Word: deductionism
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Most U.S. taxpayers, being neither mathematicians nor philosophers, are baffled, too. by the intricacies of the income tax. Unless they take the straight and narrow path of the short form and the standard deduction, even conscientious taxpayers can never be really sure when they send off their returns whether they...
¶ A tax consultant claimed a deduction on the expenses of operating his yacht, explained that he ran up a pennant with the number 1040 on it every time his yacht reached port, thereby advertising the fact he was open for income tax business. (IRS disagreed.)
The deductibility of charitable contributions has led to a colorful abuse: buying a painting, having it appraised later on at a much higher value, then donating it to charity and claiming a deduction at the full inflated figure. The IRS is currently battling the claim of an art patron who...
Helping Righteousness. Despite the tax code's complexities and invitations to cheat, Commissioner Caplin thinks the U.S. taxpayer behaves remarkably well by world standards. "No other country in the world," he says, "can approach the percentage of citizens who pay taxes promptly, report all their income, and take only...
Minor Casualties. To help low income taxpayers, Kennedy proposes a new gimmick: an optional standard deduction that would entitle a taxpayer to deduct $300, plus $100 for each dependent (but not more than $1,000), even if this deduction amounted to more than 10% of his income-the present maximum...