Sales and use taxes are a big deal in Texas. It could scarcely be otherwise, given that Texas leads the nation in the percentage of state revenue coming from sales taxes. The percentage is nearly 83 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Small wonder, then, that the issue of […]
Category: Tax Controversy
If you got a tax refund this year, or are expecting one, the infusion of cash is surely welcome. Sometimes, however, there are circumstances that can reduce your refund. This is called a refund offset. When can the IRS offset a refund? And how might the IRS change its procedures […]
The general rule is that personal expenses aren’t deductible on your taxes. But what if you use something partly for business and partly for your own purposes? In this post, we will explore that question, taking note of a recent Tax Court decision that sheds light on it. On its […]
A lot has been written about the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) disclosure requirements. The Internal Revenue Service has placed a lot of emphasis on offshore tax compliance. As more people realize they need to report foreign financial accounts, the number of these FBARs filed last year […]
There are several ways in which divorce can affect your taxes. If you have children, one of the issues is who gets the tax exemption for dependent children. We discussed that a few months ago, in our October 10 post last year. In this post, let’s look at the question […]
The U.S. Tax Court is an important forum for challenging IRS action in certain cases. Using its authority under Article I of the Constitution, Congress created the court to have jurisdiction over a number of different areas of tax law. But is there a lower limit on the size of […]
Depreciation is a term of art in tax law. It doesn’t refer directly to something losing value. It refers rather to tax deductions for businesses to reflect the cost of wear and tear on their equipment. Since 2003, these deductions have become increasingly complex. Legislation enacted during the first administration […]
One reason why tax compliance so challenging is that the federal tax code is always a moving target. The challenge isn’t only that the code is so complicated. It is that every year there is uncertainty about what Congress will include in it. One aspect of this is a set […]
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 […]
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 […]