The soul of tax wit is brevity

May 15, 2010

That Shakespeare. He truly was well ahead of his time, penning Polonius' famous phrase celebrating succinctness more than four centuries before Twitter.

Now some modern-day tax wits have taken the Bard's words to heart.

The TaxProf challenged his fellow legal academicians to come up with six-word stories about tax.

My favorite: "Really? Money found in piano income," from Ann Murphy of Gonzaga.

Two that shed light on the confusing matter of dependents tied for a close second: "The dog is not a dependent," from Jim Maule of Villanova and "You can't deduct your inner child," from Chris Hoyt of Missouri-Kansas City.

Truth be told, all the six-word tax tales are great, so be sure to check them out, as well as the additions that arrived once the post was published.

You can prove that "all the world's a tax stage" by sending your own micro tax saga to the TaxProf and me, too, please, in our posts' comments sections.

Related posts:

Want to tell your friends about this blog post? Click the Tweet This or Digg This buttons below or use the Share This icon to spread the word via e-mail, Facebook and other popular applications. Thanks!

Share:

The More Tax Posts tab at the top of this page will take you to, well, more tax posts. You also can search below for a tax topic.

Tax Season 2026 Continues!

We made it. Tax Day 2025 is finally over. For most of us. When the filing season started on Jan. 26, millions who were expecting refunds filed immediately. Most of us got our returns to the Internal Revenue Service by April 15. But plenty of taxpayers also got extensions. They are looking at an Oct. 15 filing deadline.

Those procrastinating filers aren’t a problem. In fact, the IRS appreciates taxpayers who take time to fill out their 1040 forms correctly. It also is grateful that tax submissions are spread out a bit, especially now that the IRS is a leaner agency. Processing returns is easier when they arrive throughout the year instead of in massive bunches.

But enough about Uncle Sam’s tax collection issues. The focus now is on all y’all who filed for extensions, giving you another six months to complete your return. Since your new mid-October due date will be here before you know it, let’s get started now on meeting it.

The ol’ blog is here to help you finish up your extended Form 1040. You can start with January’s tax tips page, which has links to the rest of the year’s tips by-month collections. You also can peruse various tax categories for more tailored advice by clicking on the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of this (and every) page.

And to make sure you don’t miss your new filing deadline, the count-down clock below will let you know just how much time you to file by Oct. 15. At the latest.e. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

Credits/Deductions

Disasters

Family

Filing and Paying Taxes

Politics/Laws

Refunds

State Taxes

Tax Brackets/Inflation

Tax Tips

Comments