On April 2, One L. Goh allegedly went on a shooting spree inside Oikos University in Oakland, California, killing seven students. That same day, federal agents were otherwise occupied, raiding a business less than a half a mile away. That business, Oaksterdam University, is a medical marijuana training school in a location where it is…
I was finishing up with a colleague at the office when I saw my cell phone light up. It wasn’t a number that I recognized so I let it go. The office phone rang a few minutes later and my assistant advised that it was the school. Of course, it was. It was a dental…
Y is for Year End. Tax returns are filed based on your tax year end. Individual filers have a calendar year which means that federal income tax returns are due on April 15 of each year – unless that day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday as it does in 2012. This year, we…
Many years ago, a crack unit of specialists from Big Four audit firms and boutique consultancy firms – were working on the mean streets of Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. These men promptly escaped from the financial district to the nation’s capital. Today, they are wanted by the government….
If Citigroup Chief Economist Willem Buiter (and former Financial Times blogger) looks like he’s suffering through a nervous breakdown, you can blame the U.S. Tax Code. Buiter dropped the news that he nearly had a nervous breakdown simply getting his information together in order to do his taxes on a recent appearance on Bloomberg Radio….
Apparently, the banking industry doesn’t have enough bad press these days. They’re going to new heights to tick off customers… quite literally. Citibank, part of Citigroup, America’s #3 bank holding company, launched a campaign offering frequent flyer miles for opening new accounts. Sounds great, right? Only there was a hitch: Citibank announced that it would…
Our next tax trivia question is: The original purpose of the Social Security number, which was introduced in 1935, was to track individuals’ accounts within the Social Security program. In 1938, as part of a promotion to sell wallets primarily through Woolworth’s, wallet manufacturer E. H. Ferree Company used a sample Social Security card to…
Our next tax trivia question is: In 2000, Vice President Cheney and his wife owed federal taxes of $14,295,058 on adjusted gross income of $36,086,635. After taking into account withholding and other payments, how big a check did the Cheneys have to write when they mailed in their taxes? (I’ll take answers within $100,000) For…
Yep, it’s that time of year: free tax software! I have 20 access codes for free CompleteTax online tax prep software to give away to taxgirl readers, thanks to the good folks at CCH. Each code is good for online tax preparation and filing for one 2011 federal and one 2011 state tax return using…
Last night was the State of the Union speech as delivered by President Obama. Traditionally, the State of the Union speech is delivered once a year to both houses of Congress. For the last hundred years or so, the speech has been delivered in January of each year and is the President’s opportunity to address Congress…