Financial probe into Harrison company hits Carroll County Realtor – The ripple effect of the Harrison Abstract collapse goes well beyond Boone County. In fact, I was speaking with Larry Montgomery last week and assumed that his deals were safe from the Harrison Abstract fiasco, when he told me that he did have clients who were caught up in that mess.

I know that it takes a while for new tax laws to filter out into the public consciousness, especially when they represent a huge change from a long standing practice. Over six years ago (in May 1997), the tax laws regarding home sales were changed dramatically. Still, to this day, I am constantly seeing and hearing people, including some tax professionals (extra scary), working under the impression that nothing has changed and that a home seller has to buy a new more expensive home in order to avoid capital gains taxes.

I can see why some Realtors would love for this misconception to persist. The old rule requiring people to buy more expensive homes was a great stimulus for the market; especially in areas like here in the Ozarks, where home prices were driven up by transplants like us from more expensive parts of the country. Under the “new” six-year old law, a seller has no requirement to buy any new home of any price.

As happened the last time FoxNews.com featured my blog, the response has been quite heavy. Depending on the topics discussed and the number of individual emails I receive, I may be able to respond directly or, more likely, will use the incoming comments as the starting points for future articles.

Redefined Benefits (link to article expired) – Un and under-funded pension accounts and other accounting tricks make future benefits not as dependable as most people would like.

Don’t Sweat the Deficit. That is, if spending restraint emerges.

Guess Who Hates Taxes In New York? – Sometimes stereotypes can be misleading.

Dare to Live Dangerously: Passing On Some Insurance Can Pay Off (link to article expired) – Risk management; deciding whether it’s better to self insure or pay premiums to someone else, is a kind of gamble we all do in various ways.

You’ll never know how many “friends” and family members you have until you come into a financial windfall.

Unfortunately, the actual reality is that having taxes taken out ahead of time creates more of an “out of sight, out of mind” situation. By the time next April 15 rolls around, this guy will have completely forgotten how much he has paid in for taxes and will consider it some kind of victory when he receives some of his own money back as a refund. The best reality check for increasing awareness of the tax burden would be for everyone to have to write a check to IRS; ideally about a week before Election Day.

Thanks to FoxNews.com for selecting this blog to be featured on their site again this week. It’s an honor. I’m not a big fan of traveling; but I would be willing to drive up to the Springfield, Missouri Fox affiliate to go on air and discuss any of the tax or financial topics covered here.

Waste Not, Deficit Not. A key congressman wants the government to stop throwing money away. – One out of 535 isn’t going to make a big dent in the out of control spending; to say nothing of a president who is an even worse spendaholic.

Senate GOP Makes Move on Higher Welfare Payments To Non-Taxpayers

Wall Street Settlements For Dummies – More of the growing victimology in this country. Nothing we do is our fault. Just claim you were too stupid to know that you could lose money in the stock market, and you may be entitled to a settlement.

Russert Rails Against Deficit, Then Demands More Spending – In typical DemonRat economics, all government spending is good and all tax cuts are evil.

Money doesn’t mean happy parenting

Careful, Your Bank Is Watching (link to article expired) – People normally associate Big Brother with the government; but many businesses have more intrusive capabilities than any government agency.

Hotel Guests Are Asked to Pay Higher Charges for Amenities (link to article expired) – Travelers are desirable targets for exploitation by companies, as well as by local governments with their growing tourist taxes. The double whammy of having higher hotel bills will be the extra taxes that are based on the higher underlying charges.

Wall Street Plays Numbers Game With Earnings, Despite Reforms (link to article expired) – There are still a lot of creative approaches being used by corporate accountants.

Independence of Directors Is Elusive Goal of Reform (link to article expired)

Critics Say Sarbanes-Oxley Law Hobbles Stocks, Chills Risk Taking, but Upshot Is Less Dramatic (link to article expired)

Before white collar crime as we know it today. It’s a different take on “the pen is mightier than the sword.”

Arkansas Rulers Can’t Escape The Sales Tax – This quote says it all: “A constitutional quirk, as Sen. Jim Argue, D-Little Rock, called it, makes it relatively easy to raise the sales tax and nearly impossible to raise other taxes.”

Those tax cuts beginning to work (Stephen Moore)

UC eyes surcharge for rich students – I can already see where this is heading; more impoverishment planning for parents to make them appear on paper to be below the “evil rich” threshold. It’s one more reason to use a C corp instead of an S.

Ugly Money – An interesting look at what some people like to do with their cash.

The best Congress money can buy