Boo! No, it’s not Halloween yet, but today is just as scary for some. They suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia, the fear of Friday the 13th. Fear also is often associated with taxes. With another tax deadline on Monday — the Sept. 16 due date for the third estimated tax payment of the 2024 tax year — today is a good time to acknowledge, and start to overcome the associated fears of, some scary tax misinformation that just won't go away. Here are 13 tax misperceptions that once you know them and the right tax moves to make, you can become a... Read more →
Film Movies
No tax talk today. On this Dec. 25th, enjoy your traditions however and whatever way you celebrate, or even if you don't! My annual wish for you and yours is that on this day, and during the whole holiday season, you get whatever you want, or at least what you need. I'll be back here with a return to taxes tomorrow. Until then, I'll leave you with a few Christmas movie suggestions if you need a break from your regular festivities. The notable new ones this year are Eddie Murphy's Netflix streamer "Candy Cane Lane," and Alexander Payne's well-reviewed "The... Read more →
Photo by Anya Batalova on Unsplash We don't get many — OK, not any — kids dressed as ghosts on Halloween night. Our neighborhood's youngsters seem to prefer dressing as comic book icons turned movie characters. Heck, last week I even saw an adult, or a very tall teen, dressed as Spiderman, full-face mask included, during my last grocery store visit. But that's for another blog post. Or a call to the local authorities. Getting back to ghosts, notably those with tax connections. As I mentioned in an earlier post, ghost employees and ghost employers can wreak havoc when it... Read more →
A rare annular, or ring of fire, solar eclipse is tomorrow, Oct. 14. NASA has more on the event. And if it's cloudy where you live or you're not in a prime viewing region, you can livestream the eclipse. October already is the spookiest month of the year, but things ramp up this weekend. Today, in case you haven't looked at a calendar, is Friday the 13th. Tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 14, millions in the Americas will experience, at least in part, a rare annular solar eclipse. In the United States, the event will begin in Oregon around 9:13 a.m. Pacific... Read more →
Margot Robbie as the title character in the Barbie movie based on the iconic doll. (Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment) I haven't seen the Barbie movie yet, but as fan of filmmaking and owner as a child of a couple of Barbie dolls, I have been following the stories about the script, production, costumes, sets, and stars. But what really caught my attention were the tax remarks by the character portraying Barbie's creator. Barbie arrived in American stores in 1959 thanks to Ruth Handler, who along with her husband had founded the doll's corporate manufacturer Mattel a decade earlier. Many... Read more →
Artificial intelligence has long been a part of our lives, although most of that has been in popular culture depictions. The recalcitrant Hal who wouldn't open the pod bay doors in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner's deadly replicants evolved into Star Trek's more loveable Commander Data and all his TV and movie cousins, like I, Robot's Sonny, Voice-only Samantha in Her, and very human Dorian in Almost Human and Mia and pals in Humans. And bad bots are still out there, at least for entertainment purposes. This month, a warrior nun takes on an all-powerful, and evil, artificial... Read more →
UPDATE, March 12, 2023: Congratulations to all those who won Academy Awards tonight, especially the big winner, "Everything Everywhere All at Once." The movie, known on social media as #EEAAO (or #EEAO if you don't want to include the preposition) proved that this year's major Hollywood event definitely wasn't your grandparents' Oscars. The wildly imaginative film, which featured a tax audit, won best picture. Three EEAO stars, Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis, won acting Academy Awards. And original screenplay and directing Oscars went to The Daniels, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. Jamie Lee Curtis, far left,... Read more →
U.S. President Joe Biden with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meeting after Biden's secret trip to Kyiv on Feb. 20, 2023. (Photo via Zelenskyy Telegram account) We woke up this morning (some later than others…) to news that while we were sleeping, President Joe Biden was in Ukraine. The overnight trip from Washington, D.C., to an active war zone was under a cloak of secrecy for obvious security reasons. Only a handful of White House, Pentagon, Secret Service, and intelligence community personnel were in the know. It, of course, included a 10-hour train ride by the Amtrak-loving 46th president. The momentousness,... Read more →
One of my favorite yard displays in my neighborhood. I love the multicolor wig on the swinging skeleton. (Photo by Kay Bell) Happy Halloween! Most of my neighborhood goes all out with outdoor decoration for this traditionally spooky night. All Hallows' Eve isn't my favorite holiday. I do, however, get a kick out of seeing what the youngsters dress as to trick or treat. Some of their parents get into the spirit, too. If you're still trying to decide what you'll wear tonight, an internet search will provide lots of last-minute suggestions. Social media also is full of a create-your-own... Read more →
Rail travel could save you some European Union automotive fuel taxes, maybe enough for a nice meal in the train's dining car a la the one Willem Dafoe's character enjoyed (or not, judging by his expression) in the 2017 film version of Murder on the Orient Express. (Photo courtesy 20th Century Fox) When I think of European travel, I immediately envision a train. OK, maybe I've watched Murder on the Orient Express (multiple versions) or Before Sunrise or A Little Romance or various Wes Anderson movies too many times. Still, for an American, particularly one who's lived most her life... Read more →
