Blog
Articles and updates from our family of firms on tax, probate, business, and related topics.
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Charter Boat Expenses are Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions
We live in a complex society. Even common activities can be exceedingly complex. Take a charter boat operation, for example. One has to consider the various laws for registering the boat; laws that dictate where and when the boat can operate; the laws governing the crew and its activities; and financing and loan and insurance…
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How Long Does Probate Take in Texas
Yahoo! Finance ran an article entitled “How Long Does Probate Take.” The article sets out several circumstances that can slow down the probate process. The article is not Texas-specific, so many of the circumstances do not really apply for probates in Texas or are more nuanced than mentioned in the article. The article provides an
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Tax Planning for Demolished Buildings
It is often said that bad things happen in threes. This is a nice way of saying that too many bad things have happened in quick succession, so hopefully, the person will not suffer further calamities in the short term. Tax attorneys view calamities in terms of tax losses and/or net operating losses. As tax…
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Pfizer: Vaccine Safe for Children
Parents of elementary school students in the Houston area felt welcome relief on Monday when Pfizer announced its vaccine is safe and effective for the 5- to 11-year-old age group. The findings represent a key step toward inoculating a younger population that so far is unprotected from the virus. Right now, only children 12 and
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Factors Showing Innocent Spouse Relief
The IRS has wide discretion in how it administers our tax laws. This discretion is power in its purest sense. This power can be wielded to destroy hard-won reputations, careers, and fortunes and it can even cost individuals their freedom. These powers can come from ambiguities in our laws. They can come from restrictions in…
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Rental Tax Losses for Those With Irregular Hours
Tax cases are interesting in that they apply a fairly well-developed set of rules to varying fact patterns. These varying fact patterns can result in surprising, and often unintended, consequences. The more complex the tax law in question, the more likely it is that the outcome will be something other than what Congress may have…
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Galveston County Reports its First COVID-Related Death in a Child
Kali Cook, a 4-year-old Galveston County girl, was running around her Bacliff home Monday, gleefully batting the fake red eyelashes her grandmother had given her for Labor Day. By 2 a.m., she had a fever. By morning she was gone. The 4-year old died of COVID-19 in her sleep Tuesday at 7 a.m., her mother
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IRS Lien on Trust Assets
As long as the government tries to collect taxes, there will be taxpayers who try to find ways to not pay the taxes. These tax payment avoidance options often involve co-ownership of property or, in many cases, trusts. The recent United States v. Simones, No. 1:20-cv-00795-PJK-SCY (D.N.M. 2021) case shows how the IRS is able…
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Qualifying for Section 1244 Stock Losses
The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 changed the choice of entity decision quite a bit. It affords corporate taxpayers the benefit of the lower flat 21 percent tax rate. It provides non-corporate businesses a 20% qualified business income deduction. There were other changes too. This is in addition to the existing tax rules…
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What Does the FDA’s Full Approval of the Pfizer Vaccine Mean?
The FDA announced on Monday the full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for those 16 and older. That means the vaccine has now undergone extensive review over a substantial period of time —more than six months —to ensure long-term safety, said Dr. Prathit Kulkarni, with infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine. A fully approved