Let’s imagine, just for a minute, that you decided on a new line of work: ripping off the IRS. How do you think you would launch your new business? Maybe you’d open a secret bank account in one of those “sunny places for shady people” like the Cayman Islands or Bahamas. You might rent a […]
“Hotties and Notties” or how attractive is our tax system?
Junior high school is a difficult time for parents as well as students. It’s a time when boys start to discover girls, and girls start to discover boys. (Reports differ on exactly which group discovers the other first, but I hear it’s equally terrifying for most parents.) One of the very first things junior high […]
What Can We Learn from Gandolfini?
The acting world lost one of its brightest lights when Sopranos star James Gandolfini died of a sudden heart attack while touring Italy with his family last month. Gandolfini was the iconic face of HBO’s acclaimed drama, which made cable television, rather than the movies, the place for serious actors to “make their bones.” Gandolfini […]
The IRS at the Wedding
You’ve all heard that April showers bring May flowers. That’s fine and all, and it doesn’t leave anything for the IRS unless you’re a farmer or a florist. But June brings brides – young brides, old brides, blushing brides, even bridezillas. Now the IRS pays attention, because now the IRS gets to reach out for […]
Dad and Taxes
Sunday was Father’s Day, and if your family is like most, you talked about golf, or fishing, or the latest happenings on Duck Dynasty. You probably didn’t talk about taxes, just because Dad doesn’t like paying them! So here are some “father and family” themed tax quotes to put a smile on your face today: […]
Party Time at the IRS
You probably don’t think a conference for a bunch of IRS bureaucrats would be much fun. Apparently, though, the IRS knows how to throw a party. Back in 2010, they hosted an event dedicated to “Leading into the Future” for 2,609 executives and managers in the Small Business/Self-Employed division. (You’re excited already, aren’t you?) It […]
An Apple a Day?
Back when you were a kid, your mom probably told you “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Well here’s something Mom didn’t know – apparently, an apple a day keeps the tax man away, too. At least, that’s the conclusion we might draw from recent Congressional hearings focused on Apple Incorporated and its […]
You Think Your Taxes Are High?
Hi to all of our friends from New Orleans, Louisiana, where we’re spending the rest of the week at a CPA conference learning how to serve you better! Speaking of Louisiana, the United States and France have been friends for centuries. The French navy provided much of the military might we needed to defeat the […]
Don’t Be Like These People
Last week, we talked about the IRS Criminal Investigation unit, which just released their Fiscal 2012 report. That report was filled with the sort of dry statistics you would expect from an IRS annual report: 5,125 total investigations launched, 202 crooked tax preparers indicted, 199 identity thieves sent to prison, and 64 months average time […]
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Our federal government devotes millions of man-hours and billions of dollars each year to law enforcement. The FBI, DEA, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, along with lesser-known agencies like the U.S. FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (pursuing criminal violations of food and drug laws), the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement (responsible […]