Lapekas Law featured on Fox Business News Feb. 13, 2014

February 14th, 2014 by Lapekas Law Staff

On Thursday I was interviewed by Cheryl Casone of Fox Business News in connection with her coverage of the Affordable Care Act (“ObamaCare”). The link is below:

Lapekas Law on Fox Business News 2-13-2014

 

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Tax Breaks Causing Earthquakes (literally)? Never Say, “Never.”

January 29th, 2014 by Lapekas Law Staff

If you were looking for answers in last night’s State of the Union Address, you were probably as satisfied as if you had spent your time perusing the Internal Revenue Code looking for logic.

I was hoping for some insight on how President Obama intended to simplify the tax code and specific examples of “loopholes” he intended to see closed. But answers were perhaps as strategically omitted as were further jabs at the Supreme Court. (As soon as “loopholes” were mentioned, I should have known specificity was not the President’s intention. Of course, specifics, like the truth, tend to offend somebody, and the State of the Union should leave everyone feeling warm, fuzzy, and patriotic, right?) Read the rest of this entry »


The biggest difference between a “Bitcoin” and a U.S. Dollar? A U.S. Declaration of Dependence.

January 27th, 2014 by Lapekas Law Staff

If you do not already have a Bitcoin exchange account, you have likely heard of—and been confused by—the Bitcoin phenomena. In short, a Bitcoin economy looks very much like the Dollar economy—the most obvious difference being that you can’t touch or feel a Bitcoin. Bitcoins are strings of numbers and letters containing both a private and a public “key” and exchanged between Bitcoin wallets through parties’ pairing of the two keys.You can “earn” Bitcoins by installing mining software on your computer (the software then solves complex algorithms and, if it solves a difficult equation, Bitcoins are deposited into your Bitcoin “wallet”). If you do not have the mining equipment, you can purchase Bitcoins with Dollars or any other “real currency” on virtual exchanges. Like a Dollar, Bitcoins can be used to purchase virtual or real-life commodities or sold for “legal tender” like the Dollar or Euro. Read the rest of this entry »


Dear Kermit: It’s not easy being green, but the Tax Court may be making it cheaper.

August 29th, 2013 by Lapekas Law Staff

When can you deduct as a medical expense “natural” or non-traditional treatments?

Yesterday, an opinion from the United States Tax Court was published which should please individuals using “natural” or non-traditional treatments for medical conditions. Having tried Humphrey v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, T.C. Memo 2013-198 (August 28, 2013)[1] on behalf of the IRS in November 2012, I was “naturally” (for lack of a better word…) eager to read the opinion as soon as it was published to see if the IRS prevailed on all of the issues. It did not. And this surprised me. Read the rest of this entry »


Today’s House Bill: Slashing the IRS Budget. But we’ll pay for it…

July 9th, 2013 by Lapekas Law Staff

Last month, news outlets were in an uproar over the $4.1 million the IRS spent on a 2010 employee-training conference held in Anaheim, California. Much of the controversy surrounded the approximately $50,000+ spent on obnoxious training videos with little redeeming or educational value. Other amounts spent ($133,000 to hire outside speakers at the event) also raised ire. These controversial expenses, as well as the controversy surrounding the IRS’ disproportionate scrutiny of conservative organizations’ tax-exempt status applications, have kept reporters busy. Read the rest of this entry »