Friend and Business partner John Stathas emailed some links from the iLaw conference at Harvard:
Zelenak & Chirelstein on Tax Shelters:
This article describes the ongoing legislative and administrative efforts to curtail tax shelters. It concludes that these efforts, which rely largely on disclosure requirements and penalties, cannot succeed as long as taxpayers continue to win many of the litigated shelter cases.
Amazing… Yet, we continue to generate more tax law spaghetti.
Lee A Shepphard: Massive Giveaway in Partnership Compensatory Options Regs.
Greensboro’s airport joins many others in supporting WiFi. Madison, a community attempting to grow it’s tech business base, still lacks it…. I cannot think of one reasonable explanation for this.
Barry Ritholtz published Bob Lefsetz’s comments on the state of the music industry:
“We’re being duped. The RIAA keeps saying it’s saving the MUSIC when really all its label members are interested in is saving THEMSELVES!
It’s out of control. Irrelevant of the Grokster decision. These billion dollar companies with their high-priced lobbyists have infected the media and the minds of the public to the detriment of ART! What’s worse, they’ve convinced the musicians signed to their labels of the validity of their position, which is equivalent to slaves standing up for plantation owners.
I don’t know about you, but I believe in MUSIC, not LABELS!
Retired Cop “Radar” Roy Reyer runs a site that reviews radar detectors and jammers.
Cory Doctorow urges us to contact Senator Kohl, along with others and urge him to stop Hollywood’s special interests from inserting the broadcast flag requirement into a Senate appropriations bill today. The broadcast flag is yet another reduction in our fair use rights.
This is a classic dead of night, end of game maneuver. The Wisconsin Senator has voted against our interests recently, including the National ID bill, the bankruptcy bill (more) and large corporate giveaways. I hope he does the right thing today. Call his office: (202) 224-5653 or send an email. I cannot see any benefit to Wisconsin residents of Kohl’s recent efforts. More on the Senator’s votes here. The EFF has more. Roger Simon correctly points out that Hollywood’s real problem lies with their declining product quality.
Watch the conversation via Technorati
Patrick Fleenor and Scott A. Hodge:
One of the biggest obstacles facing President Bush’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform is the fact that America has become divided between a growing class of people who pay no income taxes and a shrinking class of people who are bearing the lion’s share of the burden.
Despite the charges of critics that the tax cuts enacted in 2001, 2003 and 2004 favored the “rich,” these cuts actually reduced the tax burden of low- and middle-income taxpayers and shifted the tax burden onto wealthier taxpayers. Tax Foundation economists estimate that for tax year 2004, a record 42.5 million Americans who filed a tax return (one-third of the 131 million returns filed last year) had no tax liability after they took advantage of their credits and deductions. Millions more paid next to nothing.
AP:
A new study shows Milwaukee residents are way behind their neighbors when it comes to taxable property values, prompting some officials to urge wealthy suburbs to share their tax revenues in exchange for their use of city services.
The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission ordered the study from consulting firm Ruekert & Mielke Inc. to analyze 147 cities, towns and villages in the counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine, Kenosha and Walworth.
The study released last week shows that Chenequa in Waukesha County boasts the top “fiscal capacity” rate, a measure of property value per resident, of $600,570, while Milwaukee ranks at the bottom with a rate of $36,507.
Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin mentioned this strategy as well – tax ’em while they are driving in.
Bruce Springsteen published his pre-concert playlist. Great music.