Two recent Tax Court opinions highlight the danger of ignoring the Internal Revenue Code 71 when handling spousal support issues. Christina Mehriary v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2015-126, issued July 9, 2015 Taxpayer tried to deduct the transfer of the home she was given in the divorce as an … [Read more...]
I Fought the Law and the Law Won: Error by Tax Preparer Does Not Absolve Taxpayer
In Devy v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2015-110, a recent tax court opinion, Mr. Devy found out the hard way that his trust in his tax preparer, aptly named Tax Whiz, was misplaced. Tax Whiz prepared his return and claimed for him an education credit of $2,500. After taking into account the credit, … [Read more...]
Know Thy Charity!
With the recent disaster in Nepal people around the world are making donations to help the recovery effort. Sadly times like these draw scam artists who will form fake charities to take money from the unaware. If you are considering making a donation, whether for disaster relief in Nepal or anywhere … [Read more...]
Delivering the Goods: What Happens When a Consumer Puts Up a Deposit for Goods and the Retailer Goes Belly Up?
Last September, Gediman's Appliances of Bath Maine close abruptly. Customers who had put deposits down on appliances were left with neither their money or what they ordered. Sadly, this is not an uncommon occurrence when a retailer, big or small, closes. What then is a customer to do? Unfortunately, … [Read more...]
IRS Will Not Seize Refunds to Pay Back Old Debts to Social Security
For the 2014 tax filing season, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has agreed not to seize an individual's tax refunds to pay back old debts. Since 2008, the SSA has been able to have the Treasury Department seize federal payments to someone who owes a debt to the SSA, usually in the form of … [Read more...]
Consumer Turns the Table on Debt Collector, or “How a Law Firm Turned a Debt of $3,000 into a Judgment of $300,000”
A North Dakota law firm learned the hard way that, if you are not careful, suing on a stale debt can come back to bite you. Johnson, Rodenburg & Lauinger ("JRL") regularly collects consumer debts and in this case it was attempting to collect a debt on behalf of Collect America Ltd., a debt … [Read more...]
Omitted Tort Claim in Bankruptcy Leaves Debtor with Coal in Her Stocking
Sometime in July, 2010, the debtor, Shawnna Pitts, was injured while leaving a CVS store in Ferndale, Michigan. As Shwanna was exiting the store, an automatic door closed on her and she was injured. Shawnna later filed suit against CVS and in 2013 she was able to reach a settlement with CVS. At the … [Read more...]
It is Not Enough to Prevail – You Still Have to Collect Your Judgment
“Jane Doe” was a fifth-grader when she was sexually assaulted by her teacher, Wayne Manson. Subsequently, in 2000, Jane was awarded a quarter million dollars after filing a civil lawsuit against Manson. Almost fifteen years later, Jane has only collected a small portion of the judgment and with … [Read more...]
You Do Not Have to be Broke to File Bankruptcy
You do not have to be "broke" i.e. insolvent to file bankruptcy, in fact, you can be perfectly flush with cash. In this case, the debtor, a Mr. Sultan Soliman, filed to fight off a claim resulting from biting another person's nose. He had assets of $447,775 and $255,500 in debts. The protection of … [Read more...]
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I have established this blog to provide information that I hope I helpful, informative, and sometimes irreverently humorous. Please enjoy! … [Read more...]
