Dear Congress, The year ends on December 31. It’s now about halfway through December. The IRS (and consequently, the taxpayers) would be really happy if you reached some kind of resolution on the AMT by the end of the year. It makes printing the forms a little easier when you actually know the rules –…
I try not to be too political (I said too political) on the blog, but I couldn’t pass up this little gem from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. (Sorry, the video is no longer available.) Apparently, Congress is too busy to pass any AMT relief because they’re reviewing Christmas videos.
Taxpayer asks: This year, I will have been married for 25 years. To celebrate, I bought my wife a very nice piece of jewelry; I have never purchased anything this expensive for my wife before (if you do not count our house and cars). My friend has advised that I will need to pay gift…
Maybe those couples who want more than two babies should pay for it. After all, each extra baby consumes more carbon emissions – and thus resources – during a lifetime, right? Associate Professor Barry Walters thinks so. He believes that families should pay a $5000-plus “baby levy” at birth and an annual carbon tax of…
Taking a page from Pennsylvania’s play book (resulting in JoePa’s salary making headlines), I wonder: Should universities (as tax exempt entities) be required to disclose the salaries of all of their employees? If not, should there be a dollar amount over which salaries should be disclosed? Would such disclosure influence your desire to donate?
Will Smith talks about being rich poor – when you make a lot of money but you can’t keep it. At age 19, he owed almost $3 million to the IRS. So, for the first three years of “Fresh Prince”, his wages were garnished by 70% by the IRS. You can watch him talk about…
Following up on yesterday’s announcement about the winning entry in my law student writing contest, I am pleased to present the entry which qualified as the runner up. Andrew Moin from Harvard Law School wrote an interesting essay on Fred Thompson’s Flat Tax proposal. Check it out below, and let Andrew know what you think….
…or at least a nice letter to Professor Holcomb over at the University of Minnesota Law School. Caroline’s entry on “Why It’s Time to Take the Red Pen to the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction” come out on top in my legal writing contest. I received a number of great entries and remain really impressed by…
We have a winner for the writing contest. Details to follow… Stay tuned! And thanks to all who contributed! I have enjoyed reading all of the entries.
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