Survivor winner and tax cheater Richard Hatch is trying what many of us call the “Willie Nelson defense,” as in this quote from a recent article on his trial.

Hatch …was relying on the advice of a self-employed accountant who was “in over her head.”

 Hatch also conned another accountant:

One accountant Hatch hired estimated he owed about $230,000 in taxes for 2000, Reich said. The television star asked for a second return showing his estimated tax bill had he not won the million-dollar prize.

Despite warnings that the second analysis was for comparison only, prosecutors said, Hatch filed the return with the IRS.

 

If Speculators Get Itchy, Residential Market Could Fall – As big a fan of real estate investing as I may be, I have always known that buying property based on the same kind of “greater fool” theory of investing that propelled the late 1990s dot-com stock market bubble, is just as reckless with real estate. 

Art Berkowitz, the CPA whose spreadsheet I mentioned earlier regarding keeping track of the different states’ rules for licensing of out of state CPAs, has a blog devoted just to this topic, called CPA Out-of-state licensing.   He has some interesting feedback from other CPAs who are just now learning about these new rules around the country.

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