congress, didn’t flinch when they enacted a tax bill that gav...
Monday, December 21, 2020

Fraudulent Tax Return Preparation for Clients and the Preparer

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When tax return preparers get into trouble, it’s almost always because they falsify client returns or invent fake clients in order to get fr...
Friday, December 18, 2020

Bribing the Tax Collector: Bad Outcomes on Both Sides of the Deals

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The headline to this story caught my eye: “2 women charged with bribing former DeKalb tax official.” I thought to myself, what happened to ...
Wednesday, December 16, 2020

It’s Not Just Sports Franchise Owners Grasping at Tax Breaks

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Time and again I have written about my opposition to the use of tax breaks to finance construction of facilities for, or operations of, prof...