Did you know that the U.S. government has the ability to deny, limit, or revoke your U.S. passport if you have substantial tax debt? In this article, we take a 10,000 foot view of the passport certification process, how to avoid it (pay your damn taxes), and what to do if your passport is affected. — The Stuffed Owl Paradigm When my son was two, his grandmother gave him a stuffed owl. Not a particularly creative toddler, he named the little owl Stuffy, and the name has stuck to this day. He takes the damn owl everywhere, which has, naturally, led to many a calamity when Stuffy is inevitably misplaced.

Being a social media “influencer” or whatever the heck a “content creator” is can be a lucrative endeavor, but are all those “gifts” you receive or feature in your selfies taxable? — Harsh Truths Influencers have it really hard to begin with, and I don’t want to kill any social media darling’s buzz. Still, I thought it might be prudent to discuss some harsh truths about getting money for nothing (and their “gifts” for “free”) — just in case you were thinking about getting…

The Treasury giveth, and the Treasury taketh away. — If you pay more to the IRS than you owe — whether through over-withholding, a large deduction, or otherwise — you are generally entitled to an income tax refund. However, if you underpaid in a previous year and have an outstanding liability, the IRS has the ability to “offset” your…

And How to Get Started — When your Great Bavarian Aunt Hilda died a couple years back, leaving a German bank account to you, you thought to yourself that this was your lucky day. Good things like this just don’t happen to you. As tax time drew nigh, your accountant asked whether you had any foreign…

Possibly, but not likely. — As a tax attorney, I am asked a disproportionately large amount of stupid questions. My answers range from “That’s illegal” and “Not unless you live in Kentucky” to “Let me look into that” and “Well, now, that depends.” I had a client come in to meet with me a few…

A Primer on Giving, Receiving, and Clown College — As a tax attorney, it is not wholly uncommon for an old friend to come out of the woodwork with a tax question or six. Thus, when my sophomore roommate’s wife called me on a Sunday afternoon not too long ago, I knew that there was a fair to middling…