Recipients of my September Newsletter know it featured me running for elected office on a mock platform of fully funding the IRS. This was the most recent of my many rants against Read more »
Taxes in the News
When Is An Offer In Compromise Advisable?
I don’t like offers in compromise as a way to get rid of tax debt. The process is cumbersome, expensive, and arbitrary. There are better ways to deal with tax Read more »
California FTB’s over-reaching definition of “doing business in California”
If it even brushes against California, the state government wants to tax it… Income earned from CA-based clients by Out-of-State Residents One of my clients is a lawyer but he moved Read more »
Military Contractors Working Abroad Taxed Unfairly
Americans who work overseas are entitled to exclude $80,000 of annual income from their tax return. It’s called the “foreign earned income exclusion.” It’s found at Section 911 of the Read more »
The Idiocy of Privatizing IRS Tax Debt Collection
The private collectors are not as well trained as IRS employees, and generally violate taxpayer rights much more often than the federal employees.
Americans with Foreign Bank Accounts and the IRS
If you own a foreign bank account, you need to report it to the IRS, or else, as the case of poor Mr. Gubser below illustrates. Failure to do so Read more »
Alimony Not Tax-Deductible If Spouse Has To Sue To Collect
It’s satisfying when tax law actually does the right thing morally – such as providing a strong financial incentive to pay spousal support on time. Here’s an example. David and Read more »
The IRS *Never* Calls First
One of my clients has several years of unfiled tax returns. Like many people with several years of unfiled tax returns, he’s been putting off working with me. So I Read more »
Tea Party Isn’t A “Social Welfare Organization,” So No Tax-Free Status
A few months ago, the US saw the political theater of Congress outraged at the IRS’s alleged targeting of Tea Party political organizations for scrutiny on whether they qualified for Read more »
Not Even Lindsay Lohan Can Hide From the IRS – Nor Can You
Lohan’s Tax Troubles The IRS has seized Lindsay Lohan’s bank accounts. It appears that she owes about $233,000 in back taxes. Her buddy Charlie Sheen, who knows something about becoming a public train wreck, gifted Read more »