Donald Trump has turned to taxes to divert attention from his restrictive, then recanted, comments on women's reproductive rights. Donald and Melania Trump in pre-presidential campaign days, heading into an Oscar de la Renta fashion show in New York City in September 2006. (Photo by Boss Tweed via Flickr) I hate to help him out, but taxes. Trump's campaign website has posted a letter from a couple of his attorneys addressing the audit of his federal tax returns. Unfortunately for the tax curious, the letter doesn't shed any light on what's in recent Trump tax returns. Instead, Sheri Dillon and…

When the idea to honor an American woman by placing her image on the $10 bill was raised back in mid-2015, it seemed like a great idea. The bill would be redesigned to feature a deserving woman and unveiled in 2020, on the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Then “Hamilton” happened. Click-boom! “Hamilton” star Lin-Manuel Miranda and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew pose for a photo in front of the Alexander Hamilton statue o the south side of the Treasury Department, March 14, 2016. (Official Treasury Photo by Chris…

If you work in the world's oldest profession, finances can be problematic. First, your job is illegal, so you don't want to do anything to draw unwanted attention to your line of work. Neither do your clients. So escorts, prostitutes and other types of sex workers tend to operate on a cash basis. That, however, raises the question of what to do with all those loose dollars. Even with today's minuscule interest rates, you don't want to keep cash under a mattress. Tracing cash transactions: Banks, despite all their problems, are generally safer than having a lot of dollars stashed…

There are very few times when folks are on the Internal Revenue Service's side, but this might just be one of them. The IRS has slapped pharmaceutical bad boy Martin Shkreli with a tax lien totaling more than $4.6 million. Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli in happier times. UPDATE, Aug. 4, 2017: In addition to Uncle Sam, New York State also wants tax money from Shkreli. The Empire State's list of its 250 top tax delinquents has the financier at number 14, with a combined 2016-17 tax debt of $3.97 million. Shkreli's attorney, however, told the New York Post's Page Six gossip column…

North Pole officials have decided to tax pot. No, not that North Pole, although that would explain why Santa eats so many cookies in a single night. Santa Claus House in North Pole, Alaska. (Photo by Nicole Bizinski/Santa Claus House) We're talking North Pole, Alaska, a community of around 2,200 just southeast of Fairbanks. The treasury of the town with the official motto "where the spirit of Christmas lives year 'round" got an early gift on Feb. 1 when city council members decided to tax both wholesale and retail marijuana transactions. The 6 percent sales tax will apply to pot just as…

I live in gun-crazy Texas. Some folks would say the word "gun" is unnecessary. I'm Lone Star State born and bred, but many days I agree with that disparaging assessment, more so now that we have full open carry of weapons. But for every Wild West wannabe piece of legislation, there are acts to try to counter gun violence across the country. At the national level, President Barack Obama just announced executive office steps he plans to take to tighten the nation’s gun laws. Locally, states and cities have taken tougher gun stands with a modicum of success. Last December,…

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.

The big question when it comes to fantasy sports is are the popular online operations games of skill or gambling? The answer according to New York's top lawyer is gambling. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (right) on Tuesday, Nov. 10, sent cease and desist notices to DraftKings and FanDuel. "Our review concludes that [the company's] operations constitute illegal gambling under New York law," Schneiderman wrote in the letter sent to the two fantasy sports sites.  "Our investigation has found that, unlike traditional fantasy sports, daily fantasy sports companies are engaged in illegal gambling under New York law, causing the same kinds of…

Marriage means doing things together, even things you hate, like visiting the in-laws, cleaning out the garage and filing taxes. You might be able to let those first two slide, but when it comes to taxes, no such luck. Most couples file a joint tax return. That single Form 1040 is a legal document and if you ignore filing it or mess it up, you'll face consequences worse than your spouse's wrath. Her forced smile makes me think she's not buying what he's saying as they work together on their joint tax return. The Internal Revenue Service considers both spouses…

Irwin Schiff, the man who mainstreamed the tax protester movement, has died. His family said he passed away on Oct. 16 at a Fort Worth, Texas, hospital affiliated with the federal prison where he was serving, yet again, time for tax evasion. The cause was lung cancer. He was 87. The latest prison sentence was Schiff's third, all of them connected with his claim that income taxes are unconstitutional. Schiff made his anti-tax case in his books, including Federal Mafia: How It Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes (1992); The Great Income Tax Hoax: Why You Can Immediately Stop…

Attention Maryland residents. If you paid taxes to another state between 2011 and 2014 and were denied a tax credit for your county piggyback taxes against the out-of-state payments, the Old Line State is now handing back the money you're due. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, behind podium, and Gov. Larry Hogan held a press conference Sept. 28 to announce creation of a special online site to help taxpayers get the county tax credits ordered earlier this year by the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo by Joe Andrucyk via Maryland Governor's Office Photo Gallery.  In May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Maryland…

Somebody is $11.6 million richer and somebody else (or some company) is in big trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. Sorry for the vagueness, but that's basically how things work when you rat out tax cheats. The feds are eager to get the scoop on whoever is not paying up, but the whistleblowers often don't want the world to know who they are.  As for the identity of the alleged tax evaders, we're at the mercy of Uncle Sam's willingness to announce his whistleblower-assisted collection success. What we do know about this latest case comes from attorneys Stephen Kohn and…

Art and life have intersected once again, this time on Broadway. The hot new show on the Great White Way is “Hamilton,” the musical about the United States’ first Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. It’s getting rave reviews not just from the critics, but also the public, including some guys who have a special perspective. Three Treasury Secretaries, two former and the current, have been to see the show. Treasury Secretaries who’ve attended the Broadway musical “Hamilton” about the first man to hold their job include, from left to right, Timothy F. Geithner, who served from 2009-13; Robert E. Rubin, secretary…

