Tax - Your Tax Matters Partner

How To Not Get A Deduction For Paying Your Girlfriend’s Mortgage

by admin | Jul 9, 2016 | Tax

Originally published on Forbes.com. So how are you supposed to refer to the other half of a couple that lives together with neither the burdens nor benefits of marriage? At the suggestion of my friend Jonathan Schwartz, I have decided to go with covivant to refer to...

Restoring Fifties Plymouths Ruled Business Not Hobby By Tax Court

by admin | Jul 7, 2016 | Tax

Originally published on Forbes.com. I like it when a taxpayer wins while representing himself in Tax Court – even if he is an attorney. Richard Brewster Main is a patent attorney and had a business that involved “creating prototypes, inventing electronics...

F. Lee Bailey Bankruptcy Rooted In Poor Record Keeping

by admin | Jun 28, 2016 | Tax

Originally published on Forbes.com. The F. Lee Bailey bankruptcy discussed in the Washington Post is not much of a surprise to me. F. Lee Bailey’s resumption of his pre-Sam Shephard practice of tax litigation, this time on his own behalf lit up the tax...

Tax Court Denies Amway Losses Due To Lack Of Profit Motive

by admin | Jun 25, 2016 | Tax

Originally published on Forbes.com. I was surprised to see that I haven’t written about an Amway case in over two years. Well, a new one came out this week and James E. Hess, like pretty much every taxpayer who has ever disputed disallowance of Amway losses in...

Donor-Advised Funds: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

by admin | Jun 24, 2016 | Tax

The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy Originally published on Forbes.com. The New York Review of Books article The Undermining of American Charity is a good example of a somewhat arcane tax story that really deserves to break out of the tax ghetto. What the authors, noted...

Deep Discount From Asset Values In Family Limited Partnership Valuation

by admin | Jun 23, 2016 | Tax

Originally published on Forbes.com. Nearly five years ago I wrote about the Tax Court decision in Estate of Natale B. Giustina as an illustration of what a great valuation deal you can get using a family limited partnership. The Giustina Land and Timber Company...