SCOTUS Considers Whether Shredding Receipts Constitutes Obstruction. Carlo Marinello operated his courier service, carrying parcels between the United States and Canada, on an all-cash basis. He also paid personal expenses such as his mortgage in cash, and he made a habit of shredding receipts and other records.
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While no tax reform is ever final until the president signs it into law, it seems increasingly likely that congressional Republicans will enact some significant tax changes soon. For taxpayers, all this uncertainty can be unnerving. After all, good tax planning happens with an eye to the future, and when a major shift in taxation is imminent, it can feel as if planning grinds to a halt. But taxpayers can consider the most likely of these changes now without succumbing to either panic or pressure.
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A grantor retained annuity trust, commonly called a GRAT, allows a grantor to pass assets to a beneficiary while minimizing his or her federal gift and estate tax burden. While GRATs do offer some undeniable advantages, like any estate planning technique, they are not right for everyone.
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Veteran Chopper Pilot Shoots Down IRS Arguments. After serving two stints over nearly 25 years as a helicopter pilot and flight instructor for the Army, Jesse Linde found himself losing out to younger pilots for stateside jobs. While his wife remained in Alabama, Linde relocated in 2009 to Iraq, where he found steady work flying for a government contractor.
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Natural disasters can make humans feel powerless. The impulse to help in their wake is both natural and admirable. But while there is no such thing as “bad generosity,” some gifts are more valuable than others.
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Sometimes the money in your retirement account can do more good in the present than in the future. While you should never raid your 401(k) for a new flat-screen TV or a vacation, under certain circumstances borrowing from your retirement plan can serve as a responsible financial planning solution.
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Serving on the board of a nonprofit organization is not a decision to make lightly. Many professionals may mistakenly think that a position on a nonprofit board is simply a show title, but in a functional organization, board members actually do a great deal.
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Singer David Allan Coe famously said that the perfect country song had to contain “Mama, or trains, or trucks, or prison, or gettin’ drunk.” Songwriter Steve Goodman obligingly added a verse containing all five to “You Never Even Called Me By My Name.” The song’s popularity demonstrates that country fans have a sense of humor about the disasters that fill the lyrics of some of the genre’s most famous songs.
But the misery of the home of country music, Nashville, Tennessee, in 2010 was all too real.
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In August 2016, the investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. released the provocatively titled report: “The Silent Road to Serfdom: Why Passive Investing Is Worse Than Marxism.” The report’s prediction was that, unless regulators and politicians took precautions, index fund growth could distort the financial markets and lead to massive mispricing of securities. Indexing is becoming more and more popular, the theory went, and if everyone chooses indexing, the system will break down because no one will pay attention to stock prices anymore.
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IRS Gives Same-Sex Couples A Do-Over. Same-sex marriage arrived in the United States in 2004 when Massachusetts first allowed it, …
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