We mark six months of podcasts this week (the first Tax Update was posted right after Apple opened up the iTunes music store to podcasts).

To close out the year and get ready for the upcoming tax season, we look at the documentation rules for charitable contributions. The materials can be downloaded from http://www.edzollars.com/2005-12-31_Charitable_Documentation.pdf.

This podcast is being sponsored by http://www.leimbergservices.com, who provide an excellent set of email newsletters on tax topics by subscription, as well as a database of tax information and categorized archives of these podcasts.

Here at our firm, I wanted to note that one of my partners, LaVon Martin, is retiring as of the end of this year. We have worked both as employees of the firm and, eventually, as owners of the firm for over 20 years together. It has been a joy to work with her over these years, and it will certainly be different around here without her this tax season.

Hopefully she'll remember us while she is actually getting to enjoy the winter and spring here in the Valley while those of us remaining are working our way through tax season.

May all of you have a Happy New Year (enjoy those last few days before the deluge begins...)

For our Christmas Eve edition of the podcast we look at the controversy that has arisen about a modification the IRS made to this year's Schedule D instructions. In the 2005 edition of the instructions, the IRS specifically indicates that taxpayers may not enter "See Attached" and reference a schedule of detailed transactions for Schedule D, but rather must fill the details on Schedule D-1.

Download the materials prior to listening to the podcast.

This podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services.

May you have an enjoyable holiday season. And, remember, tax season is just around the corner...

This week we look at adequate disclosure under Revenue Procedure 2005-75 for purposes of escaping the substantial understatement penalty under Section 6662(a).

Download the materials for the podcast from http://www.edzollars.com/Adequate_Diclosure.pdf.

The podcast is being sponsored by Leimberg Services.

This week we look at the issue of legal fees and settlement, and the tax status of such. We'll look at the result in the Hauge case where a taxpayer and the partnership she owned virtually all of the interests in settled the same legal dispute with quite different tax consequences.

I am going to be speaking this week in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday and have a pretty full day Friday, so we may be late getting next week's podcast up--but we'll try and get it up on time.

Be sure to download the materials from http://edzollars.com/2005-12-03_Alimony_Defintion.pdf.

This week's podcast deals with the tax issues related to alimony, and looks at two recent cases where taxpayers lost in their attempts to get certain payments treated as alimony. In one case (D.E. Lofstrom, 125 T.C. No. 13) the taxpayer attempted to claim an alimony deduction on the transfer of a note receivable from a third party.

In the second case (D.K. Vanarsdall, T.C. Summary Opinion 2005-170) the taxpayer attempted to get the court to count as alimony payments the decree stated were not alimony because the statement did not spell out the matter exactly as Section 71 provides for disqualifying an otherwise qualified payment from alimony treatment.

In both cases, the taxpayer lost. In this podcast we look at the general issues surrounding alimony payments, and what you need to look for when dealing with a client who is either going through a divorce or who comes to you after the fact with a signed and sealed divorce decree.

While I was able to record the podcast back in Phoenix, I'm posting the materials while in Tulsa, Oklahoma from the 2005 Oklahoma Tax Institute put on by the Oklahoma Society of CPAs. I'll be back in Phoenix next week before flying out one final time this year for a presentation in Columbus, Ohio at the Ohio State and Federal Tax Conference on December 15. There I will be giving a three hour presentation on federal tax developments during 2005.

As always, if you comments on the podcast feel free to click the comment link below and leave your comments or discussions.