Category: Tax

Joe Francis Can Now Get Back to ‘the Business at Hand’

Joe-Francis.jpgA judge has convinced ‘some brilliant legal minds’ and prosecutors with some slimy witnesses to reach a plea agreement in the Joe Francis tax case.
Francis’s original plan to argue that anything related to topless girls was obviously a ‘business expense’ was apparently too confusing for prosecutors to understand.
The defense attorneys also must have realized that Judge James Otero may have been on to something when he suggested that they settle before trial.
More, after the jump


AP:

Otero told prosecutors during a hearing earlier this summer that they should consider resolving the case before it went to trial. He had also questioned Francis’ ability to control himself in the courtroom during the trial, nearly sending him to jail when he learned that Francis had taunted a prosecutor.

Definitely a shocking revelation that Joe Francis wouldn’t be able to control himself, being the purveyor of class that he is. However, perhaps we judge to quickly as it sounds like he has grown through this whole ordeal, which included nearly a year in jail:

“The one thing I’ve learned about myself during this process is that I can be a difficult client, but they are a fantastic group of brilliant legal minds who recognized the truth when they saw it and had the passion to care about what happened to me,” Francis wrote in his statement.

The truth has been recognized, friends. We can all comfortably move on.
Plea deal ends ‘Girls Gone Wild’ founder tax case [AP via TaxProf Blog]

Someone Has a Dangerously Unhealthy Love for Preparing Tax Returns

ilovemyjob.jpgSomeone must really love preparing tax returns if they violate an injunction prohibiting them from doing just that.
“A man who had been barred five years ago from preparing tax returns and representing clients before the IRS was convicted of violating the injunction by continuing to do so.”
Most people that prepare tax returns would love to be banned from preparing them. They could get on with their lives that way. This guy has the good fortune to be told not to do it and he keeps at those tax forms like he’s on some romantic, Don Quixote-esque quest.
Continued, after the jump

..Prosecutors claimed that Mattatall attempted to evade detection by not signing the returns as the paid preparer and by using an alias when representing customers…At the conclusion of the trial, the judge cautioned Mattatall to re-evaluate his positions on the tax laws, warning him that he faces the possibility of a very tragic turn in his life if he continues down his current path.

We’re no Freud but this seems borderline obsessive.
The judge obviously recognizing that this man was completely deranged offered the touching plea, “he faces the possibility of a very tragic turn in his life if he continues down his current path.” Sorta sounds like, “Seriously man. Find something else to do. Anything.”
Tax Preparer Convicted After Violating Injunction [Web CPA]

Last Call for Procrastination Station | 09.15.09

box of receipts.jpgHere we are at last call for corporate and partnership tax returns. You’ve got until midnight eastern time tonight to get the stragglers filed (or maybe you just spend the entire day postmarking things in advance).
This is usually about the time in the morning where a manager or partner shows up in your office with shoebox filled with receipts and a hand-written set of financial statements for a very important client.
While this scenario seems like the type of nightmare that would send most people running into oncoming traffic, we assure you that it does happen.
So if you’re a fighting fires on filing day, or you’re a veteran of the procrastination station and have tales that are worthy of campfire ghost stories, discuss your experiences in the comments.
As for the rest of you who finished your clients up yesterday, you’re probably not even at work, so sober up and get into the office, tomorrow is the holiday.

GC Weekend: Take a Break, We Insist

Jon Hamm as Don Draper.jpgHere it is, Sunday evening so we thought we’d check on all you weekend warriors. Now that the day is over, you can relax and do whatever it is you do on Sunday evenings. Personally, we’d recommend watching some lady slaying courtesy of Don Draper but if reading up on more healthcare policy debate is your thing, knock yourselves out.
Even though lots of you are probably too exhausted to keep your eyes open to read this, we’ll kindly remind you that there’s only two more days to go. Yes, we realize you 1040 prep experts still have a month to go and we’ll give your recognition in due course.
As for the rest of you, give yourselves a pat on the back and have a drink, do a jay, whatever gets you in the mood for love or simply vegging out in front of the tube because you’ve earned it. You’re going to make it through another tax season despite all those times you considered quitting in the middle of it.
And if this is your first tax season, special congrats to you. You’re well on your way to becoming a glutton for punishment courtesy of tax deadlines for many years to come. Cheers.

Working the Weekend: Sept. 15th Deadline Edition

crawling.jpgAt this point for you tax peeps your days are probably running together. It’s fine. Tuesday is only how many days away? Just grab your favorite concoction to get your game back on and you’ll plow through.
Don’t worry tax trolls, we’ll get our own cocktail and check up on you this weekend to get you through it. Why? Because we’re solid.
If you’re having nightmares about 1065’s and whatnot, detail them for us in the comments.

