Don't Mess With Taxes

Have you finished your your holiday shopping? Neither have I. 

OK, I haven't even started. But there's still time! And if you're looking for the perfect present for the tax geek you love, then I've got some suggestions for you.

For Counsel is always a great place to start, especially if there's a tax attorney on your "nice" list. Hey, it can happen!

This year they have a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer ad from 1943 that includes a reference to taxes. According the to the item description, Pabst produced a series of patriotic ads for run during World War II, each featuring different professions.

This one actually depicts a doctor, but the accompanying poem reads, in part, "Take one or two War Bonds in regular doses, Keep calm and avoid an unhealthy 'psychosis,' Get plenty of exercise -- salvaging steel; Be sure what you eat is a nutritive meal; Stay cheerful -- yes, even when paying your taxes, And work with your neighbor to help smash the Axis!" It can be hanging on your tax geek's wall for $55.

Of course, the perennial For Counsel favorite is the framed reproduction of the 1913 Form 1040. All four pages, three forms and one instructions page, are mounted in classic mahogany with a brass plate noting "1913 Inaugural Form 1040." Pick one up for your tax geek for $235.

Too high a price to swallow? Then check out the Bite Back at the IRS candy bar, available at AnythingUnique.com. For $72.50 you'll get a case of 50 2-inches-by-5-inches milk chocolate bars. Elsewhere on the site you'll find more tax and financially themed Belgian chocolate confections.

Neckties are traditional gifts, especially for buttoned-down tax types. But you can add a little pizazz to the neck wear with this tax form tie from Wildties. For $42.95 your tax geek can proudly display, in 100 percent silk, images of a 1040 individual income tax form, along with related terms and phrases.

Paul Caron, known to most of us as the TaxProf Blog author, has a book that's a must have for any tax geek (oh hubby dear, are you reading this?): Tax Stories. The book, Caron tells us in his introduction's summary, "unpacks ten seminal U.S. Supreme Court federal income tax cases, as well as a recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit." Get your geek's copy for $29.70 at Amazon.

For $19.95 you can help your tax geek announce his driving, and tax planning, style with a license plate announcing "I Brake For Tax Shelters." That's just one of the many gifts for accountants on the list compiled by AccountingWeb.com.

To paraphrase a war-time saying, there are no atheists at tax time. Admit it, we've all cried out for some divine guidance when struggling with our taxes. Well, apparently there really is some heavenly help here. AmericanCatholic.org says St. Matthew is the patron saint of accountants.

The organization's Web site assures us that "patron saints intercede to God for us. We can take our special needs to them and know they will listen to our prayers, and pray to God with us." Hey, every little bit helps when your dealing with the IRS. So maybe your tax geek would appreciate a statue of St. Matthew to adorn his desk. You can order one from the Catholic Faith Store for $65, but I don't think it's tax deductible.

Speaking of tax geek desks, they get pretty cluttered (trust me, I speak from experience!), so a paperweight might help keep important filing materials from slipping out of sight. The store at the Museum of Modern Art in New York has just the answer, a 1040 Tax Form paperweight created by Tibor Kalman. The catalog describes it as "three-dimensional wit for the desktop and a delightful way to hold down papers." It's made of rigid silk-screened vinyl, hand-crumpled and wrapped around a steel weight. It can be yours for $28 or $22.40 if your a MoMA member.

If you enter "tax" into eBay's search box, you'll be amazed at what folks are trying to sell. If you don't want last year's versions of tax software, you can choose from a variety of tax stamps and tokens. This morning I found 13 circa 1922 Goudey Gum Co. tax stamps, three "old tax used stamps" from Egypt, a collection of New York "stock transfer tax" stamps, and a variety of tax tokens from Missouri and Washington State .

My favorite tax-related auction item, though, is the Scrooge McDuck tax day pin.

But you'd better hurry. Some of the online auctions are winding down. And I just might outbid you for Mr. McDuck!

Of course, remember that for most of these purchases you'll also have to come up with sales tax and shipping charges. But isn't your tax fanatic worth it, especially during the holidays?

Related posts:

• Christmas presents for your special tax geek
• Last minute gift ideas for the tax geek in your life

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Note to FTC: None of these product sellers paid for any of the plugs in this post.