Turn the dial on the Wayback Machine to 1849, and join us in California, where “there’s gold in them thar hills!” Two kinds of people are getting fabulously rich. Obviously, there are the prospectors, grabbing their shovels and racing for the latest strike. Then there are the shovel sellers getting rich on the prospector’s dreams.… Read More

Twenty years ago, sci-fi fans geeked out to a new thriller called The Matrix following a dystopian vein established in Blade Runner, Total Recall, and The Terminator. It starred Keanu Reeves as “Neo” and Laurence Fishburne as “Morpheus”: freedom fighters in a world where machines have trapped humanity in a computer-generated dreamscape called the Matrix,… Read More

October is chock-full of obscure holidays and commemorations. October 3 is National Boyfriend Day. October 15 — the real personal tax filing deadline — is National Grouch Day. (Coincidence? We think not.) October 19 serves up National Seafood Bisque Day (which sounds a lot tastier than October 25, National Greasy Food Day). Then there’s October 21, National… Read More

In the criminal justice system, tax-based offenses aren’t considered especially heinous . . . but they still cost the government a ton of money. In field offices throughout the country, the dedicated Special Agents who investigate these expensive felonies are members of an elite squad known as IRS Criminal Investigation. (They’re also the only IRS… Read More

Last weekend, Hollywood made history. Disney’s three-hour popcorn epic, Avengers: Endgame sent box-office records scrambling in panic, grossing $350 million here in the U.S. And $330 million in China. And $600 million more in another 43 countries. It’s the first movie to top a billion dollars in its opening weekend. Endgame still has a long way to go before… Read More

When it comes to raising revenue, governments usually find it most efficient to follow the immortal advice of bank robber Willie Sutton and go “where the money is.” They turn to income, payroll, property, and sales taxes to fund most of their operations. They’ll throw in the occasional gas tax or sin tax for fun.… Read More

Sunday night, millions of Game of Thrones fans who waited breathlessly for 20 months finally got rewarded with their next installment what’s become the biggest TV show on the planet. Cersei discovered (redacted). Jon Snow learned that …. (sorry, no spoilers here). And that guy with the eye patch and flaming sword probably does great on Tinder. (Seriously, what… Read More

On April 14, millions of fans will gather around the biggest screen they can find for the start of one final season in Westeros, the setting of George R.R. Martin’s epic Game of Thrones. The show, which producers pitched as “The Sopranos in Middle Earth,” has leaped from television into the broader culture. In 2013, 241… Read More

Nobody really likes to pay taxes. It’s no surprise, then, that so many people work so hard to avoid them. As humorist Fran Lebowitz once said, “a dog who thinks he is man’s best friend is a dog who has obviously never met a tax lawyer.” Truly proactive tax professionals like us understand that you don’t just… Read More

Moving to a new home can mark an exciting transition in life. Maybe you’ve just gotten married and you’re settling into a real house after a series of walkup apartments. Maybe your children are finally out of the house and you’re trading four bedrooms and a suburban backyard for lofty downtown sophistication. Maybe you’re ready… Read More