What Goes Around Comes Around

Ask anyone what makes them happy. (Go ahead, see who's around and ask them.) We're pretty sure they didn't say "paying taxes." Most of us just grumble and pay up. But millions of citizens from all walks of life express their unhappiness by choosing not to pay. The IRS currently has over 12 million accounts in collections, with state and local governments managing millions more. That's a lot of money not getting paid.

Of course, tax collectors are hardly powerless to collect those debts. They can garnish wages to pay back taxes. And they can seize property. Usually, this means financial assets like bank accounts, investments, and retirement accounts. But it also includes physical assets like houses, cars, and boats they can sell to raise cash. The IRS has seized less obvious assets, too, such as the contents of an Alabama scofflaw's hair salon, a pair of Boston parking spaces that sold for $280,000 each, and even $2 million worth of annuity payments that used to be New York Mets slugger Darryl Strawberry's deferred salary.

Now we've learned that a Florida tax collector is taking aim at an even bigger target. Last month, Escambia County Tax Collector Janet Holley filed suit to seize the 200-foot-tall Skyview Ferris wheel, which has thrilled riders since 2013 near Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park.

The Ferris wheel features 42 climate-controlled gondolas, including a VIP car with leather seats and glass floors. And it's enjoyed a scenic ride of its own. It originally opened in Paris, across from the famed Louvre museum. Then it moved to Bern, Switzerland. Then it crossed the Alps and the Atlantic for a year-long stop in Pensacola, Florida before finally settling in "the ATL."

Here's where taxes step aboard. When the wheel landed in Pensacola, it became subject to Escambia County property tax. The county assessed the wheel's value at $11.4 million, then billed the ride's operator $237,000. That company, Expo 60 Ventures LLC, has since gone out of business and dissolved. However, Florida law lets the tax on tangible property follow the property, in addition to the owner, which makes the wheel itself still subject to seizure. What's worse, interest and penalties have rolled the bill up to $350,000!

The wheel's current operators are quick to defend Atlanta's newest overpriced tourist trap scenic attraction. A spokesman says "This is a vendetta by a public official who's up for re-election in Pensacola, Florida. Pensacola has always been angry that this wonderful icon left their city and came to Atlanta." Having said that, they also paid $50,000 towards the debt. "Our only contention is that they're charging some ridiculous penalties and interest and things like that on the taxes, and we're willing to pay those as soon as the court tells us that that's what we have to pay," he added. (Doesn't exactly sound "willing" when you put it like that!)

Of course, the county doesn't really want to take possession of the Ferris wheel, not any more than the IRS really wanted a couple of parking spots in Boston. They just want their money. (We can just imagine Pensacola's roughest, toughest repo man gulping in disbelief when he getsthis assignment!)

Ferris wheels are fun, but in the end you just wind up back where you started. That's fine for a scenic ride, but it's not good enough when it comes to your taxes. What you need is a plan. Whether you're running a business, managing a portfolio, or just raising a family, we can give you that plan — and you can save the thrill rides for the amusement park, not the IRS!

Little Tax Lien on the Prairie

Us Weekly is one of those glossy tabloid magazines you see in the checkout line at your local supermarket. Every week, they run a photo feature called "Stars: They're Just Like Us," with revealing, slice-of-life gems such as a Bachelorette throwing a ball to her dog in the park, a former supermodel cheering at her kid's soccer game, or Matt Damon adjusting his fly while he waits in line to renew his driver's license. (We're explaining this because we know you would never read anything so frivolous.)

Here's another way that stars are just like us . . . they deal with the tax man! (Except when they don't, as the case sometimes may be.) Granted, it's not great television, watching the Kardashians pay their kuarterly estimates. Still, taxes are just a much a bane of their existence as they are of yours. So let's take a look at some celebrity tax stories making the rounds:

• Melissa Gilbert, who starred as Laura Ingalls in the family drama Little House on the Prairie, is facing a $360,000 lien for unpaid federal income taxes. While we can't be privy to the exact circumstances, the actress, who has since served as President of the Screen Actors Guild, reports that the recession had hit her hard. "That, plus a divorce and a dearth of acting opportunities the last few years, created a perfect storm of financial difficulty for me." Gilbert, her husband, and their two boys currently live in a log house in Michigan, which she refers to as "our own Little House in the Big Woods," and says she has negotiated a plan with the IRS to make good on her debt.
• Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina may be barely cracking 1% in the polls, but she's jumped to an early lead in the financial disclosure race — she won't be accused of hiding anything in her tax returns. The former Hewlett-Packard CEO had already released her federal returns, along with a 503-page financial disclosure pegging her net worth at $58,954,494.88 (because $60 million would just be vulgar). But last week, she opened up her state tax returns as well. While Fiorina lives in Virginia, her various business and investment interests force her to file tax returns in a total of 17 states. We're not talking a lot of money here — for example, she earned $946 in investment income attributable to Michigan, which meant filing a 58-page return and paying $40 in tax (which Virginia credited back to her on their return). The end result with her state tax returns is a 1,000-page stack of paper that ought to keep her former company 's printers humming profitably for years.
• Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is in hot water following revelations that he paid $1.7 million in hush money to conceal "former misconduct." Prosecutors have indicted him for failing to report cash transactions and lying to the FBI. It's been an incredible fall for Hastert: a decade ago, he was two heartbeats away from the Presidency, and now his life is an episode of theMaury Povich show. But will the IRS have a problem with it? Almost certainly not! In fact, Hastert can plausibly claim a theft loss deduction for payments exceeding 10% of his adjusted gross income. The indictment doesn't tell us if Hastert's blackmailer reported the payments as income, and we can safely assume Hastert didn't issue a 1099! Still, this is one case where the IRS might actually make a celebrity's troubles easier.

