Author Archives: Russ

How Not to Prepare Returns

With the 2008 Tax Season finally having drawn to a close, here’s a primer on what not to do. Just claim business losses for all of your clients, even those without businesses. Your clients will be happy and you’ll get … Continue reading

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Stranded at ClubFed

When I last wrote about Todd Strand he had pleaded guilty to tax fraud and related charges. Mr. Strand had worked for Renaissance, the Tax People as National Marketing Director. Renaissance promoted a system that allowed you to deduct personal … Continue reading

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An Interesting Gambling Case

Here’s the one post that didn’t make the move from the old host. Note that “today” (in the below post) means October 1st, not October 17th. The Tax Court looked at an interesting case today. A recreational gambler (playing slot … Continue reading

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Can New York Regulate Me?

I live and work in Orange County, California.  My license comes from the federal government (I’m an Enrolled Agent, regulated under Circular 230). Yet New York State has enacted a measure that if legal would force me to remit $100 … Continue reading

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Senate Health Care Proposal Leads to 80% Marginal Tax Rate?

It’s hard for me to imagine such a high marginal tax rate, but those kinds of rates were the norm from the 1930s into the 1960s.  Higher marginal tax rates extended the Great Depression.  But that doesn’t seem to matter … Continue reading

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Just Some Drops in the Bucket, Or a Steady Leak?

California is, once more, looking at a budget that’s underwater.  That should be no surprise to my readers, as I noted that the current budget had a probable deficit of somewhere between $5 and $10 billion.  This past week John … Continue reading

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A List to Avoid

What do Sinbad, Dionne Warwick, and 248 other individuals have in common? They’ve appeared on the Franchise Tax Board’s annual listing of the 250 worst California income tax scofflaws. To make the list, you needed to owe at least $217,909.17.  … Continue reading

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Money Growing on Trees in D.C. May Help Homebuyers

There’s no such thing as a free lunch.  That said, Democrats in Washington are talking about extending the soon-to-expire first-time homebuyer’s credit. While this would certainly help the real estate market, this “free money” would have to be paid for…sooner … Continue reading

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We’re Live, But Not Yet Ready for Prime Time

Well, the blog has been successfully ported to our new host.  I’m now using WordPress, which is quite robust.  Unfortunately, none of the categories migrated so they’ll all have to be added.  Additionally, it is almost certain that none of … Continue reading

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Important Blog Issues

I will be moving the blog over the next few days. This means that it is possible that we’ll be down, and it’s almost certain that there will be no posting until sometime next week. If you subscribe to the … Continue reading

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