The Ol’ Sticky Ricky
The Zen philosopher Basho once said, “A flute without holes is not a flute. And a doughnut without a hole is a Danish.” Even today, Basho’s wisdom serves to remind us that appearances can be deceiving. Things are not always as they seem. And you can’t judge a book by its cover. Today’s story takes […]
Strange Coincidences
Right now, crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried, the Millennial Bernie Madoff, is wearing an ankle bracelet and cooling his heels in his parents’ $4 million house on Stanford University’s leafy campus. People who know a thing or two about crypto are divided on whether his fall marks a temporary reset for the market or a sign […]
Artificial Intelligence Is Better Than None At All
As AI continues to advance, the tax preparation industry may be in for a wild ride. With the ability to process vast amounts of data and make calculations faster than a team of accountants, these machine-learning monsters may make tax season a breeze for some, but spell doom for others. Imagine a world where you […]
Dead on Arrival?
Turn the dial on the Wayback Machine to the fourteenth century. Intrepid knights from across England are saddling up their trustiest steeds to journey east on what came to be known as the Crusades. Those knights needed someone to take care of their lands and families while they were gone. So they invented the “trust,” […]
No Way to Run a Railroad
On January 19 – possibly at the very moment you’re reading these words – the US government will hit the $31.3 trillion debt ceiling. Roughly, this translates into maxing out Uncle Sam’s American Express card. That doesn’t mean he’ll stop spending, of course. Instead, we’ll be treated to the slow-motion trainwreck of watching a divided […]
Cool Cats
Someday, accountants will be cool. I don’t just mean in the “Oh, you’re majoring in accounting, that’s cool” sense. I mean Steve-McQueen-cruising-through-Rome-on-a-Vespa cool. Someday, little kids who dream of growing up to be accountants will collect bubblegum cards with Big Four partners’ pictures on one side and detailed career stats on the back. (Tax dollars […]
Sunshine: The Best Disinfectant
Last week, after years of legal battling that reached the Supreme Court, the House Ways and Means Committee released six years of former president Donald Trump’s taxes. Now, I write these weekly columns to make people laugh, not start political fights, so I’m not going to say a single snarky word about what’s inside those […]
What Do Santa and the IRS Have In Common?
In 2005, Carol Aebersold and her daughters introduced the world to the “Elf on a Shelf.” Every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, the elf hides in a different spot in the house to see who’s naughty and who’s nice. At night, he flies back to the North Pole to deliver his intel to Santa. […]
Federal Prosecutors Bring Early Christmas for SBF Victims
Often, when someone makes headlines for a crime, reporters go sniffing around the miscreant’s neighborhood to see what the people who knew him before he was infamous think about him. It’s become a cliché to hear them say, “He was such a quiet boy, he would never hurt anyone.” Jeffrey Dahmer was a popular enough […]
#1 On the Naughty List
Christmas is almost here, and Santa has to decide who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. Sometimes that’s a tough call. But there’s one overgrown elf who spent the year trying to convince Santa he belonged on the Nice List, who’s sure to get a lump of coal in his stocking. That’s crypto-whiz-kid Samuel Bankman-Fried, […]