• June 15, 2006
    The U.S. House of Representatives decided to give the IRS a little more money, but lawmakers also put limits on…

  • June 14, 2006
    This day has always been special to me and my family. It was my late brother's birthday. When he was…

  • June 13, 2006
    I entered IRS's electronic lair today. I paid our second installment of 2006 estimated taxes via the agency's Electronic Federal…

  • June 12, 2006
    Last week, Congress took up what Stephen Colbert described as one part of the Axis of Mid-Term Evil: the estate…

  • June 8, 2006
    Life in the Sunshine State apparently agrees with bald eagles. At least state wildlife officials think it does. Wednesday, they…

  • June 6, 2006
    If ever there was a marketer's dream date, it's today. The remake of the 1976 horror classic "The Omen" hits…

  • June 2, 2006
    And other strange tax tales. Got you to click, didn't it?! It's Friday and, thanks to a late start today…

  • May 26, 2006
    Small American flags wave at the curbside of every home in our neighborhood. The Homeowners Association (HoA) stuck them there…

  • May 25, 2006
    <p>Section targeting</p> The war is finally over! The battle over an outdated tax to fund the Spanish-American War, that is.…

  • May 24, 2006
    During this string of hot and dry spring days, it's hard to image that 25 years ago today, Austin suffered…

  • May 18, 2006
    An Austin law firm looking to track tax deadbeats for government agencies has been smacked down a second time, this…

  • May 11, 2006
    The Senate just passed the tax reconciliation bill I synopsized here. Technically, the president has to sign it into law,…

  • May 11, 2006
    Here's a quick look at what the House-passed tax bill includes. And what it doesn't include. The Senate is debating…

  • May 7, 2006
    Our first spring in Central Texas has been fantastic. Early in the season, we discovered bluebonnets in our yard. When…

  • May 5, 2006
    One year ago today, we crossed the Texas border. In this time of immigration hysteria, let me make it clear…

  • May 1, 2006
    Since I work from home, I'm spared commuting hassles. No stop-and-go traffic or early morning and late afternoon screaming at…

  • April 21, 2006
    I found the carpet in my office today. It's that oatmeal color favored by builders and people who are sprucing…

  • April 19, 2006
    In all my years of filing taxes, I've gotten two follow-up letters from the IRS. The first was back in…

  • April 7, 2006
    That was the subject line from a reader's e-mail the other day. She was at wit's end trying to find…

  • April 6, 2006
    Yesterday I threw a couple of rocks at tax preparation chains that messed up client returns. Today, I've been Windexing…

  • April 5, 2006
    Did you pay a tax preparer to do your return in February or March? You might want to pull that…

  • March 30, 2006
    I'm not a fan of stock options. They were "the" benefit back in the dot-com heyday and a few places…

  • March 28, 2006
    Call it the IRS version of Crime Stoppers. You know, the program in almost every community where law enforcement solicits…

  • March 27, 2006
    The IRS has issued a stop-work order to three private debt-collection firms that were awarded contracts earlier this month to…

  • March 26, 2006
    It's official. I'm tax scam bait. This showed up in my e-mail on Saturday: From: Internal Revenue Service To: DontMessWithTaxes…

  • March 23, 2006
    I don't like basketball. There, I said it. I said it here in Austin, where scores of other residents apparently…

  • March 22, 2006
    OK people. You really need to get a grip on what you're selling on eBay. Same goes for buyers. If…

  • March 20, 2006
    Spring sprang violently in Central Texas last night. Classic thunderstorms rolled through the area, bringing heavy rain, lots of lightning,…

  • March 19, 2006
    "Big Love" is getting a lot of attention. Naturally, TV critics are always looking for the next HBO breakout show…

  • March 17, 2006
      Time. An artificial construct. A futile attempt by humans to control yet another immutable piece of the universe. What…

  • March 13, 2006
    Baseball has been very, very good to Barry Bonds, but it seems that wasn't quite good enough for the San…

  • March 12, 2006
    This weekend, Austin's premier annual event, the South by Southwest Festival began. So what did we do? Left town. Last…

  • March 10, 2006
    Do you want your friends, neighbors and family to know you're a tax deadbeat? Some fear that such disclosures could…

  • March 7, 2006
    So you think the mortgage interest deduction helps make homeownership possible for most Americans? Think again, says Roger Lowenstein. In…

  • February 28, 2006
    I use coupons. I have since I graduated from college, moved into an apartment of my own and suddenly had…

  • February 19, 2006
    Searching for warmth and tax savings

  • February 16, 2006
    I live in the 45th most livable state. Think I can get a foam finger with that on it? Personally,…

  • February 15, 2006
    The Tax Gap, that is. This is the difference between the amount of taxes that Americans owed and what they…

  • February 14, 2006
    … and taxes. Granted, the world's most romantic three words aren't "Internal Revenue Service." But when you look at the…

  • February 12, 2006
    No, I'm not talking about outrunning overweight lawmen like Sheriff Buford T. Justice or Boss Hogg (OK, he wasn't a…