In part one of this post, we introduced the subject of bankruptcy and tax debt. We used a Texas case to illustrate the point that a bankruptcy filing does not necessarily stop the IRS from trying to collect back taxes from you. In this part of the post, let’s look […]
Category: Tax Controversy
The word “trust” has a lot packed into it. Broadly, of course, it refers to belief or confidence in the reliability or faithfulness of a person or an organization. But in legal terms, a trust is a legal mechanism by which certain property rights are held by one party to […]
Two weeks ago, in our September 27 post, we wrote about how alimony payments affect taxes. Another aspect of divorce and taxes is allocation of the tax exemption for dependent children. In this post, we will discuss some of the considerations involved in the use of that exemption. Under the […]
Many states have moved away from using the term “alimony” for court-ordered payments from one former spouse to another to provide financial support in cases of separation or divorce. But whatever these payments are called — alimony, spousal maintenance, spousal support or something else — they do have tax implications. […]
Let’s continue the discussion of tax losses we began in our previous post. As we noted last week, tax laws allow for certain deductions for investment losses. In this part of the post, let’s look at an example of a sophisticated strategy called tax-loss harvesting that some taxpayers use to […]
In tax planning as in life, success isn’t always about big victories. In many cases, it involves making the most of your losses. This can occur, for example, in the context of making proper use of tax deductions for casualty losses. We discussed that issue in our June 26 post. […]
Many Americans have heard of the so-called “marriage penalty.” This refers to the notion that marriage results in higher taxes for at least some married couples when filing jointly than the members of those couples would have had collectively as individuals. Is this notion a myth or is it actually […]
In the first part of this post, we took note of the latest interpretation from the U.S. Department of Labor on distinguishing independent contractors from employees. The Labor Department is likely to continue to raise questions about whether employers are making classification decisions that comply with the Fair Labor Standards […]
How employers should classify workers for tax purposes remains a highly troublesome issue. Indeed, with more and more businesses increasing the use of contract workers, classification issues are as pressing as ever. We’ve been following these issues regularly in this blog. For example, in our January 15 post, we wrote […]
The oft-repeated saying about the inevitability of death and taxes is a commonplace in our culture. There is no corresponding quotation for marriage and taxes. But marriage does carry significant tax implications. We’ve occasionally touched on those in this blog, such as the issue of how same-sex marriage recognition impacts […]