Everyone has a story about a tax return gone bad. And this is your chance to turn your bad tax move into a good one… Have a horrible tax filing story? Car break down blocks from the post office? Ran out of paper in the printer? Dog ate your return? Tell me your worst tax…
Quick, close your eyes. Now open them. You know, cause you can’t read the blog with your eyes closed. But remember how it looked. It was dark, right? Unfortunately, due to technical issues, I can’t actually make the site go dark for SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act). But I want you to get the…
A client contacted me this week with a tax problem. He sent over a big pile of correspondence that he had received from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). On the front of one of the letters, it read in big letters: Last Date to Respond to this Letter: XXXX 2011. Um, it’s 2012. The client…
Our eighth charitable organization is Texas Wildfire Relief. The mission of the organization is listed on its website as “committed to generating awareness and garnering support for Texas volunteer firefighters.” According to the National Fire Protection Association, just over 70% of the firefighters in America are volunteers. In Texas, the percentage is over 80. As…
As if we didn’t need further evidence that Congress is phoning it in these days … House Speaker Boehner (R-OH) backtracked Thursday afternoon and announced a “compromise” two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, two days after the House voted to reject it. Let me break this down for you. First, to the average taxpayer,…
Earlier this month, I posted a story about millionaires collecting unemployment benefits. In the story, I noted that the issue of unemployment benefits remains controversial. Shortly after the post, a reader contacted me to tell me that part of the problem is that nobody wants to hear the real story of what it’s like to…
It’s the third day of my annual 12 Days of Charitable Giving. Each of the 12 charities that I’ll be featuring in the series was suggested by a reader as a charity that could use a boost this holiday season. I’ll be posting one a day for – well, 12 days (I’m clever that way)….
As much as I’ve blogged about reality TV star (and I use the term “star” lightly) Richard Hatch over the years, I feel I owe it to you to report that our favorite tax evader was released (again) from prison today. Hatch’s most recent stint was the result of failing to file and pay the…
I hate to shop. I don’t have the patience for it. I have three kids and if you’ve ever been behind me in line at the store (first of all, I apologize), you know that the whole production takes forever. Add to the timing pressure the fact that I work and I write… And well,…
Yes, it’s another spammy email purporting to be from the IRS. This one has, as its subject, “IRS-SUBJ1” and claims to be from the IRS Tax Notification Department (support@irs.gov) though the IP address appears to actually be located in the Republic of Korea. The email says: Dear Taxpayer! You are encouraged to pay a penalty…