Celebrities are famed for supporting entourages of publicists, agents, and managers that you probably don't need and can't get. But they also have tax planners — and you can have one of those right now. Just call us for the plan you need to keep your taxes to a legal minimum and outof the headlines.

Pomp and Circumstance

June is Graduation Season, and odds are good that you've spent some time seated on a cheap folding chair or arena bleacher watching someone proceed down an aisle in an expensive cap and gown. Commencement speakers will thank the faculty, staff, and parents who made it all possible. But how many of them thank the folks in Washington who drafted Internal Revenue Code Section 170(c) back in 1917?

John Paulson is a hedge fund manager who owns a 28,500 square foot Manhattan townhouse, a $41.3 million Southampton estate with twopools and two guest houses (because one of each wouldn't be enough), and a $49 million Aspen ranch. Back in 2007, he bet against the housing bubble and made close to $4 billion when everyone else was losing their shirt. Forbes magazine ranks him #113th-richest billionaire in the world, with a net worth of $11.2 billion.

So, a couple of weeks ago, John Paulson reached into his couch cushions and found $400 million he didn't need. He gave that money to his alma mater, Harvard University. (Harvard has a $32.7 billion endowment, which means they don't need it either, but that's a different story.) Harvard will use the money to expand their engineering school and rename it in Paulson's honor. And here's where that tax code section 170(c) comes in — it lets Paulson deduct the gift from his 2015 tax return and save $100 million or so.

Paulson isn't the only rich guy to donate millions to see his name on the wall of a building. Last month, another Wall Streeter named Steven Schwartzman ($12 billion net worth), found $150 million in the spare change jar on his bedroom dresser that he wasn't using. He gave it to hisalma mater, Yale University ($23.9 billion endowment), which will use the money to transform the Commons building into a performing arts center. If you guessed that Yale is renaming it "the Schwartzman Center," give yourself 10 points. And if you said "Wow, Schwartzman's gift will save him $40 million or so in taxes," give yourself another 10.

Wall Streeters aren't the only guys getting in on the action. Back in March, a California venture capitalist named Mark Stevens ($1.6 billion net worth), found $50 million in the console between the front seats of his car. He gave it to his alma mater, the University of Southern California ($4.6 billion endowment), to build a biology lab. If you guessed it'll be called the "Mark and Mary Steven Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute," you know a lot more about biology than we do. And while we can't know exactly how much the gift will amputate from the Stevens's taxes, we can be sure it's a lot.

We're having fun here with the amounts these guys can give. But we're not making fun of their tax breaks. That's what lets a John Paulson say to himself, "Hmmmm, I've got $400 million I'm willing to part with," and give it all to the school of his choice, rather than a smaller after-tax amount. It's what lets your neighbor say "I've got 500 bucks I'm willing to part with," and give it all to his alma mater. Americans as a group give nearly $40 billion per year to educational causes. And the tax breaks that encourage that generosity really do help make it possible for you to enjoy those graduation speeches you sat through earlier this month.

You know what else guys like John Paulson, Steven Schwartman, and Mark Stevens all have? Tax plans. They know they can't just wait until April 15 to figure out how much they owe — not if they want to give buildings to universities. Shouldn't you take a page from their success and get a plan of your own? Call us now and see how much more you might be able to give! 

Who Won Most at Roland Garros?

For two weeks every spring, the tennis world focuses its attention on Roland Garros, the Parisian center that hosts the French Open. This year, fans yawned as the dominant Serena Williams cruised to her 20th career major title in the 2015 French Open, defeating the 13th-ranked Czech Lucie Safarova. On the men's side, fans saw an actual contest, as the Swiss Stan Wawrinka used his devastating backhand to take his second major in four sets, upsetting top-ranked Novak Djokovic and denying him a career Grand Slam.

Both winners claimed €1.8 million, or about $2 million, in prize money. But does that mean they actually take home that much? Certainly not. You may have heard about this thing called "taxes" that eat into our bounty. So let's take a look at what happens to those purses to see who really comes out ahead.

