Accounting is back in vogue – “Financial CSI” is an interesting way to look at what we do.

IRS May Tax Your eBay Sales – This is nothing new.  If you sell something for more than it cost you, the gain is taxable.  It has always been that way.

If you have a lot of money coming in and don’t show it on your tax return, IRS will assume everything you sold was free and assess taxes on the full amount received. As I’ve always said, over-documenting things on tax returns, such as eBay sales that had losses or break-even, is a good self defense measure.  If you don’t formally declare that there is no taxable net profit, IRS can and often does assume that every penny received is pure taxable profit.  

Hawaii bill would let pets get trust money – There are now 18 states that allow people to leave their estates to their non-human family members. 

Error Makes Money Machine Give $100 Bills instead of Twenties – A rare case of  a casino machine paying off consistently.  Maybe we’ll see more people playing the ATMs than the normal slots.  The worse that can happen is that the player breaks even, and in cases like in this Iowa casino, there could be big winnings.

In the Hottest Markets, Renting Is a Bargain – As much of a believer as I am in real estate investments, there are times when renting does make much more financial sense than buying.

Michelle Malkin has some very scary info on people who haven’t been careful about which folders on their computers they make available for sharing with others across the internet.  The result is some people have had their tax return files copied without their knowledge, and some have even been posted on the ‘net.   The moral of this story is to both restrict which folders can be accessed via the peer to peer programs, as well as keep sensitive files in locations that are not accessible by anyone except yourself.

Taxes on stupidity, such as gambling, are probably the only ones that are actively encouraged by their targets, for obvious reasons.