Don't Mess With Taxes

And other strange tax tales. Got you to click, didn't it?!

It's Friday and, thanks to a late start today and an interruption for an automotive repair errand, I've still got a lot of stuff to finish up. So rather than try to come up with some weighty post, I've decided to close out this blog week with some of the goofier things going on the tax world.

Let's start overseas.

The hubby, doing some Web surfing this morning, ran across this Associated Press story from Vienna, Austria:

A tax collector in the southern Austrian city of Graz accidentally left $28,000 in cash in a black attaché case he placed on top of a toilet in the men's room of a local restaurant Thursday, police said. By the time he realized it was missing and went back, the cash was gone, authorities said. As of press time, no one had turned up with the money, prompting police in the city 120 miles south of Vienna to issue an appeal for its return.

Thanks, sweetie, for the tip (and the catchy headline). But I don't really want to know what you were looking for when you came upon this story!

Now to the proverbial eternals of life: death and taxes.

Taxalicious brings us a video of a determined IRS collector in pursuit of Emil Gorbachov, who committed the fatal crime of not paying his taxes. Interesting camera angles and a thrilling soundtrack keep the short film, if not Emil, on its toes. Your ticket to the mini movie is here.

A not-quite-MPAA-warning: I don't know which is more disturbing, the ultimate outcome or the shorts worn by the ostensible IRS agent.

If golf, not movies (tax-themed or otherwise), is your recreational choice, then you might want to start working on the accuracy of your tee shot so you can participate in the Augusta Hills Golf Course closest-to-the-pin contest.

The golf club in Albion, Ind., is holding the competition in September. Get your $1,000 entry fee in by Aug. 1.

Yikes! One grand?

Yes, but if you win, you never have to leave the course. It's yours.

Bob Placido, owner of Augusta Hills for the last 19 years, has decided to retire. But rather than sell the course, he opted for the giveaway contest.

"Whoever wins will assume a golf course that is debt free with the taxes paid through fall of this year," Placido told the Indianapolis Star. "I've been in the golf business since 1965. That's long enough. It's time to go."

The Deer Run Corporation will conduct the contest as long as it gets at least 1,500 entrants, but no more than 2,500, by the August deadline. It will award the prize to the contestant whose one shot of a standard golf ball comes closest to "a target selected by the corporation."

In addition to the mortgage-free, 18-hole regulation golf course on approximately 125 acres, the winner gets its irrigation system, clubhouse, maintenance building, storage building and a substantial collection of golf and course-related equipment.

You can find details on the course and contest here. And thanks to TaxProf for the tip and for looking into the tax issues the contest poses for both Placido and the eventual winner.

Tying it all together: You've just read about a short "action" film, a perennial retirement pursuit, and tax troubles in a European bathroom. Now, in a manner of speaking, here's a book that pulls those elements (lavender highlights below) all together.

In "The Loo Sanction," author Trevanian gives us the next daring adventure of art historian and international counter assassin Dr. Jonathan Hemlock, last seen, among other things, scaling the Alps in "The Eiger Sanction."

Now, Hemlock's attempt at retirement in Great Britain is interrupted by a blackmail scheme that forces him to flush out the bad guys.

And for you wordsmiths out there, Jason Kottke plumbs, as tastefully as possible, the etymology of "loo" here.

Calling all Carnival fans: One final note before we head into the weekend. The Tax Carnival will debut here on Monday, June 5. Get your submission in by 11 p.m. CDT Saturday (details here). See ya on the tax midway!