Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Helping real people win the tax game.

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 690 other subscribers

  • Blog Stats

    • 334,525 hits

  • Posts By Day

    March 2026
    M T W T F S S
     1
    2345678
    9101112131415
    16171819202122
    23242526272829
    3031  

  • Subscribe

  • Special Pages

Least Shocking News of the Week

Posted by taxguru on May 11, 2013

These “revelations” should surprise nobody who remembers that IRS has been used as a political weapon against critics by Presidents for decades.  As a victim of the Clintons’ IRS attacks, this issue has long been one that I have been intimately aware of.  Even though these stories really aren’t new, I don’t mind piling on.  No government agency deserves to be publicly humiliated more than IRS.

IRS knew tea party targeted in 2011

 The IRS Targets Conservatives – WSJ

Tea Party groups, Republicans slam IRS for flagging conservative groups –  FoxNews

 Mark Levin may have prompted IRS-conservative group revelations –  Via his Landmark Legal Foundation

Playing politics with tax records –  Washington Post

IRS admits targeting conservatives for tax scrutiny in 2012 election –  Washington Post

Carney: I.R.S. Run By Bush Political Appointee –  There is nothing the ObaMao regime won’t blame on Bush.

IRS apologizes for targeting tea party groups –  As sincere as any apology from the creatures who inhabit Washington DC.

‘I’m not good at math’: The IRS’ public relations disaster –  This must make everyone feel so much better about the IRS being in charge of all of our health care in the near future.

Numerous Tea Party chapters claim IRS attempts to sabotage nonprofit status –  FoxNews had this reminder from Feb 2012.

Misuse Of The I.R.S.: The Abuse Of Power –  From 1989 in the NY Times. courtesy of Rush Limbaugh.

 

Posted in IRS | Comments Off on Least Shocking News of the Week

QuickBooks Video Training

Posted by taxguru on May 9, 2013

I have always stressed how important good bookkeeping is for making financial decisions, as well as for preparing the most accurate tax returns.  Several years ago, I made a video showing people how to best use the Quicken programs for bookkeeping and tax return preparation purposes. 

I have long  wanted to do a similar one for QuickBooks.  While I have made some short instructional videos and guides for certain QB tasks, the program has far too many features for me to be able to cover everything it can do.  Also, since I don’t use a lot of the features in QB, such as invoicing, inventory and payroll, I don’t feel as qualified to do as good a job on these specific topics as someone who does use them on a daily basis.

I had been unable to recommend a good training video to clients and other readers who wanted to learn how to work with QB.  Every time  I saw an ad for a hands-on live class or seminar on QB, they were always using a two or three year old version of the program instead of the most current one.

That’s why I was glad to learn about a new instructional video series focusing on the QuickBooks 2013 program from a company that has a ton of excellent instructional videos.  This one is broken up into 115 separate videos totaling nine and a half hours. making it easy to just focus on those aspects of QB that you need to use but are unfamiliar with.  At only $99.95, it’s a lot less expensive than most live seminars and much less costly than my time would be to explain these topics one on one.

It’s available on DVD or as a download.  They also have 17 free videos from the course that you can check out to see if it will work for you.

 

Beginners QuickBooks 2013 Training Videos

 

 

Posted in QB, video | Comments Off on QuickBooks Video Training

Posted by taxguru on May 9, 2013

From Jay Leno:

Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is the guy who told his wife he was going for a hike and then went to Argentina to see his girlfriend. He was exposed as an unethical, lying, cheating weasel. In a stunning comeback, he has been elected to Congress, where he’ll fit right in.

 

New predictions claim that 42 percent of Americans will be obese by the year 2030. They say the only way to stop it is for government to step in. Oh, yeah, that will work. When it comes to trimming the fat and tightening your belt, who knows better than the U.S. government?

 

According to Forbes magazine, Al Gore is now worth more than $200 million. This is what Gore meant when he talked about going green.

From Argus Hamilton:

Al Gore was reported Monday to have two hundred million in the bank after he sold Current TV. He’s now as rich as Mitt Romney. Forget Asian Tiger mom techniques, the best way to raise kids to be successful in life is to make them boring, white and unelectable.

 

Pfizer announced it’ll sell Viagra directly to patients on its company website Monday and send the pills to men via overnight mail. It’s big news. The U.S. Postal Service just announced they are projecting their budget will be in the black for the first time in forty years.

 

Posted in humor | Comments Off on

Posted by taxguru on May 9, 2013

Lauryn Hill Blames Slavery as She’s Jailed for $500,000 Unpaid Tax Bill –  Idiotic defense idea.

 

When It Comes to Health-Care Reform, the IRS Rules –  The crap pile called ObamaCare keeps growing by the day.

 

North Texans Spend Millions On Non-Existent Federal Taxes –  I’ve always wondered about all of the various obscure taxes on utility bills and whether they are legitimate or just a profit center for the utility.

 

When Will America Burst D.C.’s Bubble? –  I’m not the only one who thinks that DC is really on another planet in an alternate universe.

