What movies, music, and celebrity headlines can teach us about taxes — Taxgirl’s take on tax in pop culture and the news.
Today is Tax Freedom Day in the US – and unfortunately, it’s not as enticing as it sounds. Tax Freedom Day is the first day of the year when the country has earned enough to pay its taxes. The idea of Tax Freedom Day was developed in the US by a businessman named Dallas Hostetler….
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has released his tax return for the 2007 tax year showing that together with his wife, the Obamas earned $4.2 million. A whopping $4 million of that income was in the form of royalties from the sale of his books. Other income includes Obama’s Senate salary of $157,102 and $103,633…
Following up on my post from before about Twittering Tax Pros, I am happy to share this great video from my friend and b5media colleague, Darren Rowse, over at the amazing Problogger.com: Convinced?
Sigh. It’s the day after tax season. Folks are tired and cranky (trust me, I get the emails). Nobody likes to pay taxes. And every year, you swear to do better, plan more, save more. Why not actually do it this year? There are a couple of things that you can do throughout the year…
Crikey! The Australia Zoo, which was founded in the 1970s by Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin’s parents, has acknowledged that it was the victim “a highly sophisticated case of deception.” The zoo is currently being investigation as part of a massive tax-evasion scandal. The zoo has been charged with $2.3 million in outstanding debts allegedly owed…
On March 28, a Texas court ruled that the government may not impose a $5/customer “pole tax” at strip clubs. The proceeds of the tax were to benefit victims of sexual assault and those who were uninsured in Texas (quite a combination, no?). In Texas Entertainment Association Inc. v. Combs, Judge Scott Jenkins ruled that…
In consideration of the news that it’s costing us as much to promote and process the rebate checks as the combined Super Bowl advertising budget for the Patriots-Giants game, I’m launching a contest! Your challenge is to promote the economic stimulus plan via print, podcast or video. You can be as serious or as cheeky…
One of my favorite things to post about at taxgirl.com are tax policy issues. I am particularly struck by sin taxes and revenue raisers based on what “the norm” (whatever that is) might consider to be immoral behavior. This includes taxes like the crack tax, the pimp tax and the stripper tax (note to readers:…
Lou Pearlman, former producer and puppetmaster for mega boy bands, the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, has agreed to plead guilty to charges including conspiracy, money laundering and bank fraud charges. Even with the plea, he still faces up to 25 years in prison and $1 million in fines – and that’s assuming there are…
Actor Nicolas Cage (whose best role – by far – was in “Raising Arizona”) has filed a petition in Tax Court disputing deficiencies alleged by the IRS. The Oscar Winner (he won in 1995 for “Leaving Las Vegas”) has been accused of using his production company to “wrongly write off $3.3 million in personal expenses.”…