Most Recent Posts
Is Tax Court Decision End of Colorado Conservation Range War ?
If you are considering a conservation easement donation, be sure to use an organization with a long-established track record and significant resources. Don’t do it unless you have a sincere desire for the property to be preserved. And when it comes to the valuation, there is being aggressive and there is being crazy. As we used to say at Joseph B. Cohan and Associates, “Pigs get fed. Hogs get slaughtered.”
Photographing, Writing, Flying But Ultimately Not Deducting
The Court also had issues with substantiation. Although he had receipts for his expenses, they were not correlated with the business purposes of the expenditures. Mr. Oros was representing himself in Tax Court, which is understandable given the relatively low stakes. I’m wondering if the case might have gone the other way if he had had a tax litigator in his corner. He had consulted with a CPA on the deductibility of his expenses before filing, which at least saved him penalties. Lew Taishoff did a nice piece on this case titled “I Could Write a Book.”
Student Loans and Bankruptcy – The Debate Continues
Remember that as we speak, the true default rate likely reaches or exceeds 40% and that the general public is quickly learning about the systemic corruption that has been festering across the schools, lenders, and federal government for years. I would say that if the higher education decision-makers (including Congress and the Executive branch) continue to ignore this problem for any significant length of time, they can expect the full-scale evaporation of public confidence in the lending system, and morphing of public fear and compliance into deep resentment and focused anger. In this environment, few will pay their student loans, and the bureaucrats and electeds who, today, dishonor themselves through gross neglect of the public interest can look forward to explaining why they failed to act at this critical time when all that will follow could have been efficiently averted.
IRS Promotes its Social Media Resources
Originally Published on forbes.com on January 8th, 2012 ______________________________________ One of the first things to come out of the IRS this year is this little...
“Occupy Cabrini” Does Not Spare Boston Archdiocese from Property Taxes
Originally Published on forbes.com on January 8th, 2012 ______________________________________ I have an affinity for multiples of 15. It is not from playing cribbage,...
Could Romney Use His Own Return to Call Obama’s Bluff on Carried Interest ?
Originally Published on forbes.com on January 7th, 2012 ______________________________________ Mitt Romney’s refusal to release his tax return has brought the “carried...
Snark Hunting Not Deductible
Originally Published on forbes.com on January 4th, 2012 ______________________________________ Hunting of the Snark. Are the costs of an ________, led by a corporate...
Boston Taxi Heirs Prevail in Tax Court
Originally Published on forbes.com on January 4th, 2012 ______________________________________ Appreciated assets inside a closely held C corporation in a taxable...
6 Family Limited Partnership Developments In 2011
Originally Published on forbes.com on December 30th, 2011 ______________________________________ The family limited partnership is a very powerfulestate...
Should Student Loans be Dischargeable in Bankruptcy ?
Until Congress does what is right and the Department of Education has skin in the game for students, the invisible hand will not operate like it does for all other lending systems, and no fix (like gainful employment, for example) will have any meaningful effect. Prices, debt, and defaults will increase to the point where the American public will reject the entire lending system and all it supports. The related social consequences of this are not clear, but it is clear that we don’t need to go there. And as the American Street demonstrates, this is likely something that Congress must do sooner rather than later, and in a non-partisan manner.