- May 26, 2006Small 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 The battle over an outdated tax to fund the Spanish-American War, that is.…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, 2006During this string of hot and dry spring days, it's hard to image that 25 years ago today, Austin suffered…
- May 19, 2006Since about half of us still file our taxes using paper forms, we're keeping a whole group of IRS staffers…
- May 18, 2006An Austin law firm looking to track tax deadbeats for government agencies has been smacked down a second time, this…
- May 11, 2006The Senate just passed the tax reconciliation bill I synopsized here. Technically, the president has to sign it into law,…
- May 11, 2006Here's a quick look at what the House-passed tax bill includes. And what it doesn't include. The Senate is debating…
- May 7, 2006Our first spring in Central Texas has been fantastic. Early in the season, we discovered bluebonnets in our yard. When…
- May 5, 2006One year ago today, we crossed the Texas border. In this time of immigration hysteria, let me make it clear…
- May 1, 2006Since I work from home, I'm spared commuting hassles. No stop-and-go traffic or early morning and late afternoon screaming at…
- April 21, 2006I found the carpet in my office today. It's that oatmeal color favored by builders and people who are sprucing…
- April 19, 2006In all my years of filing taxes, I've gotten two follow-up letters from the IRS. The first was back in…
- April 7, 2006That was the subject line from a reader's e-mail the other day. She was at wit's end trying to find…
- April 6, 2006Yesterday I threw a couple of rocks at tax preparation chains that messed up client returns. Today, I've been Windexing…
- April 5, 2006Did you pay a tax preparer to do your return in February or March? You might want to pull that…
- March 30, 2006I'm not a fan of stock options. They were "the" benefit back in the dot-com heyday and a few places…
- March 28, 2006Call it the IRS version of Crime Stoppers. You know, the program in almost every community where law enforcement solicits…
- March 27, 2006The IRS has issued a stop-work order to three private debt-collection firms that were awarded contracts earlier this month to…
- March 26, 2006It's official. I'm tax scam bait. This showed up in my e-mail on Saturday: From: Internal Revenue Service To: DontMessWithTaxes…
- March 23, 2006I don't like basketball. There, I said it. I said it here in Austin, where scores of other residents apparently…
- March 22, 2006OK people. You really need to get a grip on what you're selling on eBay. Same goes for buyers. If…
- March 20, 2006Spring 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, 2006Time. An artificial construct. A futile attempt by humans to control yet another immutable piece of the universe. What…
- March 13, 2006Baseball has been very, very good to Barry Bonds, but it seems that wasn't quite good enough for the San…
- March 12, 2006This weekend, Austin's premier annual event, the South by Southwest Festival began. So what did we do? Left town. Last…
- March 10, 2006Do you want your friends, neighbors and family to know you're a tax deadbeat? Some fear that such disclosures could…
- March 7, 2006So you think the mortgage interest deduction helps make homeownership possible for most Americans? Think again, says Roger Lowenstein. In…
- February 28, 2006I use coupons. I have since I graduated from college, moved into an apartment of my own and suddenly had…
- February 19, 2006Searching for warmth and tax savings
- February 16, 2006I live in the 45th most livable state. Think I can get a foam finger with that on it? Personally,…
- February 15, 2006The 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, 2006No, I'm not talking about outrunning overweight lawmen like Sheriff Buford T. Justice or Boss Hogg (OK, he wasn't a…
- February 9, 2006I am so happy for them! Those two kids belong together and I'm glad they finally realized it. Lance and…
- February 2, 2006Bet on it: The IRS will not collect on most of the Super Bowl wagers.
- January 26, 2006Deadbeat or ID theft victim?
- January 16, 2006Today is the 20th national celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. ...Perhaps it’s a testament to how far we’ve…
- January 13, 2006It's Friday the 13th. I can hear Count Floyd now: “Oooohhhh. Scary.” It certainly is scary for some celebrities who…
- January 12, 2006The IRS is offering filers a MSRP for getting their taxes done.