What is it with government employees and emails? Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email account to send some State Department messages has gotten a lot of attention and criticism. But the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate is not the only one. The commingling of business and personal email apparently is a common practice among those working for Uncle Sam. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and other senior American diplomats there have used personal email accounts to conduct State Department business, according to a just-released inspector general report. And back in 2007, the George W. Bush White House revealed that as many as…

Seattle's new tax on guns and ammunition had one unchallenged weekend. The law establishes a tax of $25 for every firearm sold, as well as a tax of 2 cents for every ammunition round of .22 caliber or less and 5 cents for every other round of ammunition. In addition to the new gun taxes, the city also approved mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms to the Seattle Police Department. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, flanked by supporters, signs two pieces of gun safety legislation into law on Aug. 21. (Photo courtesy Seattle City Council) Seattle Mayor Ed Murray signed…

Could the U.S. Supreme Court hear yet another Affordable Care Act, or ACA, case? If opponents of Obamacare, as the law is popularly known, have their way, yes. Last Friday, Aug. 7, the judges on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals declined to hear a suit challenging the legislative process by which the ACA became law. Sissel v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, filed by Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of Iowa artist Matt Sissel, argued that because the ACA is expected to generate $473 billion in its first 10 years as law, it is a…

If you thought the legal wrangling surrounding Obamacare was fun, hang on. The U.S. Supreme Court soon could consider another tax case, this time involving the most popular sport in the United States. Cleveland plans to ask the country's highest court to decide whether it can continue to assess its current jock tax, the money it collects from visiting professional athletes. NFL players who come to Cleveland for games face not only a jock tax, which is under legal challenge, but also the Browns' Dawg Pound fans like this guy. In April, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Cleveland's games-played…

A tax battle between the nation's capital and seven online travel companies has ended with the websites being ordered to pay almost $61 million in sales taxes. The taxes, which apply to Washington, D.C., hotel rooms booked from 1998 to 2010, could be the largest tax settlement ever paid to the District of Columbia government. It also ends a tax fight between the national capital's tax collector and the online room reservation agents at Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Orbitz, Priceline, Travelocity and Travelscape that began in 2011.  Retail taxes due: At issue was the tax difference between applying Washington's 14.5 percent hotel…

President Barack Obama made history last week when he became the first sitting commander in chief to a federal prison. But he wasn't the only public official looking to change some federal rules that relate to incarceration. President Barack Obama visited the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution outside of Oklahoma City on July 16. It was the first visit by a sitting U.S. President to a federal prison. Click image to view the White House's YouTube report on the visit. Taxes on court awards: Rep. Sam Johnson, a Republican who represents Texas' third congressional district covering the suburbs north and…

Fireworks wrap up July 4th celebrations in communities across the country. But just why do we Americans celebrate our nation’s birthday by setting off pyrotechnic displays? Because Founding Father John Adams said so.

June 26 could be the day that marriage equality officially arrives in the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hand down its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges either today or Monday, June 29. Supporters of same-sex marriage rallied outside the Supreme Court in April when oral arguments were presented. Photo courtesy Human Rights Campaign video via YouTube.  The case actually is a consolidation of four same-sex marriage federal lawsuits, one each from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan. But the ramifications of the high court's ruling ultimately will affect all 50 states. The imminent decision is the culmination…

It's official. The Supreme Court of the United States loves Obamacare. OK. So maybe the justices, or at least a majority of them, don't love the Affordable Care Act, as the controversial health care act is officially known. But they couldn't find a legal reason to kill it. Again. Tax geeks probably recall, about this time back in 2012, that it was the tax component that led the court then, by a 5-4 decision, to let the ACA stand. This time, Justice Anthony Kennedy joined his colleagues Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, as well as…

The wheels of tax justice continue to grind along, with federal law enforcement officials celebrating what is believed to be the stiffest jail term ever handed out in connection with tax fraud. James Lee Cobb, III (at left), a 37-year-old Tampa, Florida, resident was, sentenced last week to 27 years in federal prison for his role in a scam to claim more than $1.8 million in tax refunds that were filed for by using stolen identities. He pleaded guilty to the charges last December. Stiffest tax fraud sentence ever: That sentence tops the 21 years self-proclaimed tax fraud queen Rashia Wilson…

My fellow Texan Kinky Friedman, as well-known for his often outrageous comments and political dalliances as for his writings and music, declared his support for marriage equality because same-sex couples "have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us."  However, unhappily married gay and lesbian couples don't have the right in the Lone Star State to get a divorce. Or do they? Texas, like 13 other states, does not sanction same-sex marriages. Neither does it recognize such marriages that were legally performed in other states. So, argue some Texas officials, the state cannot grant a same-sex couple…

Taxpayers usually file amended returns to correct mistakes they made on their original tax paperwork. A New York City product liability attorney, however, sent the Empire State tax department fraudulent amended tax returns and now is looking at prison time. Jeff Galloway, formerly a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, partner pleaded guilty on June 4 to one felony count of criminal tax fraud. No returns, followed by false amended forms: The New York County District Attorney's office says that between 2005 and 2010, Galloway failed to file state personal income tax returns and pay taxes owed on around $1 million. New York…

Maryland's county piggyback tax system essentially double taxes Old Line State residents who earn money in other jurisdictions. That's the ruling handed down today by the U.S. Supreme Court in Maryland's fight with Bryan and Karen Wynne. State vs. county tax credits: The Wynnes earned income passed through to them from their ownership stake in Maxim Healthcare Services, Inc. The couple then claimed an income tax credit on their 2006 Maryland tax return for income taxes paid to other states where Maxim operates. The Maryland Comptroller allowed the Wynnes a credit against their Maryland state income tax, but not against the Howard County…

