It's common for procrastinators to get their returns on April 15, sign them without a second glance, and go on their way. That got expensive for a California couple yesterday.
The preparer had left their Social Security benefits off their 2005 1040. The IRS computers noticed, and the IRS sent [...]
Some taxpayers just can't get their arms around the concept of "business" expenses, like one who lost in Tax Court yesterday:
For example, petitioner is not permitted to deduct his traffic tickets, dentist's fees, or mint proof coin purchase. In addition, he cannot deduct rent payments for the apartment he' [...]
The TaxProf rounds up more news on the foolish push for a "war tax" to fund the Afghanistan troop surge. Until they also support a "Pimp your neighbor's pickup truck" tax, it will be hard to take "war tax" supporters seriously.
Iowa's tax receipts fell for the tenth straight month in November. So why are we funding an "Iowa Office of Energy Independence" again?
The heydey of Iowa energy independence.
Ramona Cunningham's favorite rubber stamp was retired by Des Moines voters yesterday.
[www.flickr.com] / CC BY-ND 2.0
Tom Vlassis, a longtime Des Moines city councilman, cemented his place in Iowa legend with his testimony that he functioned as a "rubber stamp" when, as [...]
The passive loss rules restrict losses from most businesses unless a taxpayer "materially participates." Rental real estate losses are always passive unless the taxpayer is a "real estate professional," who spends at least 750 hours, and more than half of his or her working hours, working in real estate. [...]
There's one segment of the healthcare industry that has avoided the soaring prices of the rest of the system -- cosmetic surgery. Congress can't stand an example of how health care can actually work when the government and insurance companies aren't involved, so they want to tax tummy tucks. [...]
The President's all-star tax reform panel has indefinitely postponed its report, originally due December 4. They say they need more time. They also say that they won't make actual recommondations; they will just present a laundry list of proposals. Tax Vox notes:
The White House statement says the board' [...]
Don't just take my word for it. Listen to Amity Shlaes, author of a ground-breaking study of how the government put the "Great" in the Depression, in a Tax Analysts piece ($link):
The greatest problem with tax incentives is that they' [...]
Farmers can save taxes for the family by paying their kids, reports Farm CPA Today blog. He says an Iowa farm couple can save up to $8,300 in taxes by putting their four kids on the payroll. The savings come from using the kids lower brackets and because [...]
I just noticed the "Iowa Fact Check" blog, "a collaborative 'fact-checking' blog edited by Simpson College students." Other than the disturbing use of quotation marks around "fact-checking," it looks like it could be fun to read as the Iowa Governor's race heats up. It appears to have been [...]
The Tax Foundation has sent an open letter to Governor Culver and the members of his panel reviewing Iowa's tax credits. Their comments should be a roadmap for the panel:
A $10 million income tax credit for a special interest often receives less scrutiny than an otherwise identical [...]The TaxGrrrl, an excellent tax blogger, has been audited, and lives to tell the tale. She has some great advice, all worth reading, but I think this bit may be the best:
Be nice. I know, I know. But hear me out: your mother was right about this. A [...]One of the candidates for Iowa Governor has proposed a repeal of the state's corporation income tax. Excellent news. It's hard to imagine a worse tax policy than having the highest rate in the nation, but with so many loopholes that it collects a pittance in revenue.
Now if [...]
The supergeniuses in the Iowa legslature and Terrace Hill have dug a billion-dollar hole in the state budget. Good thing we still have film tax credits, maybe to the tune of $363 million.
[...]When you start a business, you are choosing a business entity, whether you know it or not. Chris Branstad tells how to get it right the first time at IowaBiz.com.
You should get your tax pro involved. If you aren't sure what to do, but need to do' [...]
The Tax Update hits the road for the holiday. Here's wishing you a great Thanksgiving! Remember to then take the nice outfit you bought during Iowa's sales tax holiday for apparel to South Carolina for this weekend's sales tax holiday on guns!
Flickr photo by [...]
Kay Bell reports that some congresscritters are pushing a surtax to allegedly cover the war, with the catchy slogan "pay as you fight." Joseph Thorndike flogs the idea at Tax.com. The TaxProf rounds up the coverage.
Of course cash is fungible, and the "war tax" proceeds can [...]
Deductions for fixed assets -- depreciation and Section 179 deductions -- don't necessarily start when you buy an asset. They are only available when the asset is "placed in service." This can be a weapon for the IRS to delay deductions for assets that may be on the' [...]
After losing his first court battle against a claimant of the Iowa film credits, Attorney General Tom Miller threw in the towel, at least with respect to the 22 or so films already approved for tax credits.
The attorney general is giving up ground he can't hold. It' [...]
TaxGrrrl, an actual tax lawyer, is being audited, and will blog it. It should be great blogging material, but that's a tough way to get it. I hope auditing tax bloggers doesn't become a trend.
Fellow tax lawyer Peter Pappas has some comments.
' [...]A federal jury yesterday convicted three men of a $9 million tax-protest type tax fraud. One of the convicted defendants was Joseph Saladino, who has been fighting the IRS, unsuccessfully, for a long time. They were convicted of preparing returns that deducted the "value of labor" on [...]
The IRS has released (Rev. Rul. 2009-37) the updated interest rates for amounts owed by and to the IRS for the three months begining January 1, 2010. They are unchanged from this quarter:
* four (4) percent for overpayments [three (3) percent in the case of a [...]
Eager and happy tax practioners raptly follow my presentation this morning at the Muscatine edition of the Iowa State University Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation Farm Tax School.
If you haven't signed up yet (and why not?), you can still sign on for' [...]
The Bleeding Heartland Blog has some predictions on the results of the Governor's review of Iowa's corporate welfare tax credit system:
The film tax credit is a goner in my opinion.
