Illegal Deduction in the Backfield The 1985 Chicago Bears were one of the greatest teams in NFL history — in fact, ESPN ranked them the greatest ever. Quarterback Vince McMahon, Hall-of-Fame running back Walter Payton, defensive tackle Richard "Refrigerator" Perry, and the rest of the team captured America's heart as they [...]

How to Guarantee an Audit Most of us would rather have a root canal without anesthesia than face an IRS audit. Fortunately, your chances of winding up in that particular hot seat are fairly low. Audit odds vary according to how much you earn and how you earn it, but generally [...]

The Art of the Tax Loss Everyone knows what a hobby is, right? It's something you do to relax and have fun, not something you do as an occupation. And everyone knows what a business is, too. It's something you do to make money. So everyone should know the difference between [...]

What Do You Give the Man Who Has Everything? Last week, New York Yankee shortstop and future Hall-of-Famer Derek Jeter played his last Major League Baseball game. He chopped a single to third in the third inning to drive in a run, then took himself out for good. That final hit [...]

Taxing Situation MTV's Jersey Shore premiered in late 2009 and quickly became the network's most-watched series ever. Cast members Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Jennifer "JWoww" Farley, and their outrageous, hard-partying housemates have become New Jersey's most famous family since The Sopranos, trying their best to put the "fun" [...]

In The Headlines Loan Trading: A $1 Trillion Market Moving in Slow Motion Imagine a trillion-dollar business that runs on phone calls and faxes and routinely ties up money for months while investors receive no interest. That is how it goes in the market for leveraged loans—those made to highly indebted [...]

In The Headlines Braveheart Revisited – Scots Vote on Independence This week Scotland’s voters take to the polls to determine whether they want to break off from the United Kingdom. And while a vote in favor of independence from the U.K. would simply be the beginning of a long and complex [...]

In The Headlines Shopping Shift – Retailers Confront a New Consumer Reality After years of slow to stagnant growth, some experts worry that the entire retail sector is now shifting into a fundamental decline. At a time of year when U.S. retailers should be riding the annual wave of back-to-school spending [...]

In The Headlines Walmart Becomes a Healthcare Provider Wal-Mart has been conservative when it comes to retail clinics, partnering with regional hospitals to offer services like flu shots. But now, the retailer is taking a more aggressive tack, with in-store branded clinics offering primary care at a price competitors may find [...]