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Most Recent Posts

From Russia With Built-In Losses

From Russia With Built-In Losses

The whole thing was put together by Deutsche Bank which was one of the major players in the raid on the treasury orchestrated by the Big Four accounting firms that is documented in Tania Rostain and Milton Regan’s Confidence Games. A couple of key numbers make it clear that the whole thing had become about tax losses rather than distressed Russian debt. Assets worth about $14 million were contributed to RRF. Those assets were sold not too long afterwards from over $20 million, which is some indication of Ms. Zimmerman’s genius. Deutsche Bank ended up getting nearly $10 million in fees which indicates that the good economics were the sizzle and the tax losses were the steak

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Presidential Candidate Tax Plans Coming In Slow

Presidential Candidate Tax Plans Coming In Slow

There doesn’t seem to be much there to do a lot of planning with. I have two things I would consider though. One is that if your estate is north of $5 million, you should really look at using up your unified credit ideally with a technique like a family limited partnership that leverages the credit. The other argument I would make is that if you have been contemplating doing something big involving a charitable deduction, it would be wise to do it sooner rather than later. Even Sanders is not calling for a higher maximum individual rate so you don’t have that reason to hold off. There is a lot of talk about closing loopholes and even a proposal to limit the value of charitable contributions to 28%. On the other hand, you have Rubio and Rand calling for lower marginal rates. Either way the argument is strong that you should make major charitable moves sooner rather than later.

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Billion Dollar Ball By Gilbert Gaul And The Unlikely Charity Known As College Football

As I noted you can get the tax geek stuff in the book in more concentrated form from Colombo’s article, but I still recommend the book.  The Title IX section is probably the most fascinating.  Title IX  requires some sort of parity between what colleges offer men and women when it comes to athletic programs.  Because of Title IX, the complement to a big college football team tends to be a significant women’s rowing program.  It is one of the oddest non-sequiturs I have ever noted.

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Tax Planning For The Risk Of A Bernie Sanders Win

The funniest thing about the tax proposals is that this candidate who is as far left as you can go without getting into Green Party territory is promoting a tax package that would pretty much bring us to the second half of the Reagan administration  when it comes to income and estate tax.

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Why IRS Telephone Scamming Works

Why IRS Telephone Scamming Works

Over the years when I have occasionally run into people who got behind on their taxes, one of the things I noted is that being behind on their taxes is rarely their only problem.  It is a symptom of a larger problem. Also they tend to be overwhelmed by the situation and often try to ignore it as much as possible. Many are not proactive and are clueless about what the IRS actually does and does not do in regard to collections.  And now thanks to budget cuts, the IRS is not being proactive in pursuing many of them.  I think it is likely that the telephone scammers are filling this vacuum.  They know that if they call a couple of 100 people that a couple of them will be people who actually do owe back taxes, but only have a vague idea of how much they owe and have no clue as to what their rights are.

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About That Kenneth Copeland Mansion You Saw On John Oliver

About That Kenneth Copeland Mansion You Saw On John Oliver

Something that would be a small blow against the greediest of the televangelist that would not be harmful to more modest clergy would be a dollar limit on the cash housing allowance under Section 107(2) . FFRF’s attack on the housing allowance had a marvelous effect on the ecumenical movement. One of the amicus briefs defending the housing allowance had Southern Baptists joining with the Russian Orthodox, the Krishna Consciousness people and the Islamic Center of Boca Raton. I’m hoping that a proposal for a dollar cap might not be as disturbing to denominations that don’t have so many mega pastors.

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Sending IRS Against Phony Churches Is Bringing A Knife To A Gun Fight

Sending IRS Against Phony Churches Is Bringing A Knife To A Gun Fight

Also, the IRS can’t really be in a position to assert that religious beliefs are bogus. Set aside the fringe and look at mainstream Christianity. The claim is that God sent his son to Earth and let him be sacrificed to save mankind. Moreover, one should tithe or otherwise donate to churches to support the institutions, spread the word, and also help the less fortunate. Other than helping the downtrodden, it sounds absolutely nuts to a non-believer, much like Greek mythology sounds to us today. The IRS has to tread very lightly when dealing with faith and claims that religious leaders are ripping off their flock. As a constitutional matter, we really don’t want the government intruding in religion and telling people what to believe or that their beliefs are bogus.

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John Oliver Should Not Blame IRS For Televangelist Tax Abuse

Like many John Oliver skits, this spoof, while amusing, raises serious issues. To identify three of these: First, the IRS does not write the Internal Revenue Code. Congress does and the American people elect Congress. To minimize church-state entanglement, Congress has constrained the IRS’s ability to audit churches. Mr. Oliver criticizes this low audit rate without explaining who is responsible for it, namely, Congress.

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