A scene from AMC's Dark Winds, starring Zahn McClarnon (standing) as Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police, and Kiowa Gordon as his deputy Jim Chee. The series, which has been renewed for a second season, is shot in New Mexico. (Photo by Michael Moriatis/Stalwart Productions/AMC) Later today, the hubby and I will watch the season finale of Dark Winds. Tomorrow night, we'll be planted in front of our TV for the next episode of Better Call Saul. Not only are both shows on AMC, they are great television. They also are filmed in New Mexico, primarily because the... Read more →
UPDATE, June 20, 2023: I'm thrilled to be quoted in the Tax Notes story The IRS Remains the Villain on Screen and Off by Caitlin Mullaney. Its a good, comprehensive look at how the country's tax agency has a long way to go before it's represented in a better light in popular culture. Jamie Lee Curtis plays an IRS examiner in the new indie hit Everything Everywhere All at Once from A24 Films. She even gets a fight scene in the movie. Check it out at the May item in my tumblr blog Tumbling Taxes. Tax Day 2022 has come... Read more →
NOTE: You can find an updated version in my Oct. 13, 2023, post about tax myths and eclipse superstitions pegged to the Oct. 14. 2023, annular eclipse. Here are this weekend's full Flower Moon eclipse stages. The moon moves right to left, passing through the penumbra and umbra, leaving in its wake an eclipse diagram with the times (Eastern time zone) at various stages of the eclipse. Visualizations by Ernie Wright, NASA Scientific Visualization Studio. Click here for the video version. And if it's cloudy where you live, you can livestream the eclipse. It's Friday the 13th, the only one... Read more →
The iconic Hollywood sign is still there, but films no longer are limited to Los Angeles backlots. They're made across the United States (and world), with film makers choosing locations based in many instances on available tax breaks. (Photo by Dmitry Rogozhin via Wikimedia Commons) You haven't been to a movie theater in years. You don't pay for streaming services. But chances are you have been covering the production costs for recent movies and television shows. That's because 33 states and the District of Columbia offer tax breaks to movie makers and more. The only states that currently don't offer... Read more →
Most folks right now are working on filing their 2021 tax returns for the first time. But since it's Groundhog Day — in case you missed it, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so we're looking at six more weeks of winter (boo!) — today seems like the perfect time to also look at amending a tax return. Taxes are complicated, so tax mistakes on 1040 forms are common. In situations where you've made a relatively minor common error on your return, such as transposing an amount that the Internal Revenue Service can correct using its copy of a third-party tax... Read more →
Home Alone original house decked out for the holidays. (Photo via Airbnb) They say you can't go home again, but you can stay in the Home Alone house. Or at least four lucky movie fans will be there on Dec. 12, 2021. Tomorrow, Kevin McCallister's Winnetka, Illinois, residence turned criminal booby trap is welcoming the visitors for a one-night stay. The event in the house where the now-holiday-classic was filmed is not a contest, notes Airbnb. Rather, the reason for the bargain rate is that the overnight lodging is a charitable promotion that just happens to roughly coincide with the... Read more →
Looking to hide money from the Internal Revenue Service in another country? The tax agency makes finding such funds a priority, but one man accused of helping set up tax shelters has managed to slip through U.S. tax officials' hands. (Photo from Pixabay via Pexels) More than five years ago, 11.5 million leaked documents detailing information for more than 214,000 offshore companies were made public. The world was fascinated with the tale of how wealthy individuals, with the help of money managers and bankers, created tax shelters. That reveal by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, dubbed the Panama Papers... Read more →
Of course there's a tax crime connection. A defunct Connecticut minor league hockey club is the focus of a new Netflix documentary. The film's tales of the brawling Danbury Trashers offer this weekend's diversion, along with a bit of a tax connection. I fell in love with hockey when I went to my first game, a Washington Capitals match back in 1981 shortly after we moved to the National Capital area. Those early Capitals' teams sucked majorly. But they had some good individual players. The skills and heart of Rick Green, Mike Gartner, and young American phenom Bobby Carpenter made... Read more →
A scene from "Judas and the Black Messiah," which today received six Oscar nominations. The filmmakers also took advantage of state tax breaks to make the movie. (Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures) The 2021 Oscar nominees were announced today. Let the arguing begin. I'm generally happy with the nominations, especially since two of my favorite and (I believe) overlooked performers were nominated in the Best Actor in a Leading Role. Oh, you want names? Sure: Riz Ahmed for "Sound of Metal" and Steven Yeun for "Minari." However, disagreements about the nominees and the ultimate winners in all Academy of Motion... Read more →
A panoramic view of Positano, Italy, the famously vertical town where actor and food/travel show host Stanley Tucci found the highly-desired Amalfi Coast lemons. (Image courtesy Italia Agenzia Nazionale Turismo) Tonight, the hubby and I will watch our latest favorite television series, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy. The CNN show is part travelogue, but with routes determined by Tucci's tastes, which are so far spectacular. The award-winning actor, director, screenwriter, Instagram bartender and cookbook author (you're not surprised, are you?) essentially is eating his way through Italy, the county from which both sides of his family hail. He started in... Read more →