Most Recent Posts
Searching For The Perfect Steak With An Imperfect Tax Plan
Originally published on Forbes.com. Traveling the world going from one fine restaurant to the next searching for the perfect steak. It just doesn't get any...
Selling Your Business – Watch Out For Effect On 199A Pass-Through Deduction
The provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that right now is giving the most stress to tax preparers is probably Section 199A also known as the pass-through deduction. Sitting in an RV in a state park in Georgia, I once again am grateful that I retired from doing compliance work. Not having any current returns to crank out gives me time to think about the effect that 199A might have on deal structuring.
Advice For The Looming Tax Deadline – No Fooling
Originally published on Forbes.com. The due date for individual tax returns is actually April 15th this year for most of us. Emancipation Day, a holiday in the...
Grassley Wyden Take On Sketchy Conservation Tax Shelters
The highest and best use is going to be something hypothetical. This is where things can get out of hand. The development to bring the property to its highest and best use is not something that actually has to be executed. So there can be a tendency to think big and assume away minor obstacles like zoning. There was one case where the proposed development didn’t even fit on the parcel. I mean – So what? It’s not like you were going to actually build it.
On top of the valuation issue, there are times when the donee organizations are a little sketchy and won’t really be able to enforce the easements. And sometimes the conservation or public benefit of the easement is altogether dubious. Sometimes easements are given on properties that are already so restricted that there is no real value to them. I compare those to me renouncing my superpowers.
Hobby Loss Claim Goes Down In Flames
The captain’s initial plan was to sell rides on the plane. (The Firefly had a crew of two, so I guess the passenger would get the navigator/weapons officer spot) Of course, that required making the 60% restored Firefly 100% flyable. That took eight years and 45,000 man-hours. Some of the tsoris involved is outlined in this story by John Sotham in Air&Space.
When the plane was ready for its intended use, basis had grown to $1.6 million which translated into annual depreciation deductions over $80,000. It turned out that taking up passengers who could fantasize about dropping bombs on the Tirpitz or Japanese submarines was not feasible. So Captain Eddie took to the air shows, where the plane did quite well, but to live in fame did not bring in enough revenue to cover expenses. Losses mounted up.
A Day At Dinosaur Adventure Land
When my son William and I were driving across the country in 2010, our Garmin sent us on a dirt road, where we ended up stranded for a couple of hours. So there was a...
On The Basis Of Sex: Treats RBG’s Opponents Like Cartoon Villains
Originally published on Forbes.com. On The Basis Of Sex will be on Amazon on March 26. If you didn't see it in the theater, watch it. And if you did see it in the...
Parsonage: Religious Liberty Smuggles Sex Discrimination Into Tax Law
The stipend is a nice gesture and I applaud, but ironically it makes the case for 107(2) at least in this context being a straight up subsidy. The college doesn’t have to pay the men as much, because of their religious status which has nothing to do with the work that they do.
I’m not that much of a constitutional purist, but 107(2) is really in need of an overhaul due to the abuse that is going on. First off it needs a dollar ceiling like just about every other housing provision. I’d go with $50,000 because I like round numbers and that is about what a two-star general gets in an expensive part of the country.
And if the rationale is the special requirements of parish ministry substitute “community spiritual leader” or something like that for “minister of the gospel”. Define “community spiritual leader” in terms of actual face to face activity in a defined geographic area. That will cut out the televangelists, denominational leaders, professors, and basketball ministers and create parity among churches that have tighter or looser standards for who is a minister.
Discrepancy or Discrimination? Doesn’t matter
I inquired why some of the men I worked with were considered ministers and thus, eligible for the ministerial housing allowance tax benefit while the women I worked with were not considered eligible
Lunch At The Drowsy Poet With Eric Hovind
I hadn't planned on writing about my get together with Eric Hovind or even telling anybody about it other than my partner. At the end of our time together, though, he...