Remember when getting a tax refund meant waiting by the mailbox like a kid on Christmas morning? Except, instead of a shiny new bike, you got a government-issued check printed on shiny iridescent paper? You’d spot that official envelope, rip it open with the excitement of opening your card from Grandma (with a crisp $20 bill inside), and admire the John Hancock of some Treasury bureaucrat who probably couldn’t get a table at Applebee’s without a reservation. Then you’d rush to the bank and stand in line behind a guy depositing coins in a jar. And of course, there was always the risk your ex would intercept it, or the family dog would decide it made the perfect chew toy. It was a ritual equal parts thrilling, frustrating, and absurdly outdated, like renting DVDs from Blockbuster or printing out MapQuest directions.
TaxStrategy
Guy Math: The Drill That Keeps on Giving
By now you’ve probably heard of “girl math.” That’s the playful financial logic that turns a return into a profit or makes anything bought with cash “basically free.” Pay for Taylor Swift tickets six months in advance? By the time the concert rolls around, they cost nothing. It’s not necessarily “wrong” math. It’s “emotional” math. It explains how money feels rather than how it flows. Accountants everywhere faint when they hear it, but they faint quietly — back into their spreadsheets where they feel comfortable.
ChatGPT, Tax Planner
Remember when we thought robots were just coming for factory jobs, truck driving jobs, and maybe your nephew’s job at Taco Bell? Well, surprise: now they’re gunning for your tax pro. That’s right, the machines have been let loose on the U.S. tax code, and the results are equal parts brilliant, terrifying, and hilarious.
You Belong with Me (And The IRS)
The world has finally exhaled — Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are officially engaged. Forget wars, politics, and inflation: this is the headline America needed. It’s like Shakespeare meets the Super Bowl, with a soundtrack already topping the charts. But here, we’re less concerned about the flowers, the venue, or whether Ed Sheeran sings at the reception. We’re laser-focused on two things the IRS cares about most: the ring and the prenup
Houston, We Have No Taxes
You know how you sometimes hear about highflying companies sending miserly tax checks to Uncle Sam? Well, buckle up — SpaceX might just be the star of that show. According to a New York Times exposé, SpaceX has privately told investors that because of a 2017 tweak to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, it may never have to pay federal income tax, even if they do succeed in helping mankind colonize Mars.
Houston, We Have a Tax Problem
The law has always had a problem with altitude. Here on Earth, we can draw neat little lines on a map and call them borders. We can assign them to taxing authorities and know who collects what. But the higher you go, the fuzzier things get. Airspace law is still a little like a neighborhood feud about where the fence belongs, except the “fence” is somewhere above the clouds. And if we can’t agree on who controls the sky, how do we decide who gets to tax outer space?