Playing professional tennis isn't like signing a contract with a baseball or football team and collecting a guaranteed salary. It's more like running a small business whose "product" is winning tournaments. James Ward, currently ranked #101 in the world, put it well last year when he told International Business Times, "It's difficult . . . You're paying your own expenses, your coach's, you're paying for your food, your hotel, your travel — for two people. And if you lose in the first round you're getting $300, minus tax. It's embarrassing. You've just got to win matches."

James is exaggerating a little bit — first round losers at the French Open get €27,000 in addition to their walk of shame. And in Williams's case, her coach is also her boyfriend, which brings down the cost of her entourage a bit. But still, if you want to get rich playing tennis, you've got to be very, very good. The real money, as with so many sports, is in the endorsements.

France takes the first slice at French Open winnings, and it's a big one. France's top tax rate is 45%, which is actually down, from 75% just two years ago. It's high enough that international athletes grumble about it publicly. In fact, last year Serena told Rolling Stone magazine, "Seventy-five percent doesn't seem legal. Nobody does anything because the government pays you to be broke. So why work?"

Then Williams comes home, and the IRS serves up a maximum rate of 39.6%, plus a Medicare tax of 3.8% on top of that. At least her home state of Florida doesn't impose an income tax.

As for Wawrinka, who ranks fourth in the world after this week's win, he wins the Tax Bracket Open. He pays a maximum federal income tax of just 11.5% on income over SFr700,000. (That's Swiss francs, for those of you keeping score at home — 700,000 Swiss francs equals about $658,000.) His home canton of Vaud (similar to a state government in Switzerland) and his home town of St. Barthélemy lob more taxes at him. Total tax burdens in Switzerland can reach 40% depending on where you live. Even so, Wawrinka squeaks out ahead of Williams. (He may not "love" paying them, but at least he gets to pay a bit less.)

When it comes to tennis, how hard you hit the ball is important. But it also matters where you hit it, too. It works the same way with taxes. Howmuch you make is key. But how you make it and even where you make it are important, too. Serena Williams and Stan Wawrinka both have tennis coaches to help them win more tournaments. And they have tax coaches to help keep as much of what they win as possible. So don't risk double-faulting against the IRS. Call us for the plan you need! 

Red Card!

Picture a greedy cabal of shameless officials lording over a famously corrupt international cartel. Add suitcases full of cash bribes, and multimillion-dollar payoffs coursing through a shadowy network of shell companies and offshore accounts. Throw in a loud, colorful "mole" celebrating a life of private jets, Michelin-starred restaurants, and vintage wines. Now stir in an ongoing investigation, secret indictments, and a pre-dawn stakeout leading to a series of arrests at a luxury hotel in Zurich, Switzerland.

It sounds like the plot from the latest Jason Bourne movie, right? The only thing missing is the car chase. But it's no big-screen thriller. It's the real-life tale of 20 years of bribery and corruption inside FIFA, international soccer's governing body. Last week, the Justice Department indicted 14 targets on 47 charges of racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering. And would it surprise you to hear that the goalkeepers at the IRS helped blow the whistle on the fouls?

Chuck Blazer — the "mole" at the heart of the story — began his unlikely journey as a suburban "soccer dad" coaching his 6-year-old son outside New York city. He worked his way up through the soccer hierarchy to general secretary of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), becoming the only American ever to serve on FIFA's executive committee. Blazer used his position to extract bribes from countries hoping to host tournaments and broadcasters hoping to cover the proceedings.

Blazer and his FIFA henchmen used the proceeds from those bribes to live like kings. He charged $29 million on his expense account credit cards and pocketed another $20 million more. He grew, literally, to 450 pounds — he got so big he needed a collection of motorized scooters to navigate his homes in Miami, the Bahamas, and New York's Trump Tower, where he kept not one but two apartments: an $18,000/month three-bedroom unit for himself, and a $6,000/month one-bedroom unit, right next door, for his cats. (Apparently, crime really does pay. Until it doesn't.)

Blazer even kept a blog bragging about his travels and his life. Apparently, however, he was too busy partying to pay taxes on the profit he made from selling his organization's integrity. In 2011, agents from the IRS and FBI stopped him while he was riding his scooter on Fifth Avenue. And right there, they presented him with a stark choice: "We can take you away in handcuffs now — or you can cooperate." Turns out they wanted more than just a few million in back taxes. They wanted to "flip" him, to secretly record conversations with crooked soccer officials from across the world. Those tapes, which he recorded using a specially-modified key chain, helped lead to last week's arrests.

IRS Criminal Investigation head Richard Weber made the obvious pun after the arrests, announcing "This is the World Cup of fraud, and today we are issuing FIFA a red card," he said. But really, the headlines just write themselves. How about "Corrupt soccer officials just couldn't keep their hands off the cash"? Maybe "Co-conspirators headed to jail for terms up to 20 years"? How about "Prosecutors score a GOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLL against corruption"? (Sometimes we crack ourselves up.)

Most Americans don't get fired up about soccer. But they do get excited about tax savings. If you need extra help guarding the net against IRS strikers, call us for a plan. Who knows . . . you might even save enough to afford an apartment for your cats, too!