An all-too-real conversation with days to go before the tax filing deadline: “Morgan, I hear the IRS is in a real mess, months behind with mail, years behind with returns, deadlines extended the last two years. What is the prospect of something bad happening if, you know, I just don’t file this year?” It is true that the IRS is a real mess, and trying to deal with the IRS has been and continues to be very Read More
Doing Well By Doing Good, At Least In Miniature
As a result of recent amendments to the Internal Revenue Code, fewer taxpayers get a bang for bucks donated to charitable organizations. Except …. Buried in the debris of frenzied responses to the scourge of COVID-19, a glimmer of light. Whether or not you itemize, cash gifts of up to $300 (in the aggregate) to qualifying charitable organizations made before December 31, 2020, are deductible in determining your Read More
This is an OUTRAGE!! I don’t care what the law says, FIX IT!
In these troubled times, this seems like a not unreasonable sentiment and it is oft-expressed. Particularly when some heartless retailers charged Pennsylvania sales tax on face masks and other personal protective equipment that INNOCENT and VIRTUOUS CITIZENS acquired to protect THEMSELVES and OTHERS, truly ALL OTHERS, in this pandemic. And so, consistent with the sentiment above, SUE THE BASTARDS!! Which is what Read More
When There Really Isn’t Any There There: The Supreme Court in North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust
When the Supreme Court speaks we expect some broad pronouncement, a grand statement settling an intractable problem going to the very essence of the function and application of law in an ordered society. Particularly so in matters of taxation, not only because I am a tax lawyer, but because taxation is where Government and the citizenry interact most frequently, most universally, sometimes most grindingly, and with Read More
Tales From the Crypt(ocurrency) – Just in Time for Halloween
There are by some accounts over 4,000 cryptocurrencies in use, Bitcoin being perhaps the best known. There is a huge amount being written about cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology that enables these digital globs to achieve their goals of absolute security, the capability of nearly instantaneous transactions at very low cost, and transparency within the user group. Cryptocurrency is Read More
Quite a catch, that Catch-22!
In the classic 1970 movie Catch-22, Bob Newhart played the neurotic Major Major. When Major Major was in his office, you couldn’t get in to see him, you were asked to wait. You could only go in to see him when he wasn’t there. This is the kind of Catch-22 that the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court enabled in a recent case, Helping Enjoying and Loving People 2 Salvation Ministries, Inc. v. Delaware County Board of Read More
Blame England … But Don’t Let Pennsylvania Shove You Around
It is not a cheery thought, but it is simply a fact that many people will die every day, and many of them unexpectedly, without planning or the opportunity to plan. If you would be so unlucky today, you are a Pennsylvania resident without a will, you have some substantial assets in your own name (as opposed to being held jointly with a spouse), and you would leave a surviving spouse and children, the very next call Read More
The Supreme Court Tackles the Internet – Remote Sellers and the Sales Tax
The Supreme Court Tackles the Internet – Remote Sellers and the Sales Tax On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., ruled in the particular circumstances presented that South Dakota could require an out-of-state retailer to charge and collect sales tax on sales to its South Dakota customers. When the Supreme Court decides a tax case, a tax lawyer should take note Read More
You may have disappeared, but rest assured, the IRS will get theirs.
You may have disappeared, but rest assured, the IRS will get theirs. There are circumstances where a taxpayer does not receive cash or any tangible thing of value but the IRS is still allowed to tax (think “phantom income” or income from the cancellation of indebtedness). Such circumstances are almost always noteworthy, but when there is a withholding agent that may become subject to penalties for failure Read More
IRS Forms 1099 Impact Your Taxes, But Don’t Ask For Missing 1099s
Are you collecting your IRS Forms 1099? You may not like IRS Forms 1099, but the IRS sure does. In fact, the agency loves them, because they allow for easy computer matching against tax returns. Businesses may not even like sending the forms out, but they are required to. What's more, there are penalties for failing to issue them, so many businesses err on the side of issuing more and more of the forms. No one wants Read More