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Most Recent Posts

How To Cash Your Powerball Winning Ticket Anonymously

The limited liability company will not save income tax or estate taxes.  What it will do is provide a confidential vehicle to do all the whacky things that I want to do.  Each one will be in a separate entity.  There is the movie company Let Them Be Sea Captains LLC (Bonus points for any commenter who figures out what the first film will be).  And then there are the strip malls.  I really like them.  The really dinky ones that don’t have a really big anchor.  That will be Greenstrips LLC and it will strive to have tenants who only sell things that are good for people.  I have  a hunch it will turn out to be not very sound and am capping that one at $50 million or so.

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Tax Foundation Scores Ben Carson Tax Plan

Tax Foundation Scores Ben Carson Tax Plan

I think it is worth noting that we have had a progressive income tax and an estate tax for a century now.  I understand the arguments that the economists make for plans like Carson’s, but there are all sorts of unintended, unforeseen consequences when you make radical changes.  From that perspective, the Dwight Eisenhower style socialist from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, is actually looking like the most conservative candidate at the moment , but we’ll see how things develop.

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No Foreign Income Tax Exclusion For Army Civilian In Afghanistan

No Foreign Income Tax Exclusion For Army Civilian In Afghanistan

Although most of us have some, if not enough, appreciation for “the troops”, I doubt we reflect much that there are also civilians putting themselves in harm’s way.  Going down into the village and learning about “actionable security issues” hardly seems like a walk in the park.  That had me rooting for Striker, even though I did not think he had much of a case.

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Tax Court Sorts Out Basis On Russian Fast Food Merger

Tax Court Sorts Out Basis On Russian Fast Food Merger

The reason Mr. Testyn’s new argument doesn’t work is a kind of heads I win, tails you lose rule when it comes to “substance over form”.  The IRS can argue that what you said you did – the form – is not what actually happened – the substance.  You can’t generally do that yourself, because you got to choose the form, so you are stuck with it.

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Mass Appeals Court Supports Revenue Department In Penalizing Paper Check

Mass Appeals Court Supports Revenue Department In Penalizing Paper Check

Something tells me that there is more at stake here than a lousy hundred bucks, because the Mass DOR appealed the ATB decision.  And I am sorry to say that the Appeals Court of Massachusetts ruled in favor of Mass DOR.  The Appeals Court was influenced by the fact that Mr. Haar had been warned when he used a paper check with his 2005 extension and had complied with the mandate when he sent in his 2007 extension.

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Family Partnership Valuation Discounts Approved By Tax Court

Family Partnership Valuation Discounts Approved By Tax Court

I find this decision particularly apt for opening 2016 although it would have been better for closing 2015, which it would have had I been a little more diligent.  My second blog post ever over six years ago was a discussion of family limited partnerships, that hammered home the point that that good execution is critical with them starting with the post’s title – Devil Is In The Details.

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How Much Is That Picasso In The Window? Tax Court Says Quite A Bit

The Picasso ended up selling for $12,297.874 (hammer price of $11,484,000 plus $1,443,874 paid by the buyer to Christies).  Here is a video of the auction – In the Saleroom: Pablo Picasso’s Tete de femme (Jacqueline).  It strikes me as pretty subdued and the numbers are a little less dramatic being in pounds and all.  I found the bidding for Volume III of The Dial at Elizabeth’s Auctions more exciting, but of course it was my own seven hundred bucks that was in play there.

In case you can’t do compound interest in your head, that is appreciation of over 15% since 1981.

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