The price of a forever stamp increased from $0.58 to $0.63 on January 1, 2023. A tax pro posted this fact as a public service announcement on Facebook. Of course, tax pros being tax pros, someone chimed in, “Do I have to recognize a capital gain upon disposition of my forever stamp?” And of course, someone (me) felt obliged to answer, “It depends.” A direct message followed this bit of tax drollery on Twitter that says, “In theory, if I’m holding stamps as an investment, they would be a capital asset.” And so it begins…
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Intentionally Filing a Defective Tax Return
Creativity on a tax return is a natural tendency. Many strategies and behaviors we know are wrong, e.g. not reporting all income. However, is it ever okay to disregard some deductions and pay more tax? At first glance, it would seem that the IRS should like the idea of more reported income and a higher tax liability attached to the additional income. The IRS does not.