Loopholes

College tuition continues to climb, and for many families, financial aid can make or break their ability to afford their child’s higher education dreams. What most don’t realize is that their tax return — filed long before students even begin applying for college — plays a major role in determining how much financial aid they’ll receive. This is where you come in. Tax professionals and financial planners are uniquely positioned to help clients qualify for more college financial aid. But only if you know what to look for.

Once again, Tax Court provides slices of life as well as hyper-technical drilldowns into convoluted legal conundrums. To any who say that tax law is dull, I refer them to the annals of 400 Second Street, NW, where anything goes.

We are thrilled to bring you the 2025 Summer Education Series, sponsored by Vistia! All summer long we will be bringing our loyal subscribers monthly webinars featuring some of the brightest minds in tax. Each webinar will feature our usual blend of high-quality education and entertainment and include continuing education credits for those who qualify. All of this is included in your regular subscription! Continue reading to see what we have in store...

As we prepared our 4th Annual Summer Education Series, our friends at Sandy Bay challenged us to go bigger and do even more live events than we originally planned. So, we did! We are proud to present Think Outside the Tax Box's first ever “Spring Fling” live webinar event. As a monthly or annual subscriber, this webinar is 100% exclusive, and free to you! Every webinar comes with free continuing education credits for those who qualify! Keep reading for more details...

Some new developments arose in March and some new gimmicks. The current hot topics, microcaptive insurers and syndicated conservation easements, remain on the front burner.

February brings us Groundhog Day, but there are always new developments in Tax Court, as well as refreshers to keep practitioners current.

People use the online space to look for love, make business and financial decisions. And all of these decisions can have serious tax implications. That is why as trusted financial and tax advisors, it is important for us to be aware so we can help protect our clients. In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission released a report showing consumers reported losing $4.6 billion in investment scams. That's only the amount reported, so our clients are at risk if they are online making financial decisions. Today, let's look at a newer player in the online investment scam arena: pig butchering. If you're like me, you're probably thinking “what in the world does this have to do with taxes?” Unfortunately, everything. It leads to taxpayers receiving tax bills for money they withdrew but lost as victims of theft.

When we enter upon a new Administration, we wonder at the shape of things to come. But surely since 1916, we have never had an incoming Administration promise us a repeal of the income tax and the reestablishment of the import tariff as the principal source of Federal funding. I would not, however, immediately cease to follow the proceedings of the US Tax Court.