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Most Recent Posts

Jill Stein Releases 2015 Federal Tax Return

Jill Stein Releases 2015 Federal Tax Return

Since Schedule A is not included we don’t know how much the Rohrer-Steins deducted in charitable contributions.  We can infer that it is not a really large number. Their total itemized deductions were $32,229.  They live in Massachusetts, so a back of the envelope on their state income tax deduction would be about $18,000.  Throw in maybe $7,000 for real estate taxes and there is not a lot left over for charity.  A sign that their itemized deduction lean heavily towards taxes is that they are hit with $7,074 in AMT.

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AICPA Has No Standing To Litigate IRS Credential Program

AICPA Has No Standing To Litigate IRS Credential Program

The AICPA continues to oppose any program that identifies individuals who have proven competency and currency in preparing 1040s. They feel CPA’s “own” the tax preparation industry and continue to try to maintain the bogus “urban tax myth” that CPAs are 1040 experts.

The AICPA claimed its members were injured parties because they could lose business to the voluntarily registered preparers. Of course CPAs will lose business if there is a way to properly identify tax preparers who remain current in 1040 tax law – and they should!

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Tax Payments Can Be Delayed For A Very Long Time

Tax Payments Can Be Delayed For A Very Long Time

A couple of thoughts on this.  One is that you really don’t want to try this with a tax liability that you could pay without breaking yourself because you will get it to grow to that level.  On the other hand, the IRS does agree that Mr. Hauptman will not be able to pay the whole tab.  Once that threshold is clearly crossed, the amount of the tax liability and accumulated interest and penalties is no longer important.  (See Reilly’s Tenth Law of Tax Planning).  So what’s the hurry?

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Accounting Manager Fights IRS For Deduction For MBA Courses

Accounting Manager Fights IRS For Deduction For MBA Courses

We believe that the facts support petitioners’ argument. When petitioner enrolled in the EMBA degree program, he was a well-established finance and accounting business manager at Marriott LAX. He managed the hotel’s financial operations and auditing departments, he was responsible for large groups of employees from various backgrounds and specializations, and he made sure the hotel’s business practices were in compliance with GAAP. When his employment was abruptly terminated, he continued to take courses at BYU that improved his managerial and leadership skills–skills that were appropriate and helpful to his position as a business manager. The courses petitioner chose to fulfill his degree requirements did not qualify him for a new trade or business because he was not qualified to perform new tasks or activities with the conferral of his degree. Instead, petitioner chose courses in a line of study that he was familiar with–management and finance. Even though petitioner took a few courses that were outside this scope, we do not believe that these courses by themselves could have prepared him to enter a new trade or business.

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Where Are Jill Stein’s Tax Returns?

If Dr. Stein inherited anything other than an interest in a socially responsible organic zero energy health food store, there will be somebody on the floor at the Green Party convention asking why she doesn’t give it up

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EPI Economists Argue That Financial Transaction Tax Is Win Win For Economy

EPI Economists Argue That Financial Transaction Tax Is Win Win For Economy

The latter observation reminds me of a game I used to play.  You were the ruler of a country and you decided how much seed to plant and how much to feed people.  You could also buy and sell land and grain.  After playing the game for a while I concluded that planting and harvesting were a waste of time. You could win by focusing on land and grain speculation.  And I just let my peasants eat cake.

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Saga Of An Entrepreneurial Family Catching A Tough IRS Audit

Saga Of An Entrepreneurial Family Catching A Tough IRS Audit

The core of the McMinn empire was the embroidery machine business.  They find embroidery machines, buy them, refurbish them and sell them.  Quite a few go to Mexico. They also capitalize on their expertise in knowing how to move these machines around.  It is a profitable business.  There is more than one entity involved and I am going to gloss over those details.  Read the case if you are interested.

Then there was the cattle business, which did not do too well, so they were converting that to deer ranching.  And the resort.  Not to mention the juice business. Juice Plus. a multi-level marketing operation.  The McMinns ended up getting hammered on three issues, Section 183, the so-called hobby loss rules, wages that they paid their numerous children, and substantiation.  The substantiation piece is the most important lesson that the decision holds for us.  If you have mixed personal and business use of expensive assets, keep logs.

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The Guardian Seeks Transparency In Amazon Tax Court Case

The Guardian Seeks Transparency In Amazon Tax Court Case

Guardian has not cited, and our own research has not discovered, any instance in which this Court, or any other court, has been asked to decide whether a media organization should be allowed to intervene in a pending Federal tax controversy. Guardian’s motion presents novel questions, both as to the proper standards for intervention in the absence of any Rule governing the subject, and as to whether the IRS, as an agency of the United States, adequately represents Guardian’s interest in public disclosure.

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