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I VACATIONED, BUT THEY DIDN'T

July 28, 2008

While the Tax Update took a brief vacation, tax charlatans and Congress (but I repeat myself) didn't. Congress passed a misguided and futile housing relief bill full of tax favors to special interests disguised as help for you. I will work on a more complete discussion of the bill, which the President is expected to sign, but Kay Bell already has posted her summary. It's "bipartisan," which means we're all screwed regardless of party affiliation.

There was quite a bit of private sector tax fraud news, highlighted by the opening of the tax evasion trial of "Girls Gone Wild" mogul Joe Francis. He's represented by Robert Bernhoft, the former tax protester who pulled a rabbit out of his hat and got Wesley Snipes off on misdemeanor charges. He is reportedly alleging that he's only being prosecuted because The Man disapproves of his naughty videos. In an interesting sidelight, he is suing a former bookkeeper for allegedly blowing the whistle on him under the new whistleblower rewards program (via Taxguru.net). I think this whistleblower program is going to have a huge effect on the risks of committing tax fraud, and ib the relationship between accountants and bookkeepers and their clients/employers. This case may open some eyes on that score.

Tags: Kay Bell.tax policy.Taxguru.net.whistleblower rewards.