Tax & Business Services

John F Howes CPA





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February 20th, 2010 at 2:11 pm

Fellow tax practitioner Kay Be…

in: Aside

Fellow tax practitioner Kay Bell’s sensible piece on Joseph Stack and the reaction by some to his insane actions. http://www.bankrate.com/blogs/taxes/tax-tragedy-in-texas.aspx

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February 14th, 2010 at 11:58 am

www.miamiherald.com/419/story/…

in: Aside

http://www.miamiherald.com/419/story/1475186.html?storylink=twtuser — Choose the right tax pro

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February 11th, 2010 at 4:45 pm

The hardest thing 2 understand…

in: Aside

The hardest thing 2 understand in the world is the income tax. ~Albert Einstein/ I study it carefully & that keeps me in business. ~cpajohn

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February 11th, 2010 at 1:01 pm

Rapid refund loans offered by …

in: Aside

Rapid refund loans offered by the big tax preparer chains are really rapid RIPOFFS. I have never and will never offer these scams.

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January 26th, 2010 at 3:43 pm

My Day in US Tax Court (Tax Court Seminar that is)

Did you know?

Tax Court Judges are appointed by the President of the United States for 15 year terms.

Nationwide there are 19 regular court judges, 11 senior judges and 5 special judges.

There are approximately 30,000 tax cases handled by the US Tax Court each year.

93 to 95% percent of of tax court cases that are put on the calendar are settled in the months leading up to the actual court date.

Of the 5% to 7% of tax cases that actually are heard by the judge, the IRS wins more cases than it loses.  But what about the others that settled beforehand and won?

More information about tax court can be found at www.ustaxcourt.gov

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January 24th, 2010 at 1:51 pm

House across the street. 1 acr…

in: Aside

House across the street. 1 acre land built 2500sf house in 2005 4 $458,000 2010 tax valuation $340,000. Foreclosed, who is to blame, Obama?

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January 24th, 2010 at 11:37 am

Over 40,000 people have used s…

in: Aside

Over 40,000 people have used ss# 078-05-1120 but none are listed in the social security death index, guess you can die without a ss number?

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January 23rd, 2010 at 2:42 pm

Tax Season Has Begun

Just electronically filed the first 2009 tax return of my tax season. All went swimmingly well considering I am studying a 5 dvd, 600 page tax update manual of all the law changes.  I am not complaining though.  It is the nonstop tinkering with the tax code that makes life interesting for practitioners.

Monday will spend all day attending tax court class and observing actual tax court cases in the Portland US Tax Court.

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