Category Archive: Finance

Alternative Investments in IRAs – Part II: Be Creative

WARNING:  Do not try the following strategy unless, at least: -Your daddy built a big company that exports products -You have the nerve to battle the IRS for many years -You have creative and careful ...

Unconventional Investments in IRAs – Part I: Be Careful

I remember when Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) were first established in 1974. (Yep, I’m no spring chicken.) At first, these tax-deferred IRAs were restricted to those workers who were not already covered by a qualified ...

What’s The Difference Between An Actuary And An Accountant?

An accountant looks at your shoes when he talks to you.  An actuary looks at his own shoes when he talks to you. There is a difference between an actuary and a mathematician, too.  This ...

Don’t Tell My Clients About This Case

I always tell my clients to keep good records.  Often, I tell them again and again annoyingly.  It is my experience, and I daresay the experience of most other tax practitioners, that a taxpayer’s failure ...

A Trillion Here, A Trillion There . . .

I ended my last blog with a quote attributed to the late Senator Everett Dirksen:  “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking real money.” How about:  “a trillion here, a trillion there ...

When in Doubt, Fill it Out

Some of the most draconian financial penalties levied by the U.S. Treasury are associated with the Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report (“FBAR”).  This report is made on FinCEN Form 114 by U.S. persons having ...

Caught Twixt a Rock and a Hard Place: The IRS and Hobby Losses

I’ve blogged about hobby losses a few times.   Section 183 of the Internal Revenue Code generally disallows business tax deductions for activities “not engaged in for profit” – hobbies.  The regulations under Section 183 provide ...

A Couple of S Corporations, A Couple of Rental Arrangements, A Couple of Taxpayer Losses

Recently, two Circuit Courts shot down the taxpayers in two cases involving rents and S Corporations. In the Estate of Stuller, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals addressed a Tennessee Walking Horse breeding operation held ...

Mo Vaughn Strikes Out

Remember Mo Vaughn?  Big man and big hitter.  American League MVP in 1995 with the Red Sox.  Mo had his best year in 1996, when he hit for a .326 average, played in 161 games, ...

Tax-Friendly and Not-Tax-Friendly States for Retirees

Kiplinger recently released its 2015 survey about states and their relative tax-friendliness to retirees. Of course, one quickly focuses on the absence or presence of a state income tax.  That is definitely a factor in ...

HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY, SOCIAL SECURITY!

On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act. Today, Social Security provides benefits to about one in five U.S. residents, including retirees, people with disabilities, young children whose ...

Accounting TV Shows – That’s What I Am Waiting For!

   A while back, I commented in my blog about a rumored movie in the making that stars Ben Affleck as an accountant with a sideline business – hit man.  The movie doesn’t seem to ...