Pro Golfer Jim Thorpe Guilty of Tax Evasion
Associated Press: “Professional golfer Jim Thorpe has pleaded guilty to failing to pay more than $2 million in income taxes.”
Taxes, Depression & Our Current Troubles
Wall St. Journal: The subtitle of Arthur B. Laffer’s column is “Tariffs, rising state and federal taxes, and currency devaluation ruined the 1930s, and they could do the same today.”
The damage caused by high taxation during the Great Depression is the real lesson we should learn. A government simply cannot tax a country into prosperity. If there were one warning I’d give to all who will listen, it is that U.S. federal and state tax policies are on an economic crash trajectory today just as they were in the 1930s.
Summary of 2009 Arizona Tax Legislation
State and local tax attorney James G. Busby, Jr., just published his summary of the changes the 2009 legislature made to Arizona’s tax laws. He is a shareholder of Gallagher & Kennedy, one of Arizona’s largest law firms where I was a shareholder/partner before starting KEYTLaw in 2001. Most of the new laws are effective September 30, 2009.
IRS Extends Amnesty Deadline for Off-Shore Bank Users
USA Today: American tax-evaders who have used offshore bank accounts have more time to voluntarily disclose assets under an extension of an IRS amnesty program.
The leniency program, originally due to expire Wednesday, will continue until Oct. 15, said government officials with direct knowledge of the decision. The officials were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the issue before the announcement.
See also “IRS Announces Reduced-Penalty Program for Taxpayers Who Voluntarily Disclose Offshore Accounts.”
IRS to Audit 6,000 Companies for Employment Tax Compliance
The IRS announced that 6, 000 businesses will soon hear the dreaded words, “we are from the government and we are here to help audit you.” The purpose of the audits is to determine if the victims companies report and pay all employment taxes used to fund Social Security and Medicare. The random audits will begin February 2010.