The IRS has again issued guidance indicating their displeasure with a marketed shelter that promises benefits via the literal application of partnership provisions in the IRC.  In CCA 200704028 the IRS outlines both the shelter that was marketed that claimed the magic of returning most of the investment via a credit against state taxes and then a capital loss deduction for the investment for federal tax purposes as well.  The IRS outlines three separate rationales for disallowing the claimed treatment.

The materials for the podcast can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2007-02-24_Credit_Denied.pdf .

The podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, located on the web at http://www.leimbergservices.com .

Congress doesn't necessarily make the law work as consistently as practitioners want it to work.  This week we look at four different provisions in the Internal Revenue Code and their somewhat different view on whether "enough" is being done to get a tax benefit--for Sections 469, 179, 1362/1375 and 1402.

The materials for the podcast can be found at http://edzollars.com/2007-02-17_Passive.pdf .

The podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services at http://www.leimbergservices.com .

Back in February of 2006, I did a podcast on medical reimbursement plans and went over the Speltz case where the taxpayer prevailed in a medical reimbursement plan provided for her husband who worked for the taxpayer’s daycare business as an employee.  That was a case where the taxpayer kept excellent records and truly kept track of all the necessary details.  This week the Tax Court gave opinions in two cases where taxpayers were not as meticulous with such plans—and the results were not nearly as good.

We look at the cases of Snorek v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2007-34 and Francis v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2007-33 for taxpayers who adopted medical reimbursement plans but found that there was more to sustaining the deduction than just doing that.

The materials for this week’s presentation can be downloaded from

http://edzollars.com/2007-02-17_Medical.pdf

I also discuss my early experiences with Microsoft Vista, Word 2007 and Excel 2007.  I also reference a tipcard for Excel 2007 you can get from the following site:

http://www.mrexcel.com/excel2007tipcard.html

You’ll the author of the above site also has a daily video podcast filled with Excel tips.  Information about the podcast can be found at:

http://www.mrexcel.com/podcast.shtml

And, as you might expect, information about his offerings in general can be found at http://www.mrexcel.com .

The podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, located on the web at http://www.leimbergservices.com.

Congress passed a number of incentives in the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 meant to make Health Savings Accounts (or HSAs) more attractive to taxpayers.  We'll take a look at the provisions this week and consider their impact on our clients.

The materials for the podcast can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2007-02-03_HSAs.pdf .

The podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, located on the web at http://www.leimbergservices.com .