Many medical costs are still tax deductible, but you have to clear an adjusted gross income bar to claim them.

Happy Birthday, America! July 4 is special to all of us Americans, the day we declared our independence from Great Britain. Taxes, as everyone knows thanks to James Otis’ famous announcement that “Taxation without representation is tyranny,” were among the reasons we sought to govern ourselves. And taxes, even after we gained control, continue to play a key part in our lives, politics and popular culture. James Cagney, before he became the prototypical movie gangster, was as song-and-dance man. He showed off those talents in “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” the biopic of a man who not only gave us great musicals,…

This is the original blog post copy that ran on Monday, March 24, 2014. It was updated on Friday, March 31, 2017. Business tax reform has been getting a lot of attention the last few years, with both President Obama on the Democratic side and House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Dave Camp on the Republican side pushing for change. While Congress and the White House debate tax reform as it relates to big business, the Internal Revenue Service already has made a change to ease tax filing for many owners of smaller companies. For 2013 returns, individuals who claim…

On this Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, the last MLK Day that Barack Obama will serve as U.S. President, the 44th commander in chief will once again spend part of his afternoon volunteering. President Obama and younger daughter Sasha helped out during an earlier MLK Day at DC Central Kitchen. (Image is screenshot from Corporation for National and Community Service video.) The national holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader has evolved into a day of service. The Obamas take that role seriously.  In the past, the president and his family have volunteered at kitchens that feed the…

The smash hit “Hamilton” is credited by some for convincing Congressional fans to include theatrical productions in a recently renewed tax deduction. Previously, it was only for films and television shows.

I grew up in Texas. West Texas, to be specific, where independence is, in large part because of the vast distances between towns, not just a concept but a necessity. So it’s no surprise that labor unions essentially were nonentities in my early life. That said, I grew up appreciating the value of unions. My dad, an oil field worker his whole life, made sure my brother and I knew that labor unions are to be valued by all workers, regardless of whether they belong to one. Sally Field won her first Oscar for her portrayal of title character Norma Rae in…

This post was updated March 14, 2018. Driverless cars, like the Google prototype from a few years ago pictured below, are still far from reality. But it’s something to think about, especially if you use your vehicle for business. Photo courtesy Google It has no steering wheel, accelerator or brake pedal to mess with. You use your smartphone or tablet app to summon the vehicle, set your route, get in and go. Then just sit back and enjoy as the Google machine takes you to your destination. If it’s to a business meeting, you can use the time you otherwise would be driving to…

Every tax filing season we hear the stories. Folks claim, often successfully, a variety of wacky tax deductions. There’s the bodybuilder (No, not Arnold, but c’mon, what a great poster shot! I had to use it!) who was allowed to write off body oil as a business expense. The exotic dancer whose breast implants were deemed deductible stage props for her job. (Did you really think I’d go there with the image choice for this post?) The gas station owner who gave his customers free beer and then legally deducted the brewski promotion as a business expense. As all my…

It’s one of my most favorite times of the year. Girl Scout cookies are on sale! I’m a Thin Mints addict. I could eat a whole box in one sitting. They are great alone or crumbled over a bowl (or gallon) of vanilla ice cream. This has been a tasty temptation for as long as I can recall. So every year I buy more boxes than I should. I tell myself that the purchase is for a good cause, and it is. Thin Mints and the other varieties of cookies are a fund-raising project for the local Girl Scout troops.…

It’s one of my favorite times of the year: Thin Mint Season! I admit it. I have no willpower when it comes to Thin Mints and any kind of ice cream. I could eat a whole box of these wonderful Girl Scout cookies (ideally crumbled atop a big bowl of creamy vanilla ice cream) in one sitting. So the hubby is the keeper of the GS cookies, storing them on a high shelf in the pantry. And, when we do munch them, guarding the foil sleeve containing the addictive treats. Aside from their scrumptiousness, one of the other great things…

During this string of hot and dry spring days, it’s hard to image that 25 years ago today, Austin suffered a deadly flood. Austin’s Memorial Day Flood of May 24, 1981, killed 13 people, destroyed 600 homes, flooded dozens of businesses and left $36 million in damages in its wake. The picture below shows damage done to a car dealership along Shoal Creek. Flood photograph courtesy of Austin Public Library and Austin History Center. …The power of water has always captivated me. Much of the fascination is because I grew up in desert West Texas, where not a stream was…

He wanted a red coat. I don’t know his name. He didn’t say. In fact, he didn’t say a lot, probably due as much to the fact that he was the only boy in a group of four females as to his own natural temperament. I could see where it would be hard to get in a word with his grandmother and three more ebullient sisters alternately (and sometimes simultaneously) taking charge. But he did manage to tell me he wanted a red coat, not the blue one that had been picked out for him. So we found him a…