Author Archives: Russ

Home Is Where the Family Is

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Russ

Last week there was an interesting case out of Iowa regarding domicile. A man was working in South Dakota but his family home was in Iowa. He decided to file as a South Dakota resident. Could it be that South … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa | Tagged | 1 Comment

Does the New Unearned Income Medicare Contribution Tax Impact Amateur Gamblers?

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Russ

Over two years ago the Patient Protection Act–aka Obamacare–passed Congress. At the time, no one knew what was in the law. Famously, then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that, “We have to pass the law to know … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, IRS | Tagged | 1 Comment

Is the IRS Time-Barred From Imposing a Penalty on a Frivolous Amended Return?

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Russ

The IRS is allowed to impose a penalty on the filing of a frivolous tax return (Internal Revenue Code Section 6702(a)). Today, the Tax Court looked at a taxpayer who filed a normal tax return, but then filed an amended … Continue reading →

Posted in Tax Court | Tagged | 1 Comment

Well, He Probably Wouldn’t Have Won Reelection

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Russ

John McCauley, Jr. is the Deputy Speaker of the Rhode Island House. He’s not running for reelection. Given that he will be pleading guilty to one count of tax fraud and one count of conspiracy, that’s likely a good decision. … Continue reading →

Posted in Rhode Island, Tax Evasion | Comments Off on Well, He Probably Wouldn’t Have Won Reelection

If You Get a Tax Refund That’s Someone Else’s, Don’t Spend the Money

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Russ

Last year I reported on the case of the misplaced tax refund. An Orange County, California women put in the wrong account number on her tax return. She used an account that she had closed years ago. However, Citibank reissued … Continue reading →

Posted in Orange County | Tagged | 1 Comment

A Penny Saved, Lots of Dollars Lost

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Russ

The old cliche is, “A penny saved, a penny earned.” In real life, though, sometimes when you save some pennies you lose lots and lots of dollars. So was the case for two taxpayers who filed a case in Tax … Continue reading →

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A Modest Proposal on Tax-Related Identity Theft

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Russ

The issue of identity theft is growing. The IRS is faced with twin challenges on this front: The IRS needs to quickly process tax refunds but it also needs to combat this growing issue. The IRS’s current policy is to … Continue reading →

Posted in IRS | Tagged | 5 Comments

Another Week, More Tax-Related Identity Theft

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Russ

Seven citizens from Zimbabwe opened Express Refund Center in Cincinnati in 2007. The business thrived, but not for those unfortunate souls who used the service. It seems that the operators allegedly decided that stealing their customers’ identities was a lot … Continue reading →

Posted in IRS, Tax Evasion | Comments Off on Another Week, More Tax-Related Identity Theft

Partouche Poker Tour Will Honor Guarantee

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Russ

After my last post on the Partouche Poker Tour electing to ignore a published guarantee, the people in charge either decided that the horrible publicity was bad or their attorneys let them know that French law on false advertising might … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, International | Comments Off on Partouche Poker Tour Will Honor Guarantee

Flying 5,400 Miles and Finding an $882,000 Shortfall in a Prizepool Isn’t a Good Thing

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Russ

There’s a major poker tournament going on in France: The Partouche Poker Tournament Main Event. It had a €5 million guaranteed prize pool. Based on the actual number of entrants, the prize pool ended up being around €4.3 million. Normally … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, International | 2 Comments