Allgreens, a medical marijuana dispensary in Denver, has won its cash payment battle with the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS demands electronic payroll tax deposits. Allgreens, however, began making its federal employee withholding tax payments in cash after its bank, leery of working with a business that Uncle Sam deems illegal, closed the dispensary's account. So although Allgreens was meeting its federal tax obligations in full and on time, it also was racking up penalty charges for not making them in the form the IRS wants. Allgreens headed to U.S. Tax Court. Now, however, the case is moot. The IRS and Allgreens have…

The official name of the politically volatile health care reform law is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. That’s usually shortened to the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. And it’s popularly known as Obamacare. That nickname came from opponents of the president’s first-term legislative landmark. Later, however, ACA advocates, including the commander in chief himself, embraced the moniker. Bothered by Bush tax cuts name: Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, found his name appended to the tax laws he ushered through in his first term, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) and Jobs and Growth…

Alexander Hamilton, the United States’ first Treasury Secretary, has moved from the $10 bill to the stage. Rumors are the musical about his public life is headed to Broadway.

Attention Illinois online shoppers. You only have a few days left before Amazon starts tacking your state's 6.25 percent sales tax onto your purchases. This coming Sunday, Feb. 1, Illinois will become the 24th state in which the giant online retailer will collect sales tax. Photo by MikeBlogs via Flickr Creative Commons The Seattle-based company already is adding sales tax amounts to invoices for products sent to customers in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. On Jan.…

The New York City police restraint that led to the death of Eric Garner got the tax world's attention immediately after the tragedy. Officers confronted Garner because he was selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. Now a potential 2016 presidential candidate is citing the tax connection.   Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says Garner's death is symbolic of the larger problem of politicians levying taxes on things like cigarettes. Paul, who's reportedly eyeing a run for the White House in two years, spoke about the incident Wednesday night on MSNBC's Hardball program. Earlier in the day, a grand jury declined to indict any…

Looking for a hint as to how the new Republican controlled Congress will work with the Democratic president for the next two years? We got an answer to today: Not very well. Republican House leaders finally filed the long-threatened lawsuit against the Obama Administration. The Senate is not involved in the action.  In recent months, two law firms withdrew from the case, many suspect because of potential political repercussions. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Nov. 18 hired Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University professor who is an expert on constitutional law, to handle the suit. The challenge, which focuses on…

Oregon voters on Nov. 4 approved use of small amounts of recreational marijuana in their state. The fight over taxing weed, however, continues. The ballot initiative that passed by a 56-to-44-percent margin specifically gave the state the exclusive right to tax marijuana. City officials are fighting that provision. State vs. local taxation: Under Measure 91, which takes effect July 1, 2015, producers will be taxed $35 an ounce for the most potent parts of a marijuana plant. Marijuana leaves will face a $10 per ounce tax, while there will be a $5 levy for plant starts sold to home growers.…

So you thought it you'd get at least a brief breather from contentious political topics after this week's election. Sorry. The Affordable Care Act, known on the Republican campaign trail as Obamacare, is back in the news big time. The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a case that challenges how the tax subsidies for enrollees in the medical insurance program are awarded. Just as a tax argument led the High Court to uphold the healthcare law in 2012, a tax component now could cause major problems for it. Wins for opposing sides: This latest legal challenge to the United…

By now, most Americans have wrapped up their annual tax-filing duties. And it's probably safe to say that a lot of folks are feeling a lot poorer after fulfilling their tax responsibilities. Some individuals, however, have tried to use a religious vow of poverty to avoid taxes altogether. In these egregious tax evasion cases, they haven't been successful. Poverty vow was a poor tax argument: Take the case of Timothy Dale Jackson. The 50-year-old orthopedic surgeon from Pass Christian, Mississippi, claimed to have taken a vow of poverty with a Utah-based church. Jackson said that his monetary sacrifice exempted him from…

Airbnb is wildly popular with almost everyone. Among the few detractors are some neighbors of the short-term rental properties and the Empire State's top lawyer. Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General of New York, made his concerns known in a report, Airbnb in the City, released Thursday, Oct. 16. It details the AG's office investigation into Airbnb and similar web-based rental operators who, according to the report, "run large-scale enterprises in violation of fire safety, zoning, tax, and other applicable laws." Most of the data, and hence the report's name, came from four years of data Airbnb provided to the AG…

The Supreme Court earlier this month gave same-sex couples the ability to get married in five more states when it refused to hear appellate cases that had struck down the states' bans on such ceremonies. Gay and lesbian couples in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin lined up soon after the High Court non-ruling to exchange vows. Now the affected state tax departments must adjust their rules to accommodate the newlyweds. Virginia is for all lovers: The Old Dominion's tax officials were quick to act. On Oct. 7, the day after the Supreme Court inaction, Virginia's Department of Taxation issued…

UPDATED Sept. 19, 2017 Yo ho, all ye salty sea dogs and scalawags. Just a quick reminder on this annual Talk Like a Pirate Day that ill-gotten gains, including but not limited to pillaged pirate loot, are taxable. I suspect that Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder and 2013 MLB National League MVP, and his crew of sports team buccaneer mascots will escape Internal Revenue Service scrutiny for their plundering of ESPN's lox. Click image to watch the ESPN ad. But look out all ye other crooks, both landlubbing and on the high seas. Don't try to show your heels to…

Count me among those who were around for the first Saturday Night Live, or SNL as it's known in this acronym age, show 39 years ago. Also count me among those who firmly believe the original cast (plus Bill Murray a few years later) and quality of their skits were the best ever. Tom Snyder interviews Lorne Michaels and the original SNL cast before the show's debut on Oct. 11, 1975. Don't worry. This isn't going to be a nostalgic geezer stroll down TV Land lane. Although I have fond memories of the original, I also happily acknowledge that some…

