Big business pays way too much tax. Big business doesn't pay nearly enough tax. Who's right? It depends upon who's compiling, or at least interpreting, the numbers. A Government Accountability Office study released this month found that two-thirds of both American companies and foreign companies doing business in the United States end up avoiding all...

Two more comments have arrived in response to Why This New Tax Provision. The first is from Wayne Brasch. The second will be shared in next Monday's posting. Wayne shares my distaste for the complexity generated by converting a small portion of what would be an itemized deduction into an above-the-line deduction. More on that issue will appear in next Monday's posting.

Wayne directed my attention to another provision in the Housing and Economic R...

Yeah, I'm tired of Wesley Snipes, too, but at least this time the news about his tax fraud conviction is good for the rest of the taxpayer public. Snipes has been ordered by a federal district judge to pay $217,363.75 to cover the government's prosecution costs. Here's the itemized bill: $2,456.40 for daily trial transcripts...

One of those epiphany moments happened to me when I read a complaint on a course evaluation filled out by a student in the Graduate Tax Program. The gripe was one I have seen on some other evaluations. The student simply claims, "He doesn’t tell us what he wants the answer to be."

The epiphany is the realization of how deeply entrenched in rule memorization our students have become. They think that a tax practitioner, and some J.D. students think...

On July 14, 1789, the French stormed the Bastille, the prison that was the symbol of the absolute power of Louis 16th's rule. Thus began the French Revolution. We here in the fledging United States contributed to the French revolt. The cost of getting involved in our war of independence (some say in the hope...

Yeah, I'm tired of Wesley Snipes, too, but at least this time the news about his tax fraud conviction is good for the rest of the taxpayer public. Snipes has been ordered by a federal district judge to pay $217,363.75 to cover the government's prosecution costs. Here's the itemized bill: $2,456.40 for daily trial transcripts...