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Most Recent Posts

Failure To File Texas Franchise Tax Form Voids Lawsuit

EEPB got lucky, as it turns out.  The trial court had granted EEPB’s motion for summary judgment that the malpractice claim was extinguished three years after CAC’s charter was forfeited  and that reinstatement did not breathe life back into the claim.

The dates are important. CAC became a “terminated filing entity” on February 8, 2008 for not filing franchise tax forms.  A terminated filing entity stays in existence for three years for the limited purpose of “prosecuting or defending in the terminated entity’s name an action or proceeding brought by or against the terminated entity”. So CAC had to bring its suit against EEPB by February 8, 2011.  The suit was filed on February 15, 2013,  The forfeiture of CAC’s charter had been set aside on March 29, 2011, presumably by catching up on the franchise tax.  But that catch up did not revive the claim that was extinguished on February 8, 2011.

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Oregon Tax Court Approves Taxation Of Church Rectory

Oregon Tax Court Approves Taxation Of Church Rectory

It would seem that many church rectories or parsonages, to use the homey American term, would flunk the test laid out by the Oregon Tax Court.  It will be interesting to see whether this becomes a trend. Parsonages have fallen out of favor with many Protestant denominations where the big tax subsidy is the federal income tax break that exempts cash paid for housing allowances from income tax.  The dubious constitutionality of that provision has avoided scrutiny thanks to rulings on nobody having standing to object to it.

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Conservation Easements – Tax Court Lets Owner Sell Them Or Give Them But Not Both

Conservation Easements – Tax Court Lets Owner Sell Them Or Give Them But Not Both

To determine the amount of your charitable deduction you need to get an expert appraiser.  Generally, there is not an active market for conservation easements, so the value is determined by valuing the property at its “highest and best use” (i.e. what brings the most money) and subtracting the value of the property in the current use to which it is now to be restricted.  It’s the “highest and best use” that is the fantasy number.  It is something that nobody is ever going to do so why not make it as grand as conceivable.  Since practical obstacles don’t have to actually be overcome, they can be safely ignored.

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Structuring – First Kent Hovind – Now Dennis Hastert

Structuring – First Kent Hovind – Now Dennis Hastert

Personally, I’m becoming convinced that structuring prosecutions are a bad idea.  My inference is that they are attractive to prosecutors because it is a lot easier to prove than the nefarious activity that the structuring is thought to support.  On top of that the forfeiture provisions can make the effort self-financing.   It is too easy for supporters of those prosecuted that way to cast them as victims and increase the amount of alienation in the world.  Hovind’s travails while receiving almost no mainstream attention have been a staple of right-wing conspiracy outlets such as Alex Jones for a while now, although the Hovindicators chide those venues for lack of zeal.  The criminal prosecution of Kent Hovind has proven to be counterproductive to the cause of tax compliance and the use of structuring charges has greatly contributed to his supporters religious persecution narrative.  I suspect that the prosecution of Dennis Hassert will also not be something that ends well for the country.

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TurboTax Glitch Leads To Long Battle With IRS

TurboTax Glitch Leads To Long Battle With IRS

Somebody once told me that my problem is that being an Aquarian, I want everybody to get along, so that bias might be behind my theory that there might be a more benign explanation for Mr. McNaughton’s difficulties. I think he really threw the IRS for a loop by dusting off that 301.6511 (g)-1.  His decisions are the only time that regulation is mentioned in case law and there are no rulings of any kind that mention it.  Furthermore, the IRS has been trying to get more time to root out partnership shenanigans, so it is possible that the Service would have been happy if he turned out to be right, hence the chief counsel involvement.  Regardless, there is hardly anybody still working for the IRS that would have any reason to know about that regulation.

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