You can read my stories here. This fall you can also see me talk about these stories live. And you can support my coverage of key conferences that will produce new stories about the audit firms and accounting profession. >>Read More

What with the generic names that hedge funds and private-equity shops adopt these days, it’s not too surprising that the suitor of Burger King Holdings (BKC) was confused briefly with 3i, the U.K. private-equity shop that boasts £9.6 billion under management. But no, it appears that Burger King’s buyer, at $4 billion, is 3G Capital, a New York-based investment firm with ties to high-profile Brazilian financiers, and one that, until now, has contented itself with buying stakes >>Read More

The publishing world buzzed at Meredith Corporation’s (MDP) August 2 announcement that John H. (Jack) Griffin, Jr., the President of its National Media Group, was leaving four days later “to pursue another opportunity.” News leaked – even before an official announcement was made – that Time Warner, Inc. (TWX) had tapped Griffin to become Time, Inc’s. CEO at the end of September and eventually become its Chairman, too. On August 30, an Exhibit (“Separation Agreement and >>Read More

Well soon we will by buying our house in Edmonds … again.  Our loan has been CLEARED for closing.  I always find it funny to go to the closing table when you refinance.  You don’t sit across from anyone … unless your spouse decides to sit across from you. You are buying the house from yourself.  The loan gets paid off and you get a new loan. They won’t have to give us the keys, ha, since we already have them and are living in the house.  >>Read More

This is me releasing a BIG sigh of relief.  Sometimes a second opinion is just what the doctor didn’t order. Today I had my follow-up appointment with my new arthritis/rheumatoid doctor.  He looked over my MRI report and noted that it stated that some of the discomfort I am having right now is from my rheumatoid arthritis in the left knee.  For us novices:  that means the joints swell, release fluid, and all of this causes discomfort and pain. So, injecting >>Read More

Wesley Snipes is still fighting his upcoming visit to ClubFed. The troubles he got into are all courtesy of his tax guru, Eddie Kahn. Mr. Kahn received ten years at ClubFed for his ‘advice’ to Mr. Snipes. He just got 20 more years for conspiracy to defraud and mail fraud. Joe Kristan has more. >>Read More

No, not the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees. Instead, it’s the on-again, off-again battle between the State of New York and the Indian tribes of New York state on collecting cigarette taxes. The Indian tribes sell cigarettes, and they don’t want to collect New York taxes on cigarettes. They view themselves as sovereign nations, and New York law doesn’t count. On the other hand, the State of New York believes that it doesn’t matter: If you’re located >>Read More

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Today TaxMama hears from Toni in the TaxQuips Forum, who tells us. “I’m doing my own partnership taxes and am confused about entering information. In 2009, I bought, fixed up and sold 2 properties. [and Toni adds lots of details. ] I’m confused because I’ve added the gain twice from Form 4797. What am I doing wrong?” Dear Toni, When you are doing a partnership tax return, you should be using tax software. Consider Turbo Tax Business and H&R Block >>Read More

Today TaxMama hears from Jami from California in the TaxQuips Forum, who has this question. “My aunt left me her condo and I have to sell it. The deed passed to me a week after I turned 55. Will the 55 & over real estate rule apply to me when I file my tax return?” Dear Jami, Sorry to learn about your aunt dying. But how sweet of her to leave you her condo. It’s not clear to me what over 55 rule you’re talking about? Never mind. Here’s how it works. You >>Read More

I was intrigued to see this in the newsletter of a substantial firm of accountants recently: Certain niche promoters of tax planning arrangements have recently chosen to increase the extent to which they promote directly to businesses, rather than, as historically has been the case, to advisors such as ourselves for evaluation. We undertake due diligence on such proposals on a regular basis and, with a few honourable exceptions, find that we are unable to recommend them. This is because of >>Read More

You may have seen headlines in the printed and online media last week claiming that “One in five businesses consider relocation over punishing tax regime” or that a ‘poll’ reveals that companies claim that “Red tape burden is on rise”. I’ll save the publishers’ blushes by not providing links to them. The background to this ’story’ relates to a survey commissioned and published by HMRC last year. The results have only just been >>Read More

Often I am opening my conversation with tax clients that I have “good news and bad news”.  I always ask them which they want first. Well my orthopedic doctor went to the same school of relaying news as I did.  She first gave me the good news about my knee … no need to remove the floating pieces in it.  These are just old pieces of items left over from my 1978 skiing accident.  I already had the knee repaired way back then. The bad news was that my left >>Read More

Often I am opening my conversation with tax clients that I have “good news and bad news”.  I always ask them which they want first. Well my orthopedic doctor went to the same school of relaying news as I did.  She first gave me the good news about my knee … no need to remove the floating pieces in it.  These are just old pieces of items left over from my 1978 skiing accident.  I already had the knee repaired way back then. The bad news was that my left >>Read More

The U.S. has restricted a slew of exports to the Islamic Republic of Iran. So when The Australian published an article (payment required) last spring describing a trade-show booth in Tehran that was showcasing an atomic absorption spectrometer made by Waltham, Massachusetts-based PerkinElmer (PKI), the Securities and Exchange Commission took notice. In a June 22 letter (PDF) to the company, Cecilia Blye, chief of the SEC’s Office of Global Security Risk, wrote: “Iran is >>Read More

CenturyLink (CTL) got some attention last week for an 8-K it filed, reporting that shareholders of CenturyLink and Qwest Communications International, Inc. (Q) overwhelmingly approved a merger proposal. But the company also filed a second 8-K, which received no real attention, even though it involves more than $10.2 million of shareholders’ money. That filing disclosed that CenturyLink (formerly known as CenturyTel, Inc. until May, 2010) gave equity and deferred cash grants to its >>Read More

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Our favorite convicted tax felon has made the ballot in Ohio. James Traficant has seven signatures more than required and will be running as an Independent for Congress in Ohio’s 17th Congressional District. The Mahoning County Board of Elections will reportedly meet today and approve his name to be on the ballot; the Trumbell County Board of Elections will meet later this week and do the same. For those who don’t remember the bombastic former Congressman and convicted felon, >>Read More

Today TaxMama hears from Jami from California in the TaxQuips Forum, who has this question. “My aunt left me her condo and I have to sell it. The deed passed to me a week after I turned 55. Will the 55 & over real estate rule apply to me when I file my tax return?” Dear Jami, Sorry to learn about your aunt dying. But how sweet of her to leave you her condo. It’s not clear to me what over 55 rule you’re talking about? Never mind. Here’s how it works. You >>Read More

Today TaxMama hears from Karla in the TaxQuips Forum, with this question. “Is the loss on surrender of life insurance deductible on 1040?” Dear Karla, It’s not clear why you would have a loss when you surrender a life insurance policy. Of course, I don’t have much experience in this area. Chapter 12 of IRS Publication 17 covers IRS rules about the <a Ask TaxMama :: Where taxes are fun and answers are free www.TaxQuips.com :: The number ONE free tax >>Read More