By now many people have received a Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt, concerning discharge of indebtedness income allegedly realized by them in 2011. If you received a Form 1099-C, don’t assume that you are taxable on the income alleged in it. There is a good chance you aren’t. read »
Tim Smith has given me some great gust posts about the Echo Boom and now he is asking me to pass on some advice. I get this type of advice all the time from a source close to me and even follow it from time to time. Not often enough, though, I am told. read »
If 1967's The Graduate were made today, the whispered "Plastics" would probably be "Jeremy Lin." That's the take-away from Linsanity, which is at least more wholesome than Keeping Up with the Kardashians. In tax rates Kim Kardashian is more buff than Buffett, but can NY Knicks point guard and Time Magazine cover phenom Jeremy Lin fix our economy? read »
Hawking or buying into blacklisted tax ideas can attract heavy fines or even prison. The IRS warns the public of the worst tax scams annually, now in Hollywood-style videos. read »
An expert patent litigator worries that proposed regulations will make for more litigation, not less. read »
Wells Fargo Bank N.A. v. Danielo, 2012 WL 472739 (Cal.App. 5 Dist., Unpublished, Feb. 14, 2012). Full Opinion at http://goo.gl/3QQSN read »
There are many tax excuses, but some don't work. The IRS must be tired of hearing them, for this year some tax forms instruct taxpayers to await penalty notices before offering any excuses. read »
Business in The Beltway
It looks like Congress is about to assume its default position: In the face of an intractable partisan dispute over how to pay for a government initiative, don’t. If Democrats won’t cut spending, and Republicans refuse to raise anybody’s taxes, there is always the solution they both can agree upon—just borrow the money and increase the deficit. read »