Within hours of each other on July 22, two federal appeals panels issued opposing rulings on who is eligible for federal tax subsidies to help pay for Affordable Care Act mandated insurance bought through an insurance exchange. The D.C. panel said in 2-1 Halbig v. Burwell decision that the Internal Revenue Service could not offer individuals a tax subsidy on their health care coverage under Obamacare, as the health care law is popularly known, if they bought their coverage on a federal health exchange instead of a state-run program. Shortly after that ruling, the Fourth Circuit appeals panel in Richmond, Virginia,…

"You don't need a fancy legal degree to understand that Congress intended for every eligible American to have access to tax credits that would lower their health care costs regardless of whether it was state officials or federal officials who are running the marketplace. I think that it's a pretty clear intent of the law." ~ Josh Earnest, White House press secretary Some federal judges would — and did — disagree with the White House spokesman's assessment today of the health care subsidy issue. They issued rulings this morning (Tuesday, July 22) on the matter. One court said the federal…

The hubby and I prefer take-and-bake pizzas to the done-and-delivered variety. While that means one of us has to go pick up our pies, it also means we don’t have to worry at all about taxes on delivery charges. Those extra tax amounts are the basis for two lawsuits, one in Florida and another in Illinois, against Papa John’s pizza. The Illinois legal action, Zachary Tucker et al. v. Papa John’s International Inc., was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Illinois. It contends that the pizza chain’s charging of sales tax on their delivery fee violates Illinois…

Patrons of Club Risqué, Cheerleaders and Delilah’s or any other adults-only clubs in Philadelphia won’t have to pay added taxes for semi-private dances performed at the entertainment spots. That’s the word from Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler, who ruled last week that the City of Brotherly Love could not extend a 5 percent amusement tax to the dances. With dances reportedly costing between $20 and $30, patrons would owe another $1 to $1.50 per dance. Ceisler’s ruling upheld an earlier decision by the city’s Tax Review Board. Last October, the tax panel said that Philadelphia’s amusement tax law…

It's tough being a small business owner. It's especially tough when no financial institution will handle your accounts or provide you with loans. That's the situation with which dealers in legal marijuana nationwide have been coping. But things may be about to change. On July 16, the U.S. House passed a bipartisan amendment by a 231-to-192 vote that prevents the Treasury Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission from spending any funds to penalize financial institutions that provide services to marijuana businesses that are legal under state law. Marijuana retailer courtesy Marijuana.com Marijuana sales are legal in 33 states and the…

The Internal Revenue Service likes to get its money. It also really likes to receive it electronically. The IRS is so committed to electronic transactions that has mandated more and more of them, especially for business taxpayers. One reason for required e-filing and electronic tax payments, says the IRS, it that the system helps reduce taxpayers' burdens. Not so, says one small business in Colorado. Allgreens LLC of Denver says the federal tax collector's insistence on electronic transactions is costing it millions of dollars in penalties that it can't avoid. And it's asking the U.S. Tax Court to change that.…

Today is the one day that residents of drought-stricken Texas don’t want rain. We want our July 4th fireworks! Of course, we ostentatious celebration loving Texans still realize that one errant spark can ignite a whole swath of dehydrated vegetation. That fiery possibility is probably why we don’t object to paying the Lone Star State’s tax on fireworks. Limited sales, added tax: Texas fireworks retailers have been collecting a 2 percent fireworks tax in addition to the state and local sales taxes since 2001. Specifically, the tax applies to “small fireworks in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 1.4G category that…

Legal minds great and not-so-great have and will continue to parse today's Supreme Court decision that closely-held corporations can't be required to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives over their owners' religious objections. The justices' ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. was based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). This law, enacted in 1993, essentially prohibits government actions that substantially burden the exercise of religion. RFRA does provide an exception for actions that constitute the "least restrictive means of serving a compelling government interest." Hobby Lobby's owners, as well as the Mennonite owners of Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp.…

Make no mistake about it. Law enforcement officers in North Carolina still keep an out for drug dealers and moonshiners. But the cops in the Tar Heel State also are more than happy to accept some financial help from the wrong-doers. Money collected through the North Carolina Unauthorized Substances Tax from purveyors of illicit substances goes toward law enforcement agencies' investigative tools, equipment upgrades and other improvements. It's not a new law; it's been on the N.C. books since 1990. Almost a quarter century later, it's still paying off for the good guys. The excise tax is placed on controlled…

If you've watched any of Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen's appearances on Capitol Hill, you know he's nothing if not determined. He hasn't backed down under hostile Congressional questioning, so it's no surprise he's not letting a court ruling stand in the way of credentialing professional tax preparers. Sure, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in February (Loving et al vs. IRS) that the IRS can't force tax professionals to take continuing education courses and pass competency exams. But the federal court didn't prohibit the IRS from offering its program on a voluntary…

Two Central Texas men have been indicted on charges of attempting to aid terrorist groups. One of them allegedly was going to accomplish that goal thanks to his $5,000 federal tax refund. Michael Todd Wolfe of Austin and Rahatul Ashikim Khan of Round Rock, just north of the Texas capital city, are scheduled to appear in federal court on June 30 to face charges that they recruited jihadi fighters through an online chat room.  Khan (left), also known as Rahat Khan, AuthenticTauheed19 and AT19, is accused of attempting to entice others to travel overseas to support terrorist activities, including committing violent…

The Internal Revenue Service today officially adopted a 10-point Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Too bad for the tax agency that it wasn’t put in place sooner. The National Taxpayer Advocate says that the document could have helped IRS employees avoid problems in their review of Tea Party and other organizations’ applications for nonprofit tax status. The rights, already guaranteed taxpayers but spread throughout the Internal Revenue Code (and IRS documents), are now conveniently encapsulated in the updated IRS Publication 1. It says all taxpayers have the right to: IRS Commissioner John Koskinen and National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson jointly unveiled…

