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Honesty

What If Your Job Title Were Brutally Honest?

This bunch of brutally honest job titles courtesy of Someecards is a tad old but considering we're all suffering from the end of the year slump — except those of us too busy doing inventory counts in dimly lit rooms to waste time avoiding work around the holidays — we figured now would be a […]

Help This Big 4 Alum-Turned-PhD-Candidate with Her Homework (By Taking a Survey)

Recently, a PhD candidate contacted us about helping with her dissertation. That sounds strange since neither Adrienne nor I have any interest in working more than we do already and this sounded like work. Thankfully, we found out that we didn't really have to do too much.   Michele Frank wrote us last week asking […]

WeiserMazars and Their Blow-Up Shark Win Busy Season

WeiserMazars may not be the biggest or the best accounting firm out there, but they've certainly got the market cornered on self-deprecating busy season posts this year. The firm asked its employees and randos on social media to contribute their busy season survival tips using the hashtag #WhenSharksFly and while the creepy shark is, well, […]

John Veihmeyer Not at All Ashamed to Talk Scott London to Business Students

Too bad I didn't hear about this sooner or I totally would have tried to crash this party. Freshly christened KPMG Global Chairman and still KPMG US CEO and Chairman John Veihmeyer schooled the kids at University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business this week, and he wasn't at all afraid to say the L […]

Can We Get a Show of Hands From People Who Plan to Declare Their Super Bowl Gambling Winnings?

You may have heard about or even watched a sporting event known as the Super Bowl that was played last night. This particular mother of all bowls saw the Green Bay Packers defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25, paying a tidy sum for anyone that picked them last spring. Which brings me to my next point: while the Super Bowl is a grand occasion that involves athletes at the top of their game, expensive ads and shitty, over-hyped halftime shows, it’s also means an epic amount of wagering. Everything from the coin flip to last year’s odds on Reggies Bush’s total yardage versus Kim Kardashian’s measurements are popular ways to earn yourself some free money (or, if you’re on the losing side, a broken tibia).


And believe it or not, most gamblers appear to be a honest lot with over $27 billion declared gambling winnings in 2008 (the most recent data available). However, because avoiding taxes is as American as, well, the Super Bowl you can bet that a lot of the winnings don’t ever see a 1040. The exact amount of unreported winnings is, like that the secret ingredient in that dip you were inhaling last night, a mystery. Kay Bell reports:

As for how many taxpayers didn’t completely ‘fess up on 2008 returns about their gambling income, the IRS won’t even venture a guess. Or as an IRS spokesman once told me, “We can’t tell you what we don’t know.”

But guesstimating that a whole heck of a lot of gambling income never gets taxed is a very safe bet.

But don’t worry if you missed some sweet, tax-free action on last night’s game. March Madness isn’t far off.

By the Numbers: $27.197 billion [DWMT]