 

Pacquiao Takes Fight in Macau, U.S. Federal Income Tax Rate Proves Too High –  How many times do our rulers need to see examples of high tax rates motivating people to move? 

 

679 people renounced their US citizenship in 1st quarter of year, IRS says –  Extreme tax planning maneuver; but obviously worth it to these people.

 

 

Posted in TaxNews | Comments Off on

Posted by taxguru on May 7, 2013

From Jay Leno:

Over the weekend President Obama gave the commencement speech at Ohio State University. He said, “I dare you to do better” — to which the students yelled back, “No, we dare YOU to do better. We need jobs!”


Mexico’s economy has been on the upswing the last couple of years. They’re getting investors from companies all over the world. In fact, Mexico is now home to 11 million undocumented Americans.




From Conan O’Brien:

According to a new report, Al Gore now has more money than Mitt Romney. Gore said Mitt and I are living proof that if you’re a boring white guy, anything is possible.




 

Posted in humor | Comments Off on

Reading the Tax Code…

Posted by taxguru on May 7, 2013

This week’s episode of NewsBusted looks at the size of the Tax Code.

 

  

Posted in NewsBusted, TaxCode, video | Comments Off on Reading the Tax Code…

Posted by taxguru on May 3, 2013

After Checking Your Bank Account, Remember To Log Out, Close The Web Browser, And Throw Your Computer Into The Ocean –  Another funny parody from The Onion.

 

They Are Murdering Small Business: The Percentage Of Self-Employed Americans Is At A Record Low –  The DemonRat plan to destroy the private sector is continuing to succeed.

 

IRS Data Web Snares Mostly Low- and Middle-Income Taxpayers –  So much for just attacking the Evil Rich.  This article cites the IRS’s made-up number of a $400 billion tax gap.

  

Reid: More funding needed to prevent ObamaCare from becoming ‘train wreck‘ –  Under the logic used on the Planet Washington DC, when a program is a fundamental failure, just give it more money.

 

From Argus Hamilton:

President Obama said Tuesday he’s going to try to close down Guantanamo prison in Cuba. He admitted he’s not sure how. The best idea is to declare Gitmo a small business and require it to comply with ObamaCare, and in six months it will be a Goodwill Thrift Shop.

Mexico’s government said Tuesday it will ask President Obama for more legal jobs for Mexicans going to America and fewer deportations. They have a willing partner. President Obama is in Mexico to celebrate his favorite annual holiday, Sinko de Economy.

 

From Jay Leno:

President Obama is in Mexico. He’ll be on hand to celebrate Mexico’s economic successes over the last few years. See, that’s how it works now. If President Obama wants to celebrate an economic success, he actually has to leave the country.

 

Yesterday, President Obama met with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in the White House. The treasury secretary meets once a month with the president — and he meets twice a month with the Chinese president.

 

 

Posted in humor, TaxNews | Comments Off on

A sickening batch of new taxes…

Posted by taxguru on May 1, 2013

Obamacare’s Tax Hike Train Wreck –  Handy summary of some of the new taxes we are going to have to deal with,  from Americans for Tax Reform.

 

Posted in ObamaCare, TaxHikes | Comments Off on A sickening batch of new taxes…

Posted by taxguru on May 1, 2013

From Jay Leno:

President Obama held a press conference today. He said he still wants to close the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, but he doesn’t know how to do it. He should do what he always does. Declare it a small business and tax it out of existence.

From Argus Hamilton:

The GAO issued a report Monday saying President Obama spent twice as much time playing golf and vacationing as he did attending meetings on the economy. There’s been some improvement. The economy is stalled but the president is regularly breaking eighty.

 

The Federal Reserve Bank in Washington D.C. introduced the new one-hundred-dollar bill Thursday complete with Ben Franklin’s portrait on it plus dozens of new security features. It was time to bring out a new one-hundred-dollar bill. China’s got all the old ones.

 

California lawmakers will vote on a penny-an-ounce tax on sodas and energy drinks to combat obesity. It’s egalitarian. They said one-fourth of California’s poor adults are obese and the money would provide them cocaine to stay slim the way rich Californians do.

 

 

Posted in humor | Comments Off on

Tax Free Residence Sales

Posted by taxguru on May 1, 2013

Q:

Hi,

 Reading up on Sale of Principal Residence tax matters.  Do you folks have any insight as to if the $250/$500K exclusion is likely to continue on through 2013?  

I have a couple of houses and am seriously thinking of selling the principal residence due to the favorable tax treatment.

Thanks

 

A:

Even with all of the discussion of different kinds of tax increases, I have seen no mention of eliminating the tax free residence provision, so I would bet that it will be with us for all of 2013.

The more difficult task for you will be to find someone who wants to buy your residence in spite of the looming bankruptcy of the State.

Good luck.

Kerry Kerstetter

 

Posted in 121 | Comments Off on Tax Free Residence Sales

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »