IRS Is Ahead of the Game

I normally consider myself to be on the cutting edge when it comes to twisting the tax laws & regulations in strange & unintended ways. I have developed scores of creative interpretations of the tax rules. Most of the time, IRS never has a problem with them. Occasionally, IRS or Congress changes the law to shut the door. This usually takes a few years for IRS to catch up with us.

In what may or may not be a trend, IRS has closed a loophole even before it could be used. As this article from the L. A. Times indicates, people who were planning to use the new (for 2001) provision to report make-believe (aka deemed) sales of appreciated primary residences are out of luck.

However, this has started the wheels turning in my mind. IRS has ruled that the tax free exclusion may not be used for a pretend (deemed) sale of a home. What if a home is sold for real for $500,000 above its costs basis, this is treated as a tax free sale, the home is repurchased for the same amount as it was sold for (causing no taxable gain for the temporary owner), and then it is sold (for real) two years later for $500,000 higher than the last sales price? Conceivably, this could happen every two years.

A word of caution: contrary to popular belief, the burden of proof in tax matters still rests with the taxpayers. If you are considering such a creative and/or aggressive interpretation of the tax law, you should definitely work with a like-minded tax advisor to prepare things to survive any IRS challenge.

My short description of the current residence sale rules can still be found here.

KMK

Why I Prefer Real Estate Investing

I have yet to play the stock market. I even resisted the feeding frenzy of dot-coms during the late 1990s. Having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and having seen first-hand that more people make more money fom real estate than from stocks or anything else, I have always believed that to be the more reliable path to wealth.

According to this article from the Wall Street Journal, things are getting back to normal, with more real estate out-performing stocks.

KMK

It’s Time To Deport Peter Jennings

For several years, I’ve ranted about what a disgrace ABC News’ Peter Jennings is in his open hatred of the USA. He has consistently advocated the superiority of the Socialist programs of his homeland of Canada over the capitalist approaches normally used here in the USA. Unlike other Canadian transplants, such as Alex Trebek, Jennings has refused to become an American so that he could maintain his objectivity to criticize the USA.

My disgust for Jennings reached new extremes on September 11, when he continuously called George W. Bush a coward and incompetent to lead the country in times of crisis. The policy of ABC News to not allow any of its on-air personnel to display USA flags, as well as recent revelations of the opinons of the head of ABC News, that the attack on the Pentagon was not a bad thing, prove that Jennings isn’t alone in his hatred of the USA.

I have long had serious problems with so-called journalists who believe that it is more important to remain completely objective than to support the US. In fact, I have always believed that the entire premise of complete objectivity is 100% pure bogus. The members of the media who claim to be such are liars and in fact advocating their leftish views. If a person is alive, it is an absolute impossibility to have no opinions on things. Under this premise of remaining detached from the story, an objective journalist who sees a car heading straight towards a person on the street would not be able to do anything to save or warn that person. The journalist could then report on the death or injury with complete objectivity.

During the entire Clinton regime, when the media did everything possible to assist the Clinton gang in breaking laws and avoiding punishment, it was obvious that their love of their Fellow Travelers was more important than any regard for the truth or the U.S. Constitution. As always, my favorite online writer, Jonah Goldberg, has nailed this topic; people who claim it is more important to be a journalist than to be an American. What has always been so ironic in the leftish leanings of the media is that they are so oblivious to the fact that they are allowed to do what they do specifically because of the US Constitution. If their wishes were to come true and their esteemed Fidel Castro were to take over this country, the first thing that would happen is to strictly censor all of the press and imprison any who dare to criticize the infallible government leaders.

Finally FoxNews

On the day before our counter-attack in Afghanistan started, we finally got FoxNews service on our big satellite receiver. It has been a very welcome breath of fresh air. For well over a year, I had been hearing so many great things about FoxNews from fellow fans of Rush Limbaugh and Lucianne.com. Since that day, we have watched nothing but FoxNews, except for a few Larry King shows on Ted Turner’s Communist News Network to see some friends of Sherry’s. FoxNews is not in the least ashamed to show their support of the USA. Brit Hume must feel like he’s gone to Heaven, compared to his old job as ABC News White House correspondent.

A side benefit is that Rush Limbaugh watches FoxNews while he is doing his radio show. Having the video of FoxNews on while listening to Rush adds an extra dimension to his comments.

I find it so ironic that the most patriotic news service is owned by an Australian (Rupert Murdock) and the most anti-USA service is named the American Broadcasting Company and is owned by a company named for one of this country’s most successful capitalists, Walt Disney (who has been spinning in his grave over the denigration of his name).

KMK