It’s like a B-grade horror flick, The Return of the SUV. Buried in the new tax law passed in December is provision to write off 100% (you read that correctly) of heavy Sport Utility Vehicles if it is used 100% for business. A Brief History Heavy SUV’s have long qualified under the popular Section 179 [...]
Archive for January, 2011
Now Where Did That $34 Million Go?
It was right here, I swear! That was what one company was left asking after their VP of Finance embezzled from her employer. Details regarding the employee’s theft from her employer, Koss Corporation, are now becoming available. The individual, with only one other collaborator, stole $34 million dollars, representing HALF of the company’s earnings, over [...]
40% Penalty: Are you SURE it doesn’t apply to you?
There aren’t many penalties that large in the world, but leave it to the IRS to come up with one. There has been plenty of press about the IRS going after foreign tax evaders, putting the Swiss banks over the coals, etc, but none of that has anything to do with little old you, right? [...]
Pigs Get Fat and Hogs Get Slaughtered
Sometimes for the fun of it I read Tax Court cases. In a recent case, the IRS prevailed against a taxpayer who was trying to game the system and avoid payroll taxes by taking out little salary and a lot of dividends. Just the Facts Ma’am Funny thing is this taxpayer was a CPA in [...]
Who needs audits when you have penalites?
I’ve discussed this issue before in newsletters, but wanted to remind taxpayers as filing season is upon us. Buried in the tax legislation passed in 2009 were increased penalties for S-corporation and partnerships that file their tax returns late. Many taxpayers were caught by surprise when their late 2009 returns generated penalties last year. In [...]
Taxpayer Lacks Substance
I’ve been accused of that a couple of times, but in this case I’m talking about economicsubstance. Recently a taxpayer lost their battle with the IRS, with the Tax Court citing that the transactions of their business entities lacked economic substance, and were only done to pay the couple’s personal living expenses. Believe it or not, the IRS [...]
What Was Missing
With great fan fare, and a giant love fest of political cooperation, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Job Creation Act of 2010. Much has been made about the extension of tax breaks, and some has been written about the temporary estate tax provisions, but I haven’t read anything about what was missing. Here [...]