The 9 weirdest tax write-offs
I found a humorous article on MSN Money entitled "The 9 weirdest tax write-offs." It will get your creative juices flowing on ways to minimize taxes as we enter the tax season.
My favorite quote from the article (on an interesting approach to depreciation deductions) is:
Then there was the client who approached Manhattan CPA Marc Albaum about a very personal tax matter. "He had made some money being a sperm donor and wanted to know if he could take a depletion allowance," Albaum recalls. "I told him he really needed to be an oil well or something like that."
Comments (4)
From the MSN article:
"[...] [T]he Treasury Department says when it comes to "potentially abusive" tax moves, the old "my tax adviser said it was OK" argument will no longer work. "
Potentially abusive?? POTENTIALLY ABUSIVE???? Why, those sly, conniving taxpayers! They are just looking for yet another way to swindle the poor, poor government out of its money! Those abusive con artists should be hanged, drawn and quartered if ever they dare use loopholes and "potentially abusive" [but LEGAL, they conveniently forget] tricks to hide their hard-earned cash which, nevertheless, is OURS to grab and spend away.
This kind of thinking is the norm in many bureaucracies around the world, but this is the first time someone was candid enough to say this in public.
Published: February 11, 2005 9:17 AM
Mr. Torres:
Actually, bureaucrats (usually IRS/Treasury or Congress) in our country make that statement "abusive" or "potentially abusive" all the time. They figure that anyone (or their advisors) who is creative to find a loophole in the law to minimize their taxes is abusive. It is the statist mentality.
Published: February 11, 2005 9:52 AM
Talking about weird bureaucratics ways of speaking, some months ago the venezuelan government announced they were going to reduce the VAT rate from 16 to 15%, after which they said the Government would have to endure certain "fiscal sacrifices".
I almost cry.
Published: February 11, 2005 10:33 AM
It takes a lot of spunk to try and take a depletion allowance for sperm donations.
Published: February 11, 2005 2:38 PM