Young children believe in fairy tales like the tooth fairy. Despite having no direct evidence of the tooth fairy’s existence, they believe what other children and adults tell them. They are told the false logic that the result they see (money under their pillow) is proof that the tooth fairy exists. We don’t fault young […]
Donald Trump’s tax problems are obviously of great public interest. This post summarizes the three largest issues as widely reported in popular media1 : 1) IRS audit on partnership losses – The federal government’s tax auditors at the Internal Revenue Service disagree with a tax position taken by Trump that could reportedly increase his income […]
Running for public office in New Jersey can be an inexpensive project or can run into surprisingly hefty costs. I’ve been involved in successful local election campaigns run on a $500 budget and some that ran over $50,000. Regional or statewide races would likely cost more. After the first draft of this blog post was […]
IRS says: “The gig economy, also called sharing or access economy, is activity where taxpayers earn income providing on-demand work, services or goods. Often, it’s through a digital platform like an app or website. While there are many types of sharing economy businesses, ride-sharing and home rentals are two of the most popular. Here are […]
From the first day that we discussed coronavirus relief programs I emphasized the need for all of us to be wary of the claim “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”. Over the past seven years I’ve worked with well over one hundred clients hurt by superstorm Sandy but hurt even more by […]
Today the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) announced that nine municipal government candidates, one county clerk candidate, one freeholder candidate, and one state assembly candidates must pay fines and fees totaling $42,797 for violating the Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act. My job as a NJ certified election campaign treasurer is to help […]
Sometime early in this millenium I navigated to a path as a progressive environmental activist. I went from a young man in the Young Republicans Club with a background in animal science (now recognized as an environmentally unsustainable field), driving fast sports cars and boats to a mature guy focused on restorative aquaculture and renewable […]
Anonymous whistleblower complaints are a powerful government force regularly used against small business owners. Over the weekend Donald Tump tweeted another indication of his misunderstanding of how government works. False Tweets from Trump are hardly noteworthy in themselves but this one hits a nerve for me. As a small business owner I’ve faced at least […]
This isn’t the type of tax blog post that I normally write. But after decades of writing and over 2,000 tax-related posts, columns and other publications, I sense that our tax system is spinning out of control, pulling our nation into a death spiral. It is time to speak out. Almost three decades ago I […]
A high profile multi-million dollar international tax fraud case (Unites States vs. Natalia Veselnitskaya 18 CRIM 904) took a dark turn last week then a sealed indictment by federal prosecutors was revealed to the public. To be clear, this tax fraud case does not involve anyone in U.S. government. Yet this case brought special attention because […]