Category Archive: Tax

Make Compensation Tax-Free: The IRS Tells You How

Well, my headline may overstate a little bit the subject matter of a new publication by the Internal Revenue Service.  Recently, the IRS issued Publication 15-B, Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits. (Click here for full ...

Whoopee! Tax Busy Season is Longer This Year!

By my rough calculation, the 2016 spring tax busy season for 2015 returns is about 5 percent longer than most years. Here’s how I got my number. First, the late, great Bill Morgan used to ...

IRS Releases its Annual “Dirty Dozen Tax Scams” List

The Internal Revenue Service completed yesterday the release of its annual “Dirty Dozen Tax Scams.”  Some are perennial chart toppers.  I list the Dirty Dozen in order of the IRS ranking. #1– Identity theft.  I ...

A Spurned Lover and His 1099

Mrs. Maultsby is a well-respected family law attorney.  She has seen a lot of strange cases in which love has gone sour.  I don’t think she has seen one quite like this. Lewis Burns and ...

2016 Standard Mileage Rates for Business, Medical and Moving Announced and are Down

Last week, the IRS announced the 2016 optional standard mileage rates for Business, Medical and Moving.  The rates are less than 2015.  The IRS conducts a study each year of the fixed and variable costs ...

Tax-Friendly and Not-Tax-Friendly States for Retirees

Kiplinger recently released its 2015 survey about states and their relative tax-friendliness to retirees. Of course, one quickly focuses on the absence or presence of a state income tax.  That is definitely a factor in ...

Some Ado about Little

Okay, it’s not the best rip-off of Shakespeare.  I thought about calling this blog “Be Careful What You Ask For.”  This installment addresses some proposed regulations that came out last week. Every year, we at ...

Some More Statistics of Income

The Statistics of Income Program of the IRS released some interesting information last week in Publication 4801, “Individual Income Tax Returns Line Item Estimates, 2013.” (OK, I find it interesting. I never said I wasn’t ...

The 2015 Income Tax Filing Season: A Tale of Two Cities

The IRS funding was down in fiscal year 2015 about 17 percent from fiscal year 2010 on an inflation-adjusted basis. In addition to its normal duties involved in collecting about 93 percent of Federal revenues, ...

Katy Perry, Travel and Taxes

Got your attention, didn’t I? Katy Perry graced the cover of the July 20, 2015 edition of Forbes. In the magazine’s annual survey, she was named the highest earning entertainer with estimated earnings of $135 ...

RESCISSION: A HANDY TOOL IN THE TAX TOOL CHEST

In the best of all possible worlds, our clients would always consult with us as part of the process of planning a transaction. When that does not happen and the tax consequences of the transaction ...

IRS NQDC ATG – Helpful, Once You Get Through the Initialism

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently updated its Audit Technique Guide (ATG) for Nonqualified Deferred Compensation (NQDC) plans. An NQDC plan is an elective or non-elective plan, agreement, method, or arrangement between an employer and ...