Most Recent Posts
Is A Major IRS Crackdown On Partnerships Looming?
Jerry Curnutt has been a voice crying out in the wilderness since 2000 when he retired from IRS as a GS 14. He believes that there are vast amounts of unrecognized partnership gain getting by the IRS. Partnerships with large negative capital just wink out from the IRS Business Master File. If you think like an accountant, you expect there to be a final return where everything goes to zero, which arguably would require gain recognition
Senate Investigation Of Easement Syndications Worth Celebrating
This investigation involved reviewing hundreds of additional emails, which generally repeated the subjects discussed above. The transaction promoters were selling tax deductions, and their taxpayer-investors were buying them. The investigation did not uncover a single email from a single promoter, responding either voluntarily or to a subpoena, that reflects a taxpayer’s primary interest being the development of land, and this investigation did not uncover a single email that a reflected a taxpayer’s primary interest being the conservation of land.
Education Of A Tax Court Judge
Cadet Lauber’s status as a “rich kid” would not have meant all that much inside the school. Everybody was wearing the same uniform. And not even seniors were driving cars to school. Students could distinguish themselves academically, athletically, with military zeal or in a variety of activities or as authority scorning malcontents.
Asked about the effect of the military aspect of the school he mentioned the strict discipline. But when probed on that he spoke of the Prefect of Discipline, a Jesuit priest. The reign of terror that passed for discipline was actually Jesuit enforced. JROTC just gave it a bit of a military favor with “jug”- Jesuit high school detention – being supervised by cadet officers and NCOs with some marching and standing at attention and hall monitors being designated MPs.
Tax Court Will Go Dark For December
I actually kind of like the notion of a month of silence from the Tax Court. My original blogging strategy was to read as much current original source material as I could and write about the things that I find interesting. The Tax Court was by far my best source.
Over the years though rather than having my posts be essentially reactions to opinions, I have done more digging. Also I have found that there are ongoing story arcs that demand attention. Kent Hovind alone could keep me going if I had more patience with Youtube. Bottom line is that I have fallen woefully behind in reading current cases and the December hiatus will give me a chance to catch up.
But what will happen to Lew Taishoff? Mr. Taishoff blogs the Tax Court with fierce intensity. He posts on decisions before the ink is dry on them or maybe we should say while the electrons are still excited. And he even goes through the Tax Court orders. Well he has made it through government shutdowns and other dry spells. So I suppose that he will make it through this drought.
Trump Seven Springs Easement Deduction May Be Reasonable
The Seven Springs easement is real and it is on a property that he owned a long time. The New York AG probably is politically motivated in pursuing this. The Post has done some really good work here and they weren’t afraid to report a competing narrative, so they deserve a lot of credit. Other than that. Not much to see here, folks.
Proposed Bill Will Not End Conservation Easement Tax Abuse
The reason the number is 2.5 is that assuming you have a 40% marginal rate that would be your break-even multiple. That is the multiple that the IRS used when it identified deals as listed transactions in 2017. It is possible that the ultimate source of the 2.5 is Stephen Small, an attorney who has crusaded against abusive deals and supported the more benign deals.
Four Months To Eternity In Prison If Trump Tax Data Leaker Caught
It will probably be a while before we are at cocktail parties or conferences or the like, but if you are at one and the subject of the New York Times disclosures comes up and people start getting into the Trump crimes that might be inferred, you can segue to “But what about the federal crimes the leaker might have committed?” By having actual statutes in mind, you can sound very knowledgeable. Here is what we identified:
New York Times Trump Tax Story Disappoints
If we want to look at the Trump as masterful dodger narrative, the question would be whether there is anything extraordinary about him given what he is involved in. In his capacity as commercial real estate master of the universe, there is nothing inconsistent with being successful and not paying much in the way of income tax.
The limitation on excess business losses enacted as part of TCJA and suspended as part of the CARES Act illustrates that principle. I had someone with expertise in that area speculating that Trump donates his presidential salary so that he can maintain the real estate professional status required to deduct some of his losses. I discuss that concept here.
The Irresistible Allure Of Abusive Conservation Tax Deductions
Originally published on Forbes.com. There is no such thing as bad publicity. That may be what is proved by the continuing growth of the syndicated conservation...
Economist Challenges Assumptions Of Wealth Tax Advocates
What is disturbing is the notion that all the work would go into establishing and collecting the wealth tax only to have to refund it all, with interest. This is a real threat. Dollars to donuts most wealth tax returns with multi-million dollar checks will be followed as night follows day with protective refund claims. The tax will be contested in multiple circuits and the Supreme, little as they like tax cases, will have to deal with it.