Some tax professionals and judges on two federal courts might not think much of tax preparer regulation, but most Americans support the concept. That's the word from the 2013 Taxpayer Attitude Survey. The querying of Jane and John Q. Public's thoughts about the Internal Revenue Service in particular and tax matters in general is an annual undertaking of the IRS Oversight Board, a presidentially appointed independent panel created to offer guidance to the IRS. A whopping 96 percent told the IRSOB that it's important that tax preparers meet basic competency standards. That percentage is this week's By the Numbers figure.…

I now pronounce y'all husband and husband. Or wife and wife. The key word in those declarations is not the same-sex spouses. It's y'all. Yep, it looks like same-sex marriage is coming to the South, the region most resistant to this continuing cultural shift. Courts in Kentucky and Virginia this week handed down rulings declaring unconstitutional their states' prohibitions of gay and lesbian marriages or refusal to recognize such vows legally exchanged elsewhere. The decisions are great Valentine's Day gifts for couples looking to take the next legal step in their relationships. But actual vows won't be exchanged in either…

And the Internal Revenue Service’s troubles continue. On Tuesday, Feb. 11, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously upheld a lower court’s ruling that the IRS has no authority to force tax preparers to take continuing education courses and tests. Tax preparers fight back: After years of study, hearings and pilot programs, in 2011 the IRS formally proposed a system under which it would register tax pros and require certain paid preparers to take continuing education courses and be tested on their tax competency. CPAs, Enrolled Agents and tax attorneys would be…

Well, that tax audit didn't go as the Internal Revenue Service had planned. William Berroyer was in the IRS' Hauppauge, Long Island, office in 2008 working out a deal on $60,000 in taxes the agency said he owed. Instead, four years later Berroyer is $862,000 richer. But it has nothing to do with what was on his 1040. The six-figure addition to Berroyer's bank account is from a physical injury that Berroyer sustained during the return examination. In a suit filed in federal court, Berroyer said during that fateful audit he tripped over a phone cord and fell against a…

The full 2014 tax filing season officially opens in 10 days. Are you ready? If this is the year that you finally hand off your tax hassles to a professional, you'd better start your search. Good tax preparers are quickly booked. And you need to make sure you hire the tax pro who's best for your filing circumstances. Sorting through tax pro options: Finding the right tax help is a lot like the whole tax system. It's not a simple process. In fact, today's Daily Tax Tip offers multiple pieces of tax preparer advice: 5 tips to picking the perfect…

Colorado tax collectors appear to be the big winners in the state's sale of recreational marijuana. Owners of the 37 new dispensaries around the state reported first week retail sales exceeding $5 million. Around $1 million in legal pot transactions were made on New Year's Day, when the new law took effect. Despite the smart-ass caption by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal photographer (was that you, Milton Adams?), I was lighting up a Marlboro cigarette, not the wacky weed back in my early days as a newspaper police beat reporter called in late one night to cover a breaking story. Sanctioned marijuana…

The wait is almost over! Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2013 will be announced Dec. 11. UPDATE, Dec. 11, 8:30 a.m.: My prediction from last night (see end of this item) was correct. Pope Francis is Person of the Year. But I'm very glad that a tax-connected person was one of the finalists. I generally don't pay attention to this annual event. This year is different. Taxes are involved, at least peripherally. One of the five finalists, per NBC Nightly News and on whose sister network program Today the announcement will be made, is Edith Windsor. Bringing down DOMA:…

One of the craziest things about the U.S. tax code is that it deems all income, even that obtained via illegal means, taxable. Many states also subscribe to this taxation tenet, particularly when it comes to drugs. They require sellers of marijuana and/or illicit narcotics to purchase drug stamps. Added enforcement tool: Yes, some drug sellers do buy the stamps. The state gladly accepts their money. And if they don't purchase the official documentation for their illegal operation but get busted later for drug trafficking, law enforcement has another charge to add to the alleged narcotics-related crimes. Look at the…

One of the most-hallowed tax breaks for ministers has been struck down by a federal judge. Judge Barbara Crabb of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin ruled on Nov. 21 that the parsonage allowance is unconstitutional. She also issued an injunction discontinuing the tax code section. Don't panic, ministers et al. Your tax bills aren't going up just yet. Crabb stayed her ruling until the conclusion of any appeals, which is standard legal operating procedure. Housing allowance tax history: The housing allowance is an amount designated by a church — any church, despite the Protestant-sounding term…

Tax preparers who are fighting the Internal Revenue Service in court over the agency's attempt to regulate them might have the upper hand in the legal system. The tax pros, however, do not have a friend in Sen. Max Baucus (pictured at right). He supports the IRS' oversight effort. Preparer regs part of tax reform: The Democrat from Montana heads the Senate Finance Committee. Baucus also has partnered with his House counterpart, Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), to push for tax reform. Camp has yet to release his suggested Internal Revenue Code changes. Baucus, however, has been…

Missouri is one of 34 states that prohibit same-sex couples from getting married. But lesbian and gay couples who married in a jurisdiction that does recognize their unions (15 states plus the District of Columbia) and now live in Missouri will file their 2013 state tax returns as married taxpayers. Missouri's tax sanctioning of same-same marriages is thanks to an executive order issued last week by Gov. Jay Nixon. The Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Treasury announced in late August that same-sex married couples now must file a joint Form 1040 or two returns as married filing separately regardless of the…

After a great 7 and 0 start, my Texas Tech Red Raiders have stumbled a bit. Going into today's game with Kansas State, they were 7-2. As I type, it's still early in the second half, but right now it's looking like we'll fall to 7-3. Still, Tech fans are thrilled with the possibilities that arrived when former star quarterback Kliff Kingsbury (pictured with a young fan paying Halloween costume homage to his favorite coach), who set multiple school records when he was a Double T quarterback, took over as head coach this season. I won't bore you with the…

