Yogi Berra’s Sayings Worked Their Way Into Tax Decisions
As is my habit when the prominent pass, I had to check whether he had been involved in tax litigation. I didn’t find anything and my Thomson Reuters Checkpoint is pretty comprehensive and my research skills are pretty good. After all, tax blogging is 90% good research; the other three-quarters is creativity. Nonetheless, Yogi Berra has influenced the tax world through his wisdom and is likely the most quoted baseball player in the body of tax material.
The Tax Code Explained & Why It Matters In This Presidential Race (No, It’s Not 70K Pages)
Two quick examples. Somebody comes before the Tax Court and says that they don’t believe wages are income. The Tax Court tells them that they are wrong – so wrong in fact that they are going to be sanctioned for making a stupid argument. People keep doing it anyway, which adds to the body of case law. Organizations that don’t qualify for exempt status apply for it and are turned down. That adds to the body of private letter rulings, which thanks to the Freedom of Information Act are no longer entirely private. There is no way I can conceive of to prevent that body of material from continuing to grow.
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Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.