Los Angeles recently celebrated a milestone that sounds impressive until you read the fine print: its mansion tax has now raised roughly $1 billion since voters approved it. Champagne all around, right? Well, maybe hold the cork. Because according to reporting, less than 1 percent of that money has actually gone toward affordable housing — the very reason voters were told this tax existed in the first place. And now California is considering a new “billionaire tax” on assets over $1 billion, which is already driving wealthy residents like Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to prepare out-of-state moves.
The Weirdest Tax Deductions That Actually Worked (No, Your Dog Is Still Not One of Them)
Every tax season, Americans ask the same hopeful question: “Can I deduct that?” Sometimes the answer is “no, sorry.” Sometimes the answer is “absolutely not, please stop talking.” But every once in a while, the answer is: Shockingly . . . yes. Welcome to the wild side of the tax code, where deductions roam free, logic occasionally takes a lunch break, and the IRS reluctantly admits, “Fine. We’ll allow it.”
When “Fair Share” Sounds Like “Find the Exit”
Raising taxes on the rich is usually a party trick politicians pull out when they want applause, not when they actually plan to do it. Lately, though, some of them are dusting it off again, and high earners are reacting the same way people do when the waiter raises an eyebrow and says, “So . […]
Fetch is Not Going to Happen
This time of year, most tax pros are gearing up for yet another season preparing returns. But it looks like Tax Season 2026 might come with a new kind of tail-wagging drama. A New York attorney named Amanda Reynolds has taken a big bite out of the Internal Revenue Service, asking a federal court to […]
The Saddest Little Tax Plan on the Lot
Every December, A Charlie Brown Christmas shows up and reminds us that nothing has really changed since 1965. We’re still stressed. We’re still distracted. We still think the answer to our problems is buying one more shiny thing. (Maybe painted pink!) And we’re still weirdly confident that if we just try harder, this year will finally feel like Christmas.
Your Taxes, Unwrapped
It’s that magical time of year when Spotify pops with your annual “Wrapped” report, tracking every minute of music you’ve listened to all year, and cheerfully announces, “We’ve been watching you.” (If you don’t already know it, think of Spotify Wrapped as the rhythm section for Big Brother.) And somehow, instead of being creeped out, […]