The last hurdle in Colorado's legalization of small amounts of recreational marijuana passed electoral muster yesterday. Voters in the state that's home to the Mile High City approved Proposition AA, a ballot measure that on Jan. 1, 2014, will add taxes totaling 25 percent to the cost of pot. That overwhelmingly "yes" vote, which around midnight Mountain Time was 65 percent for to 35 percent against, for the tax increase is enough to win 25 percent this week's By the Numbers honors. Excise plus sales taxes: Proposition AA actually authorized two taxes.There's a 15 percent excise tax assessed when the…

Whenever my brother and I balked at what was on our plates, our dad told us that if we were hungry enough, we'd eat anything. Apparently that also applies if your appetite is whetted by an attempt to avoid arrest for tax identity theft. Ogiesoba City Osula was arrested in 2011 after police in a Cincinnati suburb caught him with $300,000 in cash and money orders, as well as numerous debit cards. Federal prosecutors said Osula ate one of the debit cards in an attempt to conceal evidence that linked him to a wider tax fraud conspiracy. There's no word…

What's your favorite search engine? If you're a fan of CBS' legal drama "The Good Wife" it's ChumHum. Since ChumHum is not real, the AP Stylebook hasn't ruled on how it is to be written. It's shown up in various publications and on myriad websites as chumhum, Chumhum, Chum Hum and, my preference, ChumHum. The Googlesque company has been a recurring client for the fictional firm of Lockhart Gardner as a way to explore ripped (off) from the headlines story lines. ChumHum has played a key role in the show's second season (2011) in examining the legal intricacies of Internet…

The holiday season is approaching. Yes, those were Christmas items Hampton Roads shoppers spotted in local stores last month. And with Halloween on the way, other retailers nationwide are starting their annual shopping sales pushes. Many folks, however, including me, do our gift shopping, especially for the holidays, online. There are no crowds, you can shop at 3 a.m. and, for some buyers, the purchases are still sales-tax free. But that's changing in more and more states. And next month, Amazon shoppers in Wisconsin will see sales taxes added to their purchases from the Seattle-based online company. New Amazon tax…

The adult entertainment nightclub Nite Moves certainly tried. Attorneys for the Latham, N.Y., club have been in courtrooms for more than two years arguing that Nite Moves' employees' lap dances deserve the same sales tax exemption as other Empire State dramatic or musical arts performances. The legal battle ended, however, on Tuesday, Oct. 15, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case. That means the 4-to-3 decision against Nite Moves last fall by the Court of Appeals, the top court in New York, stands. That also means the New York tax collector now expects the club to remit…

My clothes felt a bit snug as I got dressed this morning and I couldn’t figure out why. Then I realized it’s all the cake I’ve been enjoying in connection with recent special tax commemorations. This latest belated celebration is for the federal gas excise tax. Gas is expensive at the Canoncito station, but you might find — Breaking Bad spoiler alert — a nice watch atop that pay phone. On Oct. 1, 1993, the gas tax went from 14.1 cents per gallon to 18.4 cents per gallon. Sorry I missed the big day, but Congressional fighting over Obamacare and…

Remember back in the spring when the Internal Revenue Service admitted that losing operating funds because of sequestration will hamper the agency's audit efforts? It's happening again. About a month after sequestration kicked in on March 1, then Acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller told a House appropriations subcommittee that budget cuts will mean, among other things, fewer audits. Last week when the IRS had to determine which jobs were essential, it decided that return examination, which is what the agency calls audits, wasn't. Tax audits are among the IRS activities that have been stopped during the federal government shutdown. Auditing questionable tax…

A federal appeals panel did not appear impressed by the "dead horse" argument the Internal Revenue Service rode into court with in defense of the agency's effort to regulate paid tax preparers. During oral arguments Sept. 24 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the judges repeatedly questioned the IRS' attorney, Gilbert Rothenberg, about whether Congress had empowered the agency to issue regulations imposing mandatory testing and continuing education requirements on return preparers. Three independent tax professionals don't think the IRS has the oversight authority. With the assistance of the libertarian Institute for Justice, they filed suit…

The Internal Revenue Service is having its day in court, telling a federal judge today why the tax agency should be able to test and otherwise regulate paid tax return preparers. It's the next phase in the feds' fight  against three independent tax preparers who earlier this year won a key ruling that invalidated IRS plans to impose mandatory testing and continuing education requirements on Registered Tax Return Preparers, or RTRPs. A decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which today is hearing oral arguments for and against the IRS plan, isn't expected for months. The…

Just like filmdom's persistent poltergeists, Congressional attacks on the Internal Revenue Service are back. House Republicans are hoping that new looks into IRS improprieties in dealing with applications for tax-exempt status will recapture public attention. IRS email appetizers: The stage was reset by an unbylined outlook piece in the Wall Street Journal this week entitled "Lois Lerner's Own Words." House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) posted the column in full on the committee's website and sent out an "in case you missed it" notification of the article via email. The newspaper looks at emails between Lerner, now…

Sometimes being an Internal Revenue Service employee can be a dirty job. But a pair of tax agents were shocked last November when an angry taxpayer literally dumped dirt at their feet. Actually, what really startled them was how Walter M. Trizila III delivered the soil. Trizila jumped into a front-end loader, scooped up a full load of dirt and then headed straight for the IRS agents.  Photo courtesy Associated General Contractors of America The 45-year-old Omaha, Neb., man stopped the piece of heavy construction equipment just short of the IRS employees. But he wasn't done. He then dumped the…

Welcome to my tax world, same-sex married couples. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today announced that you can file a joint tax return regardless of where you live. If you were legally married in one state, that's good enough for the federal government when it comes to your tax returns. Even if you move to a state that does not recognize same-sex marriages, the IRS will still take your joint 1040. The decision applies to affected couples who got extensions of their 2012 returns (due Oct. 15), those who married in 2013 and will file their first taxes as…

