Tax Wizardry Accomplished With an Offbeat Merger [DealBook]
This past July LIN Media merged with itself. Uh huh. Here's Vic Fleischer: "From a business standpoint, the deal was nonsensical. LIN’s shareholders exchanged their shares in the old company for shares in a new L.L.C., but the business was otherwise unaffected. The deal cost several million dollars in fees paid to bankers and lawyers and countless hours of time and attention from the company’s executives and advisers." But! It did create half a billion dollars in tax losses. What's the difference between this and old tax shelters of the 80s and 90s? Here's VF again: "[I]t has enough economic substance to possibly survive an audit."
Accountant accused of stealing $1.2 million [NVR]
There's a pretty solid deer-in-headlights mugshot of the alleged perp at the Napa Valley Register. Here are some details: "Leslie Marie Krzan, 34, an accountant for Tulocay & Co. on Devlin Road, allegedly created false invoices between 2006 and October 2013 to divert money into a Citibank account under her control, according to a court filing from the Napa County Sheriff’s Office." After seven years of embezzling money, how did she get busted? Stupidity. "Tulocay & Co. owner Richard Long told the Sheriff’s Office he discovered in July two company check stubs on Krzan’s desk indicating she had used them to pay a Citibank credit card, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The company does not use Citibank, Long told a detective."
Sikh Fired by IRS Over Blade Sees Suit Revived [CNS]
As a revenue agent for the IRS, Kawaljeet Tagore worked at the George "Mickey" Leland Federal Building in downtown Houston and was thus subject to the "dangerous weapons" ban in federal buildings. Despite a letter from the Sikh Coalition explaining that kirpans are less dangerous than scissors or box cutters, the Federal Protective Service denied Tagore an exemption after finding that her 3-inch blade was half an inch over the limit for acceptable pocket knives.
EY poaches KPMG's ex-private client head [Accountancy Age]
That lateral hiring/competitive poaching is happening in the UK as well.
Boeing gets $8.7 billion tax break to stay in Washington State [DMWT]
The largest corporate tax break given by a state, apparently.
Fugitive Comments On Own Most Wanted Photo On Facebook [Deadspin]
Another great mugshot.