If you ever needed proof the IRS is held together with duct tape and caffeine, here it is. From a recent article in Government Executive magazine: “The Internal Revenue Service is asking seasoned employees without any direct tax experience to perform entry-level tasks of answering phones and processing tax returns, a step impacted staff call unprecedented as the agency scrambles to prepare for filing season.” These include employees from departments like human resources and IT, which means people who normally reset passwords and process onboarding paperwork will be untangling the tax code.
tax planning
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.”
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, […]
A Charlie Brown Tax-Giving
For most families, Thanksgiving means gathering around a perfectly roasted turkey, sharing gratitude, and trying to avoid discussing politics or crypto. But in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, things are a little more “improvised.” Instead of turkey and stuffing, the Peanuts gang ends up with toast, popcorn, pretzel sticks, and a side of existential confusion. And honestly? That makes it a pretty realistic holiday picture. Because whether you’re cooking a turkey or prepping a tax plan, life serves up whatever’s in the pantry. Charlie Brown’s holiday feast is basically a metaphor for the final weeks of tax-planning season. It’s messy, it’s chaotic, and half the participants assume someone else is doing the hard work. If that isn’t December tax planning, I don’t know what is.
Labor Takes a Holiday. Capital Gets the Breaks.
Every September, Americans fire up their grills, crack open a cold one, and celebrate Labor Day. But it didn’t start as an excuse to party, or buy mattresses at 30% off. It was born in the late 1800s, when workers sweated 12-hour days just to keep food on the table. Strikes turned bloody — most famously in Chicago at the Haymarket Riot — and demands for fair pay, safe conditions, and reasonable hours grew too loud to ignore.