talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

On last comment before I hit the incommunicado switch: the House of Cards series is just as good as I remembered it. Terrence and I watched the first of the three series, and have just started the second ("To Play the King"). We're rationing the episodes, and it's been a pleasure to find that the series have aged well and that the zippy dialogue and plots twists are just as enjoyable as I remembered them.

If you're wondering what I'm talking about, check out my first post, which is here in the archives.

Back to taxation. The tax quote for the day (taken entirely out of context) is this:

We see no reason why the Court should depart from this well-settled interpretation merely because it results in an advantage or disadvantage to a taxpayer.

United States v. Lewis [340 U.S. 590 (1951) for those who care]

Watered-down summary: A fellow was mistakenly given a double bonus by his company. He paid taxes on the full amount of the bonus. Later, he had to return half of the money to his employer, and he sought to recalculate his taxes. The IRS disagreed in the "what's done is done" spirit, and the Supreme Court agreed. In his dissent, Justice Douglas noted that the government should "not be permitted to maintain the unconscionable position that it can keep the tax after it is shown that payment was made on money which was not income to the taxpayer." Douglas may have lost the battle, but not the war, since Congress later enacted a provision (§ 1341) to address these types of issues, and to provide relief in some cases.