Daunting tax-reform task – Bruce Bartlett is also not too optimistic about the the tax reform panel’s chances of actually accomplishing anything worthwhile.  As I said earlier, without the input of at least a few real world tax practitioners, the entire exercise seems futile.  They don’t have to remove any of the current members.  Just add someone from one of the big CPA firms who can address tax issues facing large clients and a small firm CPA or EA who can convey how things are for smaller clients.

Emulating their spokesman Dan Rather’s approach to dealing with reality, the DemonRats think they can continue to control all of our money by denying that there are any problems with Social Security and continuing with their arrogant attitude that people are just too stupid to see the truth for themselves.

…and it’s so much more fun when they’re doing it with other people’s hard earned money.

One of the many frustrations in dealing with the tax system in this country is the propensity for our rulers to continuously tinker with it.  To say that it is a constantly moving target is quite the understatement.  

To add to the already mind boggling level of complexity is the fact that so many of the minute details of the tax code have different expiration dates.  These are meant to give our rulers an opportunity to revisit those issues on a perpetual basis and renew them for a few more years, or just allow them to die off.

Thanks to Tom Herman at the Wall Street Journal for the link to this recently published 18 page pdf list of the various tax provisions expiring for each year from 2004 through 2014. Most of them are esoteric items that few regular people ever encounter; but some are very important, such as an end to the reduced capital gain rates at the end of 2008.

Of course, this entire list is subject to change at the whim of our rulers, especially if the tax reform panel does anything.

I was intrigued by the new low cost Apple Mac mini that was just introduced because we have long had a few clients who use Macs for their QuickBooks and  it has been impossible for me to work with their data files, as I do with clients using Windows versions of QB.  The conversion feature in the Mac version of QB, which is supposed to allow data files to be accessed by Windows users, has never worked for any of our clients, so I have been stuck having to rely on printed reports and write out journal entries for the clients to enter themselves.

I was actually starting to order one of these new computers from Apple, as well as a KVM switch and USB keyboard from Tiger, when I thought I should check to see if the Mac version of QB was among the dozen or so discs that I was sent a few months back as part of the 2005 product release.  It had been my understanding that we QuickBooks Pro Advisors were supplied with every version of the program so that we could service our QB using clients.

After a lengthy wait on hold, and a discussion with the Pro Advisor contact, I learned that I would have to actually buy a copy of the QB for Mac at the new user price of almost $300 for the cheapest version.  The fact that I have been using QuickBooks since it first came out in the DOS and Windows formats, and have been a Pro Advisor since that program was started, don’t mean anything to them.  I’m obviously a little disappointed in this attitude by the powers that be at Intuit.  We Pro Advisors are provided with free copies of the useless Online and Simple Start versions; but not the Mac, which I would be more likely to actually use.

I told the QB rep that if they want to enlarge their user base among Macs, they would need to support us Pro Advisors in that format.  She said that there are currently so few Mac users of the program that they don’t care about them and don’t see any need to help Pro Advisors with those users.  It seems like we have a classic “chicken or egg” scenario here that Steve Jobs may want to look into if he is serious about expanding Apple’s market share beyond its current three percent.

For now, I’m holding off on buying one of the new Mac minis and will continue to work with print-outs for those clients using QB for Mac.

IRS’s warnings on fraudulent tax preparers

State of MA eyes property tax relief for seniors – Good point made by Rush on his show today that if they can afford a special tax break for a specific demographic, why can’t they afford similar breaks for other groups? 

Age gap may be trouble for Bush – Pitting age groups against each other in their attempt to keep the Ponzi Scheme alive by forcing younger people to continue paying in.

Crooks faking Web sites to bilk unwitting donors – Any time there’s a lot of money involved there will be scum floating up to try and steal it. 

How to Spot a Loaded Mutual Fund

Financial Front in ‘War on Terror’ Expanding – Following the money has long been the most effective way to catch crooks. 

AARP on Social Security Risk – According to them, we’re all too stupid and irresponsible to have any control over our own retirement accounts.  Have I mentioned recently Art Linkletter’s United Seniors, which opposes the AARP on many issues involving higher taxes and bigger government?

National Taxpayer Advocate Cites Complexity as Top Issue – A good grasp of the obvious there.

A New Real-Estate Agent Must Fire Difficult Clients – We do it here a lot because some clients are just too much hassle, regardless of the money.

Taxes: What You Need To Know For This Year – Handy tips related to real estate from the Wall Street Journal.

DC Mayor says traffic cameras needed for revenue – It always bugs be when fairness takes a back seat to money for government, an all too prevalent occurrence at all levels of government in this country.

AARP’s Selfish Gamble – The propaganda war is in full swing to convince people that only the big central government can protect our retirement funds from losses.  As I scan hundreds of editorial cartoons each day, there is no shortage of ones equating changes in the SS system to gambling at a casino and as a windfall to Wall Street fat cats in attempt to scare everyone.