Month: December 2013

As 2013 draws to a close, it seems more and more likely that Congress will not act to extend several federal income tax breaks that taxpayers have come to rely on. While these may expire for the tax year 2014, taxpayers still have one more filing to take advantage of...

Both the Internal Revenue Service and the California Franchise Tax Board have issued clarifying statements to reassure taxpayers in California that debt written off after a short sale of a home will not be considered income for tax purposes. This is a major issue for...

Tax planning and estate planning often go hand-in-hand, since it is a priority for many California families to preserve assets to pass along to the next generation. There a lot of different ways to go about doing this that are all perfectly within the bounds of the...

If you surveyed the average American about what they fear most, a tax audit is probably near the job of the list, just after natural disasters. Tax audits are a fact of life for many, particularly those who have significant assets or who own a business. And, in...

We’ve written on this blog in the past about the renewed efforts by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to enforce anti-tax evasion laws. One of these efforts include cooperation with foreign governments and new agreements on disclosure of Americans who have bank...

A personal trust set up by rookie NBA player Michael Carter-Williams is making the news as a surprisingly wise decision from a first-time professional athlete. Players from the NBA declare bankruptcy at a startling rate of 60 percent within their first five years of...

As we make our way through the first part of the holiday season, many of us are reminded that as much as we love our families, they can be complicated. Even in the most harmonious of clans, disagreements can arise or a crisis can strike, causing the dynamics to alter....