Fat Joe has traded in his fur coat for an orange prison jumpsuit. The popular rapper, whose real name is Joseph Cartagena, surrendered Monday, Aug. 26, to officials at the Federal Detention Center in Miami, where he lives. Cartagena, 42, will serve four months in Club Fed for tax evasion. He pleaded guilty in December 2012 to failing to pay the Internal Revenue Service tax due on $1 million he earned in 2007 and 2008. Federal prosecutors had charged that Cartagena made more than $3 million between 2007 and 2010, owing around $700,000 in taxes on the money. In addition to the…

Tens of thousands converged on Washington, D.C., today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington. It's a few days early; the original march was on Aug. 28, 1963. On that late summer day in 1963, men and women of all backgrounds rallied to advance civil rights in America. And they were privileged to hear one of the greatest speeches ever, King's delivery of his "I have a dream" vision of equality. That speech and the march are widely credited with helping pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting…

Sen. Ben Cardin says it's time for the Internal Revenue Service to finally decide how federal tax laws will apply to same-sex married couples following the Supreme Court's ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). And, says the Maryland Democrat, the IRS should follow the ground rules it already set to recognize all legally performed same-sex marriages regardless of whether the couples subsequently move to a state that does not recognize their marriages. "American taxpayers need clarity and they need it quickly," said Cardin in releasing the letter he has sent to Treasury and the IRS. "The midyear decision…

The controversy over how and which groups the Internal Revenue Service targeted in assessing applications for nonprofit status is heading to court. Maryland Democratic Rep. Chis Van Hollen, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, will be the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit expected to be filed today in federal district court challenging the IRS' interpretation of the law that governs the tax status of social welfare organizations. UPDATE, 2 p.m. Aug. 21: It's official. The lawsuit has been filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. You can read the press release issued by the…

Same-sex couples are still waiting for the Internal Revenue Service to issue guidance on how it will process their returns. We might have an indicator from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The federal retirement benefits agency announced on Aug. 10 that, in response to the Supreme Court ruling invalidating the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), it is now processing claims for those in same-sex marriages. But, and it's a big but, Social Security is only issuing benefits for claims by residents of states where same-sex marriages are legal. That limits the benefits, for now, to residents of 13 states and the…

Apparently it's criminal Sunday. The ol' blog started out today with a report on a cop turned tax fraudster. Then I learned, thanks to The Writer's Almanac, that the first civilian prisoners began arriving at Alcatraz on this date, Aug. 11, in 1934. The website traces the history of the foreboding island in San Francisco Bay, including, of course, its years as a federal penitentiary that was home to some of the United States' worst criminals. And as all tax geeks know, Alcatraz was where one of the most famous U.S. tax evaders of all time, Al Capone, was incarcerated…

So-called gentlemen's clubs and the dancers they employ are easy tax targets. Here in Texas, a "pole tax" on strip clubs went into effect after the state's high court ruled in 2011 that the Sexually Oriented Business Fee Act was constitutional. The Lone Star State measure imposes a $5-per-customer entrance fee on strip clubs that also serve alcohol. I haven't checked it out personally, but I'm pretty sure that the fee was quickly incorporated into the cover charge to patrons. The money is designated for sexual assault prevention programs and health insurance coverage for low-income Texans. Utah's highest court came…

Edith Windsor, the woman whose estate tax lawsuit led the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), is getting even more tax money back. In addition to the $363,000 plus interest that Windsor will get from Uncle Sam for federal estate taxes she paid after the death of her wife Thea Spyer, Windsor also will be getting a New York state estate tax refund. And she's not alone. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered the state's tax department to issue refund checks to the surviving spouses of gay marriages who had to pay estate taxes…

It's always a pain to get a place ready to sell. But tax officials are facing some special problems in the upcoming auction of a rural New Hampshire property. The 103 acres previously owned by a pair of militant septuagenarian tax protesters could be loaded with booby traps. The potentially deadly home of convicted (and jailed) tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown will soon be on the auction block. Photo courtesy InfoWars.com. "It's going to be a very interesting sale," Chief U.S. Deputy Marshal Brenda Mikelson told the Associated Press. Mikelson is in charge of the auction of the Plainfield,…

The Motor City is getting a lot of attention today. Unfortunately, it's because Detroit has filed for bankruptcy. Detroit, Mich., viewed from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, across the Detroit River; photo by Andrea_44 via Flickr The process is different for a municipality that files bankruptcy than when a company or an individual goes broke. But the bottom line is that all entities have determined that this last-ditch effort is the only way to get their finances back in any kind of workable shape. Taxes obviously are a part of the equation. In Detroit's case, the falling individual and corporate population has…

The Supreme Court on June 26 declared the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, dead. That same day, Attorney General Eric Holder said that President Obama had directed the Justice Department to work with other agencies to expeditiously implement the decision making federal benefits available to same-sex married couples. And expedite they did. On Friday, two days after the DOMA decision and the same day that same-sex marriages resumed in California thanks to the high court's removal of the Proposition 8 roadblock, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that same-sex spouses are eligible for a wide range of federal…

Sometime this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide two gay marriage cases, California's Proposition 8 legalizing same-sex marriages in that state and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which defines marriage for federal purposes as being the exchange of vows between one man and one woman. One of the 138 same-sex newlywed couples who were greeted by a cheering crowd after their weddings at City Hall in Seattle on Dec. 9, 2012, the first day that same-sex couples could marry in the state of Washington. Photo by Michael Holden via photopin cc The justices' opinions will affect…

