Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Sure, your tax guy may seem nice but...

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/104463/10-Things-Your-Tax-Preparer-Won't-Tell-You

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Oh dear, looks like Nicholas Cage bought into that old notion of... "hey we talked about business on this Gulfstream jet, so that means you can write it off!" oh dear, it happens to the best of us!


The Internal Revenue Service says movie star Nicolas Cage used a company he owns to wrongly write off $3.3 million in personal expenses, including limos, meals, gifts, travel and his Gulfstream 1159A turbojet.


http://www.forbes.com/media/2008/02/20/cage-taxes-irs-biz-media_cz_bb_jn_0220cage.html
So this is the time of year when people kind of start to freak out over their impending 2007 tax appointment... the first step is to actually MAKE THE APPOINTMENT and then follow these informative tips... enjoy

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/104437/Your-February-Tax-To-Do-List

Friday, February 8, 2008

Could taxes be the answer to ridding third world countries of tobacco addiction? Taxes used for good?... nice idea...

The final prescription offered by the WHO is also the most powerful one: higher taxes. Studies show that raising tobacco taxes by a tenth may cause a 4% drop in consumption in rich countries and an 8% drop in poor ones, with tax revenue rising despite lower sales. The agency wants a 70% increase in the retail price of tobacco, which it says could prevent up to a quarter of all tobacco-related deaths worldwide. The claim is that higher taxes not only bring in revenue to fund anti-smoking efforts; they actually benefit the poor.

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10653774&fsrc=RSS

Thursday, February 7, 2008

The IRS gods have smiled upon us...

The Senate passed an economic rescue plan Thursday that would speed $600 to $1,200 in rebates to most taxpayers and $300 checks to low-income people, including disabled veterans and the elderly.


http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080207/economy_stimulus.html
I always find it amusing when a story uses the word "IRS" and the word "scam" in the same headline...

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080130/irs_scams.html?.v=1&.pf=taxes

Friday, February 1, 2008

Well played, Wesley Snipes...

Snipes and two co-defendants, a delicensed accountant and a tax protest leader, were indicted in 2006. Snipes faced six additional counts of willful failure to file a tax return from 1999-2004, a period in which he signed two contracts for more than $10 million on sequels in the "Blade" trilogy. He was acquitted on three of those and convicted on the others. He could be sentenced to three years in prison after originally facing a possible 16 years.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i51511a54764ed6a8fc80e1540ed621e6
So, the State of California Franchise Tax Board has contacted me again... to let me know that I still owe them money... SAY WHAT?! Is a $1000 really worth this much aggravation? Did they miss the registered mail package that I sent them with my successful appeal info? Are they too lazy to read it? It appears so...

I am placing a call to them shortly... stay tuned...