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Most Recent Posts

Technology Officer Loses Appeal On Capital Gains Treatment From Sale To Google

Technology Officer Loses Appeal On Capital Gains Treatment From Sale To Google

The main lesson is that you really should get your documentary ducks in a row, before you sign off an agreement.  But when you are a small piece of a large deal and you are planning to work for the acquirer the amount of leverage you have is limited.  It is really tough to fly in the face of a W-2.  The better strategy might have been to pay the tax upfront and then amend and sue for refund.  That would have eliminated the penalty exposure and also put the initial decision in district court rather than with the Tax Court.

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Venus Flytraps And Elusive Gator On Golf Course Not Worth Millions In Tax Deductions

Rather than attack valuation in this case the IRS argued that the donation did not actually address any of the “conservation purposes” that allow a deduction for contribution of less than an entire interest in real estate.  Those purposes are – preservation of land areas for outdoor recreation by, or the education of, the general public – protection of a relatively natural habitat of fish, wildlife, or plants, or similar ecosystem – preservation of open space for the scenic enjoyment of the general public or pursuant to clearly delineated governmental conservation policy – preservation of a historically important land area or a certified historic structure.

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Sumner Redstone Liable For Tax On Long Ago Gift

Sumner Redstone Liable For Tax On Long Ago Gift

It seems like a really good argument, but it went nowhere.  What is disturbing about this is that if you have a tax assessed and you don’t pay it, the IRS has ten years to collect it from you and then you are home free.  (I don’t recommend that as a strategy, by the way, even though the current disarray at IRS is making it more practical) It does seem that there should be some limit on when they can come after you about an unfiled return.

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Photographer Inspired By Ansel Adams Does Not Fare Well Against IRS In Tax Court

Photographer Inspired By Ansel Adams Does Not Fare Well Against IRS In Tax Court

Regardless, the S Corp had passed through nearly $100,000 in loss to Mr. Kantchev in 2007, most of which was carried forward into 2008 along with another nearly $10,000 loss.  The IRS did not attack the losses with Section 183 (hobby loss).  They had a more subtle trap.  Generally, when you make a film you are supposed to capitalize your costs and recover them through depreciation deductions.

Now it happened that until this year producers could elect to deduct production costs.  There are limits and qualifications, but it is pretty clear that “Tiger Lily” met those and that Victory could have elected to expense the costs.  Only the corporation didn’t.  Mr. Kantchev argued that the corporation effectively made the election by deducting the costs.  It is worth noting that there are some elections that you make that way.  The election under Section 181 – Treatment of certain qualified film and television productions – just does not happen to be one of them.

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National Organization For Marriage Denied Attorney Fees In IRS Lawsuit

National Organization For Marriage Denied Attorney Fees In IRS Lawsuit

The NOM disclosure issue wove its way into the IRS scandal narrative.  The core scandal is the delay and intrusive questions in processing the exemption applications of Tea Party and similar groups.  Earlier this week Paul Caron on The IRS Scandal, Day 943 noted that Brian Leiter of the University of Chicago Law School had queried his readers “Has there really been an IRS scandal going for nearly three years?” Professor Caron maintains that he will keep with the coverage as long as there is something out there.  He did indicate that there is not much in the queue right now, so there is some chance the series might go dark at least for a while.

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State Wants Its Share Of The Sharing Economy

What is going to be entertaining is whether there will be litigation between the states and localities and Airbnb as there will be a debate as to whether the tax should be figured on the gross amount paid by the renter or the amount that the apartment owner nets from Airbnb.  There has been extensive litigation on that issue between states and localities with the likes of Expedia when it comes to actual hotels.

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Starting A Charity To Boost Your Product Sales Frowned On By IRS

Starting A Charity To Boost Your Product Sales Frowned On By IRS

It’s good to know that the IRS also frowns on this type of nonsense as we can see in recently released Private Letter Ruling 201548021.  Private Letter Rulings are redacted and I have not tried to penetrate the redaction on this one.  I’m going to call the organization that was turned down for exempt status Feed The Hungry With Our Stuff (FHWOS).  The President of FHWOS) is D in the ruling, so let’s call him Dwight .  Dwight owns a company we will call Nuterium which makes Brand X.

FHWOS is a fundraising organization that teaches youth how to help their communities while earning money to support group and school activities.  It runs two types of program.  In one the kids go around selling Brand X, but not to people that want to eat the stuff themselves.  They just decide which of ten hunger-fighting charities Brand X goes to.  After the money is collected a percentage goes to the gymnastics club or whatever sort of group was running this thing and the balance goes to Nutrium to pay for the product.

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What Is With This Chan Zuckerberg LLC Thing? Tax Geeks Speak

So I tried to hone in with Tim on what the point of forming the LLC was.  He indicated that some people cycled their charitable contributions through LLCs for purposes of anonymity.  In order to be able to deduct charitable contributions over $250 you need an acknowledgment from the charity.  Of course, that is not what is going on here.  Why couldn’t the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative just keeping chugging along as a kind of d/b/a for whatever the couple felt like doing? It is all pretty speculative, but one thing Tim mentioned is that his ultra-high net worth clients will hire teams of experts to direct their philanthropic efforts.

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What  Art Of The Deal Tells Us About Donald Trump And His Tax Views

What Art Of The Deal Tells Us About Donald Trump And His Tax Views

It was tough for me as I was in the middle of City on Fire, which is a brilliantly plotted work, but rather a long haul.  Interestingly both City on Fire and Art of the Deal have quite a bit on the New York City fiscal crisis of the nineteen seventies.  You have to give Trump credit. He always believed that his native city would rise.  Bottom line, I’m really glad I took the time out to read Art of the Deal.  Published in 1987, it evokes some powerful memories. Unlike the Centrum frenzy last month, there is much for a tax blogger in Art of the Deal, especially one who spent much of his time with closely held companies and real estate deals.  There is also some insight into Trump’s character

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