Betty Friedan 360x1000
2jesusandjohnwayne
9albion
1defense
Maria Popova 360x1000
Tad Friend 360x1000
2defense
Margaret Fuller 360x1000
10abion
Mark V Holmes 360x1000
1confidencegames
Anthony McCann1 360x1000
199
Richard Posner 360x1000
3defense
lifeinmiddlemarch1
399
1paradide
Thomas Piketty2 360x1000
Office of Chief Counsel 360x1000
Gilgamesh 360x1000
1madoff
3paradise
Susie King Taylor2 360x1000
6albion
13albion
Lafayette and Jefferson 360x1000
Samuel Johnson 360x1000
George M Cohan and Lerarned Hand 360x1000
1falsewitness
1empireofpain
5albion
Stormy Daniels 360x1000
Margaret Fuller4 360x1000
6confidencegames
AlexRosenberg
2trap
lifeinmiddlemarch2
499
James Gould Cozzens 360x1000
2confidencegames
7albion
7confidencegames
Edmund Burke 360x1000
2lookingforthegoodwar
Margaret Fuller1 360x1000
LillianFaderman
1trap
Anthony McCann2 360x1000
1lauber
2gucci
Susie King Taylor 360x1000
2paradise
8albion'
Adam Gopnik 360x1000
1transcendentalist
Mary Ann Evans 360x1000
4albion
299
14albion
George F Wil...360x1000
11632
storyparadox2
2falsewitness
2transadentilist
Maurice B Foley 360x1000
Brendan Beehan 360x1000
1lookingforthegoodwar
2albion
Storyparadox1
11albion
3theleastofus
Thomas Piketty3 360x1000
Spottswood William Robinson 360x1000
Margaret Fuller 2 360x1000
1theleasofus
1jesusandjohnwayne
12albion
2theleastofus
5confidencegames
Margaret Fuller3 360x1000
Thomas Piketty1 360x1000
2lafayette
Margaret Fuller2 360x1000
3albion
4confidencegames
storyparadox3
3confidencegames
1gucci
1albion
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 360x1000
1lafayette
Margaret Fuller5 360x1000
Learned Hand 360x1000

Most Recent Posts

Physicians Case Against ObamaCare Knocked Out On Standing

Physicians Case Against ObamaCare Knocked Out On Standing

The doctors argued that there was a violation of separation of powers, although the Court thought it might have been more Article II and the Tenth Amendment.  No matter.  The district court dismissed the case for lack of standing.  The doctors were not arguing about their own taxes.

read more
For Joint Filing Status You Have To File

For Joint Filing Status You Have To File

Mr. Salzer, whom the Tax Court characterizes as a substantial wage earner, did not file a return in 2010, because he disagreed with government policies.  I have to have some admiration, perhaps grudging, for that, since that type of thing is what got Henry David Thoreau the night in jail that resulted in his writing about civil disobedience.

read more

CEO At Climate March Calls For Carbon Tax

The tax would be applied at the point of extraction or as the fuel is shipped into the country.  It could be applied either to reduce other taxes or create a per capita rebate to help people to deal with the added cost of, well, just about everything.  Probably the item that has the most emotional impact on a lot of us is the effect on the price of gassing up the car.  According to Geoff a carbon tax that would provide a $1,600 per capita rebate would add twenty cents to a gallon of gas.  OK. Here’s the deal.  I don’t have the capacity to really check that out, so I’m not going to attempt it.

I do, however, think that even if, maybe especially if, you have strong free market views, the principle is sound.  The free market does not work well when there are externalities – costs imposed on people who are not part of the deal.  A carbon tax would force the externalities to be internalized and reflected in the price of goods and services based on the carbon effect of the various transactions as they percolate through the economy.  If you believe that the burning of fossil fuels is doing bad things to the climate, the carbon tax is probably the best free market solution.

read more
Computer Game Pioneer Trip Hawkins May Escape Tax Debt

Computer Game Pioneer Trip Hawkins May Escape Tax Debt

Mr. Hawkins was not doing anything like that.  The problem that the government had with his behavior is that he kept spending at a level well above his income even though he owed a lot of money.  Since the Ninth Circuit started its opinion out by quoting a remark by F. Scott Fitzgerald to Hemingway “the rich are different than you and me”, I expected something really stupendous about Mr. Hawkins’s lifestyle.  Something Gatsbylike.

read more
Professional C Corp Denied Deduction For Uncashed Salary Check To Owner

Professional C Corp Denied Deduction For Uncashed Salary Check To Owner

When I think of the simple things that might have avoided this problem, it makes me want to cry.  Mr. Vanney indicates that the corporation could have easily borrowed the money.  So how much would a $200,000 loan for a month or two have cost?  Considerably less than over a quarter of a million dollars in corporate tax.  Alternatively, he could have taken a $400,000 bonus in early December, cashed the check and made a formal documented loan to the company.  Then there would have been enough cash to pay out the balance at the end of December.

There is even a last minute solution that occurs to me.  Instead of cutting a net check for $460,000, make the net check for $250,000 which is deposited in Mr. Vanney’s account to be loaned back if necessary in January.  For the balance of the net pay instead of just making a book entry, have the corporation issue a negotiable promissory note.  Even if the negotiable promissory note, which I think should work, does not stand up, at least, most of the deduction is safe.

read more
Need To Show Rental Effort To Deduct Expenses

Need To Show Rental Effort To Deduct Expenses

As the Tax Court noted, evidence the Meinhardts made no changes in their efforts to rent the property, despite thirty unsuccessful years, undermined their assertion that they sought to profit by renting the property. The lack of evidence of a rental property business strategy, and evidence they allowed relatives to live in the house rent-free, supported a finding that the Meinhardts held the property as an alternative residence for the personal use of their extended family.

read more
Grandfather Beats IRS In Tax Court Without Lawyer

Grandfather Beats IRS In Tax Court Without Lawyer

They mystery to me is why when the IRS decided to drop the penalty, they did not drop the case entirely, since, by dropping the penalty, they were indicating that they did not think Mr. Roberts was lying and, given that, it’s pretty clear that he wins.  That the deficiency notice got issued in the first place is perhaps not that surprising given the amount of fraud there is surrounding the earned income credit.  That may have turned the people working those cases into a bunch of cynical bastards.  It wouldn’t take me long. It is worth noting that it was very wise for Mr. Roberts to have entered into the written agreement with Ms. Moody rather than having the arrangement be informal. That extra piece of evidence may have been what won the case for him.

read more