This just in from the IRS’ Worst Day-Week-Month-Year Ever Department: A group of tax professionals has officially lent its support to the legal effort to stop the Internal Revenue Service from testing and requiring continuing education of certain tax preparers. In January, a federal judge halted, at least for the time being, the IRS’ Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP) program. The idea, formulated during the tenure of former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, was to set up a system that would help ensure that more tax returns are correctly completed. The RTRP rules do not apply to Enrolled Agents (EAs), attorneys…

Could the Internal Revenue Service's public image right now get any worse? Yes. An IRS secretary in the agency's Lanham, Md., office has been charged with embezzlement. Yetunde Oseni, 37, allegedly used an IRS-issued Citibank MasterCard to buy a wide variety of personal items during an almost four-year long buying spree. According to the court filing, Oseni had been given the credit card in order to buy supplies for her business unit in suburban Washington, D.C. The alleged embezzlement was discovered during a routine audit of the IRS purchase card program by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).…

Good news for some tax preparers. If you paid for testing under the Internal Revenue Service's nascent system of regulating tax preparers, a refund of your exam fee could be in the works. The IRS this week answered the big question that's been hanging out there since a federal court decision in January put the agency's Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP) system, notably the testing component, on hold: What's the deal with money I paid for a test that now is not allowed? Here's the official IRS word, per its special Web page devoted to the ongoing court challenge: Fee…

We made it through prime tax-filing season with the Internal Revenue Service's proposal to regulate tax professionals in legal limbo. This time next year, the issue could be settled, either judicially or, if some in Congress have their way, through new law. Senators are exploring tax reform options that would give the IRS clear statutory authority to regulate tax preparers. On the House side, the Taxpayer Protection and Preparer Fraud Prevention Act of 2013 would do the same. Tax pro regulation recap: The IRS began rolling out its taxpayer registration and oversight program in 2010. To date, according to American…

The U.S. Supreme Court hasn't always been too keen on taking tax cases. That's changed in 2013. After hearing arguments last week in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case, which was prompted by a widow's federal estate tax bill because she was married to a woman, the country's highest court then agreed to hear arguments on steep tax penalties assessed tax shelters. The case, United States v. Woods, involves a 1999 transaction undertaken by Gary Woods and his business partner, Texas billionaire Billy Joe "Red" McCombs. The transaction was known as "current options bring reward alternatives," or COBRA. Federal…

Things have been tough for the Internal Revenue Service recently. The tax agency has taken some hits from the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee chair (and the public) for two video tapes produced at the IRS' own studio in a Maryland suburb of D.C. Now an appellate court has refused the IRS' request that an injunction preventing testing of tax professionals be lifted. In January, a federal judge nullified IRS regulations that require preparers who aren't lawyers, CPAs or enrolled agents to pass a competency test and take annual continuing education courses. The registration component of the IRS proposal…

The future of marriage is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court. OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. Marriage has been around for ages and, despite what some folks say, the definition of this legal contract between two people has changed many, many times. But what the justices decide with regard to same-sex marriage could have dramatic effects on the lives of same-sex couples, both when it comes to their day-to-day lives and a variety of rights and benefits, including in the tax area. The country's highest court today heard arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which…

Marijuana smokers in Colorado were jubilant last year when voters passed Amendment 64 to legalize recreational use of the drug. But they aren't so happy now. Colorado lawmakers are working out how to regulate legal marijuana and it looks like taxes on the wacky weed will be a big part of the process. Recommendations approved this month by the Amendment 64 Implementation Task Force and sent to the Colorado General Assembly for further action could take more of bite out of the pocketbooks of pot smokers than their purchases of munchies. The task force suggests that when the recreational marijuana…

New York City officials said the taxes absolutely, positively had to be paid. So FedEx Ground has agreed to hand over to the Big Apple $2.4 million to settle a claim that it delivered untaxed cigarettes to city residents. New York City's cigarette tax is $4.35 a pack, the highest cigarette tax in the country. So a lot of smokers have looked for ways around the tax. Mail order cigarettes, directly delivered to bargain-seeking New York City smokers, seemed like the perfect option. Not so fast. While it appears to have worked for the smokers who got the tax-free cigarettes, New…

So how's tax filing season going for you? Despite Internal Revenue Service arguments that this tax filing season would be more messed up that it already is thanks to late Congressional action, things seem to be going along as well as can be expected. That probably factored into a federal judge's rejection of the IRS request that he lift an injunction against its oversight efforts aimed at unlicensed paid tax preparers. Plus, no one I talked to really expected U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of Washington, D.C.,to reverse himself. Just two weeks ago, Boasberg sided with three tax preparers…

I admit it. I watch TV commercials even when I'm viewing a taped program. Some ads are better than the so-called entertainment programs. And sometimes I need the break to take care of other things, like getting a snack. And I always look forward to tax season to see how today's Mad Men position tax-filing services. H&R Block has been paying attention, too, and thinks the television spots of one its competitors was a slap at its employees. Unfortunately for Block, a federal judge disagrees. U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr. of the Western District of Missouri has denied…

You've probably seen the commercial where the tax preparer mentions a client who hadn't filed returns for eight years. It happens. There are lots of excuses reasons for not filing taxes. There also is a big reason for taking care of your delinquent tax duties: Penalties. That was a recurring theme when I asked tax professionals via Facebook and Twitter what advice they give folks who've neglected to file returns. "I make sure they understand the potential seriousness, i.e., criminal penalties, and emphasize the need to deal with it ASAP since it only gets worse," says Diane L. Gilabert, aka…

Well, we have yet another turn in the winding road that is the 2013 tax filing season. Friday (Jan. 18) afternoon, a federal judge barred the Internal Revenue Service from imposing a series of new regulations, including a competency exam, on hundreds of thousands of tax preparers. Elmer Kilian of Eagle, Wisc., one of three tax preparers who filed suit against IRS tax preparer licensing regulations, is featured on the Institute for Justice website following the federal court ruling against the plan. The Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP) program, a pet project of former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, was the…