Taxes

A collection of reflections on the silver anniversary of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 would not be complete without the thoughts of Robert Flach - The Wandering Tax Pro.

If you think that the cost of living is increasing, it's not your imagination. Everything is getting more expensive from gas to milk to peanut butter. Fortunately, that might translate to a drop in your tax bill. The IRS has announced a number of adjustments to tax exemptions and deductions as a result of rising inflation for the next tax year; keep in mind that these adjustments are effective for...

Twenty-five years ago tomorrow, Ronald Reagan signed the Tax Reform Act of 1986. It was a beautiful fall day and the signing was on the back lawn of the White House. I was there along with many of the other Treasury staff who worked on the historic legislation, as well as a bus load of tourists from Iowa who were hoping for a White House tour, but had to settle for parts as extras in the stagecraft...

Few have written as prolifically, or as clearly, about the American tax system as Michael J. Graetz, whose books include 100 Million Unnecessary Returns: A Simple, Fair, and Competitive Tax Plan for the United States; The Decline (and Fall') of the Income Tax; and The U.S. Income Tax: What it Is, How it Got That Way and Where We Go From Here. Graetz was Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy...

Call it November madness. Tens of millions of workers, rather than picking basketball brackets, select from a confusing lineup of health insurance plans and accounts during an annual ritual known as "open enrollment."

It's the last year you can put money in a healthcare flexible spending account before new contribution limits go into effect.

A bullish week lifts markets to the other side of what had been resistance.

When I was growing up I was more of a DC kid than a Marvel kid. I liked Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos, but when it came to superheroes, it was Superman and Green Lantern not Spiderman and the Hulk for me. I lost interest in comic books for quite a while, but then in 1985 after nearly 50 years DC did something amazing. Their "universe" had built up all sorts of contradictions because...