We’re running some repeats, but there is some new Bozo material coming. It’s just that people keep trying the same things over and over again. It’s tough to avoid the tax system. There are currency transaction reports (cash transactions of $10,000 or more) and suspicious activity reports (theoretically can be done on any transaction, but [...]

Another repeat, but it again popped up this past weekend. It’s springtime, and that means weddings. With weddings comes changes in tax status. Your marital status on December 31st determines your marital status for the year. If you are married, you file as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately. (In some rare cases, if [...]

For tax bloggers like myself, Richard Hatch has been a godsend. His antics have been, well, remarkable. While he’s no longer at the top of my Bozo Tax Tips (he’s been strangely silent since his release from prison last December), his story is one that prospective tax offenders should learn. I keep thinking that I’ll [...]

By far the worst tax schemes in the view of the IRS are offshore (foreign) trusts. In fact, trusts of all sorts—domestic and foreign—are regularly abused. First, not all trusts are bad. Many trusts serve a legitimate purpose, such as family trusts. (Family trusts are a device to avoid probate, and are used in many [...]

It’s time for our annual rundown of Bozo Tax Tips, strategies that you really, really, really shouldn’t try. But somewhere, somehow, someone will try these. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! The story you are about to read is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the stupid. This is not an April [...]

There’s no loving for preparer regulation at the DC Circuit. In a terse three sentence order, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia refused to grant the IRS’s request for a stay of the court decision (Loving et. al. v. IRS et. al.) striking down the IRS’s preparer regulation scheme. The IRS’s appeal [...]

I’m not a huge fan of Star Trek. I may have met Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher on the sequel, Star Trek: The Next Generation), but I just don’t watch much television. Apparently, someone (or several someones) at the IRS are fans of Star Trek. They spent $60,000 of taxpayer money to make a parody: The [...]

With just about three weeks left before Tax Day, it’s time for our annual blog hiatus. We’ve written our annual top ten Bozo Tax Tips (they’ll start appearing on April 1st), but between now and April 15th our clients are paying us to get their work done. Of course, if anything really, really big in [...]

I’m shocked, just shocked to find out that there’s corruption in Chicago. Actually, I’m not. I’m just surprised to find out that gambling led to the downfall of a cog in the Democrats’ machine politics in the Windy City. Commissioner Bill Beavers was convicted today of corruptly impeding the IRS and three counts of filing [...]

Let’s say you’re self-employed, and you get a 1099-MISC from a customer. He notes he paid you $1,200. However, he really paid you $900. What do you do? First, you contact the customer and attempt for him to correct the error. Hopefully, you can show him a copy of your invoice(s) or other documentation, and [...]