The research and development tax credit may well be revised to force more disclosure by companies that benefit.
I [...]
Forget all this stuff about the World Trade Center, weapons of mass distruction, Dick Cheney's evil machinations, or the other explanations for the far-east wars. We're really at war for the convenience of the IRS!
Okay, I don't really believe that, but tax defense attorney Jack Townsend puts forward a [...]
Actor Wesley Snipes, who has been free while appealing his three year failure-to-file sentence, tells an appeals court that he should go free. His lawyers argue, among other things, that the sentence is too harsh and that the trial court should have held a hearing about moving the [...]
I added a few new (to me) tax blogs to the blogroll on the right side of your page, updated a couple of broken addresses, and took down some that have been silent for at least two months. If you have a tax blog and post regularly, and I've' [...]
From a review of the new book From Poverty to Prosperity: Intangible Assets, Hidden Liabilities, and the Lasting Triumph Over Scarcity, by Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz:
Amar Bhide on what a government can do to promote entrepreneurship: make the basic governmental functions work. Property rights, provision' [...]
The IRS yesterday cleared the way for taxpayers to claim loss carrybacks for up to five years for 2008 and 2009. Rev. Proc. 2009-52 will be good news for taxpayers who were ineligible for the 5-year carryback allowed for 2008 losses for smaller taxpayers, allowing them to get [...]
Governor Culver has formed a panel to review Iowa's 30-odd business incentive tax credits. He sent a letter to some of his agency heads:
To assist the panel with their work, I am asking you to submit information on your respective departments’ tax credits to the Iowa Department of [...]
Tax Policy Blog has a handy summary of how Harry Reidcare will allegedly be financed. Peter Pappas has a nice summary of some of the more baleful provisions of the bill, including a sexism angle. One of the taxes in the bill applies to cosmetic surgery, which [...]
It's good to watch a fight when you don't have to pick sides, and you can enjoy every blow. For example, H&R Block Tax Services Inc. v. Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.; No. 6:08-cv-00037. Go to it, guys!
' [...]Sometimes a great idea in the lab doesn't work so well in the field.
George Yin, former Chief of Staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, thinks temporary legislation -- such as the perpetually-expiring AMT patch and research credit -- is a good thing:
Consequently, enactment of temporary-effect rather' [...]
The new Cavalcade of Risk is up at Healthcare Economist!
Among the many useful insurance and risk management posts there is the InsureBlog's explanation of the hidden link between heart attacks and double-decker buses. I would have suspected double-decker cheeseburgers, myself.
Speaking of risk management, [...]
The Iowa Fiscal Partnership has generated some headlines by passing around their take on a new study by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy:
Study says Iowa tax system unfair to poor
As part of his 2000+ page nightmare of a "health care" bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would partially decouple the "Medicare" portion of the healthcare tax from the tax withholding system. For the first time the Medicare tax would be different for taxpayers with different filing statuses. The [...]
Reuters Headline:
Nearly 15,000 Americans admit offshore tax cheating
They are talking about the response to the recent IRS offshore amnesty. No doubt there were plenty of true tax cheats in the bunch, but many amnesty participants -- and all of the ones I'm familiar with -- aren't tax [...]
A Polk County judge told Iowa that it will have to give up to $6.5 million to a Canadian film company. Iowa Eye will get the credits for its film "Clean Out," which is one of 23 films with "recognized" contracts that were put on hold when Iowa's' [...]
Headline in today's Des Moines Register:
Could local-option tax give Des Moines metro area a lift?
The Des Moines City Manager, Rick Clark, "wants to explore whether a 1-cent sales tax could help reduce property taxes in the capital and complement other fees the city charges to finance local" [...]
Mary O'Keeffe thinks maybe so; Peter Pappas thinks not.
It probably is unwise to compensate for normal audits. They're a cost of doing business. If the IRS audits you twice in a short period with no changes, I would argue otherwise. The strongest case for paying audit [...]
There's a new roundup of tax blog posts at Robert D. Flach's place. Meanwhile, Kay Bell has a new "Tax Twitter Tuesday" up, with tax tweets from all over.
[...]$50 billion in federal subsidies isn't enough for Government General Motors. Michigan is now throwing in another $2.6 million to keep the world's largest manufacturing zombie from from moving jobs from Downtown Detroit to... "other Detroit-area facilities." GM will happily take the money, but may' [...]
The IRS has issued (Rev. Rul. 2009-38) the minimum required interest rates for loans made in December 2009:
-Mid-Term (loans from 3-9 years): 2.64%
-Long-Term (over 9 years): 4.17%
The Long-term tax-exempt rate for Sec. 382 [...]
It's a holy grail of tax planning: a tax strategy that prevents you from paying additional tax even if the IRS adjusts your return on audit. A South Dakota estate has achieved something close to that.
Helen Christiansen owned South Dakota ranch properties at her death. Her will gave her [...]
When the Patriots went for it on fourth down Sunday night and failed, I thought it was the right decision, even though they lost. It just looked bad because New England lost the game, but the alternate reality is unseen -- the (high) probability going in that they would [...]
If this is what happens when you go metric, count me out:
Tax By the Kilometer: A New Meaning to “Going Dutch”
Dutch drivers to face per kilometer tax
[...]You've stolen some money from your customers. The hounds are closing in. Is it time to contact a lawyer, take your lumps, and move on as best you can?
Perhaps. A California man took another path, burning down a warehouse with $200 million of wine entrusted to his safekeeping.' [...]
Kay Bell rounds up a flurry of recent coverage of issues on the taxation of body parts.
While the tax angle is interesting, it's a side issue. The real story is the flat-out ban on compensated organ donation, enacted largely through the efforts of a younger, [...]
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=6861f564-3cc0-4438-804e-5461cdc925f1)