A Week Really Isn’t That Long

calendar.jpgWe feel compelled to remind everyone that there is exactly one week to go until the corporate tax filing deadline of September 15th. By now, with seven days to go, most of you working in tax compliance have probably had one of the following experiences:
• A nervous breakdown
• MSG overdose
• Showered using the bathroom sink at the office
Regardless of your sitch, we’re here to get you to the finish line, even if the layoff rumors are still lurking. Discuss how things look down the stretch and drop us anything you hear regarding potential layoffs at your firm after the deadline.

You Guys! Corporations Actually Pay Taxes!

tax man.jpgAt least Schering-Plough appears to be on the hook for some. A tax court ruled that the drug dealer maker doesn’t get a refund of $473 million after it tried to avoid taxes altogether on $690 million it made through offshore subsidiaries.
We could get into the specifics but then we’d have mass suicides to explain.
What is interesting that Schering’s auditor, Deloitte, even called shenanigans, “stating that the transactions were used as a means of repatriating money from Europe without having it taxed as a dividend.”
Not sure when Deloitte first brought that up but Schering obviously wears the pants because these transactions took place in 1991 and 1992 and the ruling came down this week. So at least the law firm representing Schering made out okay on this one.
Court Rejects Schering-Plough $473M Tax Refund [Web CPA]

One More Way Facebook is Working Against You

facebook at work.jpgSomehow we missed this last week but whatevs. State taxing authorities are apparently getting the swing of this whole Internet phenomenon.
We really thought the IRS had taken their game to the next level by putting videos on YouTube but States are really getting crafty by using social networking sites and Google to catch tax scofflaws.
Continued, after the jump


WSJ:

In Minnesota, authorities were able to levy back taxes on the wages of a long-sought tax evader after he announced on MySpace that he would be returning to his home town to work as a real-estate broker and gave his employer’s name. The state collected several thousand dollars, the full amount due.

This has us a little concerned. One minute you’re updating your Facebook status as “Just won $500 at my weekly poker game,” just to rub it in everyone’s face, and the next thing you know you’re filing an amended return because some jerk you met at a party, and for some reason added as a friend, happens to be an IRS agent and takes his job really seriously. Is no cash-only operation sacred?
And it doesn’t matter if you’re not into online social networking:

Now, when a tax dodger can’t be found, said Nebraska tax official Steven Schroeder, agents often turn to Google. One agent collected $30,000 of unpaid tax from a resident after a Google search found him listed as a high-ranking local marketing rep for a national firm.

Face it people. One way or another, you’re going to participate in your patriotic duty.
Is ‘Friending’ in Your Future? Better Pay Your Taxes First [WSJ]

Countdown to the End of Tax Season or Just the End?

tax man.jpgFor lots of you tax trolls out there, you might be seriously reconsidering your career choice at this particular moment. Oh sure, there are probably some of you who are so deranged that the excitement you feel at that this time of year is only rivaled by the stretch from mid-February to April 15 but you all need committed.
For the rest of you, the milestone of two weeks until the September 15th deadline is either the light at the end of the tunnel or simply just another day wandering in the darkness since you’ll be crawling across the ultimate finish line on October 15th.
So we’re calling on brave/insane tax soldiers out there to sacrifice a few moments of their chargeable time to let us know how it goes with two weeks to go until 9/15. Hours you’re working, the latest on post-deadline layoff rumors, nightmare clients, whatever moves you.
UPDATE: One source at a Big 4 firm describes it this way:

For me, it has been very reasonable. For others, it is miserable. The unreasonable requests are piling on to a teammate of mine. His senior gives him 40 hours of work and expects him to finish it in one night. They have no clue and shit rolls down hill. It’s amazing how poorly accountants gauge time. Sad.

Joe Francis Plans to Argue That Anything Related to Topless Girls is Deductible

Joe-Francis.jpgSome might call Joe Francis a genius. Others may call him a pig. Regardless, the IRS is calling him a scofflaw tax evader. His defense strategy will entail an elaborate slideshow that will explain that Francis is the “business of sex” and that most of what he’s doing are business expenses.
Sex is a confusing business so Francis’s defense will help the jury understand:
Get informed, after the jump

• Mr. Francis is in the business of sex
• Mr. Francis IS Girls Gone Wild
• Girls Gone Wild is Successful

See? It’s not complicated.
The defense strategy will also include pictures of celebrity guests (with some misspelled names) that were at Francis’s beachside house in Mexico where he incurred “business expenses”. Francis will also present a slide that shows himself to be akin to Hugh Hefner and thus, proving that anything to naked girls should be allowed as a deductible expense.
Open and shut as far as we’re concerned.
Jennifer Aniston For The Defense? [The Smoking Gun via TaxProf Blog]