Tax law signed today

Even though Congress is avoiding major decisions on tax law changes that must occur this year until after they see who is reelected, they managed to pass a bill which Pres Obama signed earlier today into law. You will hear media hype about the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, but what you may not hear are the details of the tax provisions that were included. Lets take a look at some of them: The Act allows businesses to expense equipment purchases up to $500K for 2010 and 2011. It also allows for a bonus expensing of 50% of the...

Are tests always this hard?

This week I finally received notice that my application for Accreditation in Business Valuation was accepted. I now have three more letters after my name. This was an inordinately difficult credential to obtain. Last year I spent the better part of six months pouring over books and official materials studying for the ABV exam. I spent 40 hours in classroom lectures on the subject. All that was hard work, but the painful part was the exam. When I arrived at the test center last fall, it started to rain. On top of that I wasn’t feeling well. Perhaps it was...

Deficit Solution?

My wife and I recently returned from an Alaskan fishing trip. The fishing was good, the weather was OK (for Alaska it was great), and the friends we traveled with were a lot of fun. The not so fun part came when I totaled up the credit card bills and realized how much we had “stimulated” the domestic economy. I sure hope Sarah Palin appreciates it. While pondering my cash flow damage I recalled an article I had just read regarding the Federal deficit, and how for the nine months ending Sept 30 the government will have spent over one...

Pay your taxes off at 10 cents on the dollar?

These claims are touted on cable TV and radio ads frequently, and at times we have received inquiries from clients about them. Our advice is usually unpleasant, but pragmatic: If you owe the money and have the ability to pay (whether you want to or not), you will not qualify for any special negotiated settlement, and to try and get one will only drag the process out and drive your ultimate costs up. This was reinforced Monday with the announcement from the California Attorney General’s Office of a lawsuit filed against the nation’s largest tax resolution law firm. The suit...

Taxpayers get Burned

In a recent court case, the court struck down a tax deduction for a couple who donated their house to a local fire department. It seems they were in need of the house being removed from their property, and the fire department was in need of a burning house to train in. The couple obtained an appraisal of the house at $287,000, donated the home to the fire department, who burned it to the ground and trained their firefighters. The couple deducted the appraised value as a charitable deduction. The district court denied the charitable deduction, but not on theoretical...

Will that be Spray or Ray?

You might not have noticed it yet, but the first new tax from Obamacare has kicked in. Tanning salons must now collect a 10% surcharge on indoor tanning services. This new law is rumored to have been inserted in the Obamacare legislation in retaliation to the “Boob & Botox tax” which was in the original version (see my blog posting at: http://www.paulstaxblog.com/2009/12/real-boob-job.html). It was said that there were a few Senators on the Democrat side who use tanning salons to maintain themselves in camera-ready condition, and Republicans were incensed enough about the attempt to tax cosmetic surgeries they created this...