Give to Help Haiti Today - Get Immediate Deduction on 2009 Return

January 28th, 2010

Raleigh NC Tax Preparation

A few days ago in a email news item I made the distinction that the Haiti disaster is now a qualified disaster according to the IRS (http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=218615,00.html).
And I mentioned in that email, the IRS was rumoring that people would be able to take a deduction for contributions to Haiti on the current [...]

A Brief Timeline of Tax Practices of the US, Section 3

December 20th, 2009

Raleigh NC Accountant

W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
So the question remains, what went wrong with the tax system in the United States?
US tax makers have been collecting what they have sown for a long time. The honor system has been replaced by a [...]

A Brief Timeline of Taxation of the United States, Section Two

December 17th, 2009

Raleigh NC Tax Preparation

W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
1861 - After Lincoln was elected, the South walks out of Congress and create the Confederacy with a new constitution to sustain the newly formed government power to tax in check.
1862 - The beginning of [...]

The History of Taxation Practices, Part Nine: Tax, the Slavery Issue, and the Civil War

December 14th, 2009

Raleigh NC Accountant

W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
“Slavery - the one cause of the Civil War.” - John Stuart Mill, 1862
Could there be any doubt concerning it? Certainly the American Civil War was about the slavery issue… wasn’t it? Well actually, one of [...]

A Short Timeline of Tax Law of the USA, Chapter One

December 14th, 2009

Raleigh NC CPA

W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
Between 1868 to 1913, about 90% of the national government’s revenue was derived from taxes on alcohol and tobacco. While the Civil War was going on the government instituted a brief income tax, but it was [...]

A Lesson in Tax Practices, Part 8: Taxation and The Boston Tea Party

December 13th, 2009

Raleigh NC Accountant

W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
Ah…. now we have a historical event obviously concerning abusive taxes. Was the Boston Tea Party a protest against the British tax on tea, as we were told? No, not one bit. The colonies had continuously [...]

A History of Tax Law, Chapter Seven: Taxes and The American Revolution

December 5th, 2009

Raleigh NC CPA

W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
There has been no modern revolution that was more deeply based in taxation. Taxation not only caused it, but assisted in providing unity for the unorganized and squabbling colonies. However, maybe not exactly the way you [...]

A History of Taxation Practices, Part Six: Taxation and End of the Romans

December 1st, 2009

W. Marc Gilfillan

W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
Mithridates the Great ruled a tiny nation near what is currently known as Turkey. He had an extraordinary ability to arouse discontent among disgruntled taxpayers. In 88 BC he led a rebellion fighting the Romans. By [...]

A History of Taxation Practices, Chapter Five: Tax Law and The Roman Empire

December 1st, 2009

W. Marc Gilfillan

W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
Now that we’re moving away from the Greeks, we finally are at the Roman Empire. Historians usually refer to Roman tax policy as “more or less organized robbery” and Roman tax collectors as “a bunch of [...]

A Lesson in Taxation, Part 4: Taxation and The Island of Rhodes

November 30th, 2009

W. Marc Gilfillan

W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
The island of Rhodes: a gateway to Rome and Greece. Any shipping from the east stopped for restocking or to switch cargo at Rhodes. The harbor of the city, like every other harbor, had a tax [...]