Taxes

Commentator Martha Burk says our tax system's treatment of married women may have made sense for Ward and June Cleaver, but it's time for a change.

Fewer and fewer taxpayers are checking that little box to contribute $3 to the presidential election fund. But voters aren't the only ones saying no. Candidates are declining to use the fund. So is it worth keeping around?

Today's the day. Pay up or file for an extension. Joan is a reformed tax-evader and she almost learned the hard way that the old saying is true, you really can't avoid death or taxes.

The IRS already has the information it needs to fill out millions of taxpayers' forms automatically. Commentator Ian Ayres says requiring everyone to do it themselves is wasting time and money.

Year after year, three generations of tax accountants work side-by-side for a devoted clinetele in Queens, New York. Their advice: "You do right by the people and they come back to you."

French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy is promising to cut taxes. You might think that would be a winning platform in one of the most highly taxed countries in the world. <em>Au contraire</em>, as John Laurenson reports.

A growing number of inventors are patenting strategies that could save you money on your taxes. And if you use one without permission? Well, that's called patent infringement. Janet Babin reports.

Economist and commentator Susan Lee says dumping the Alternative Minimum Tax is a mistake. She argues we'd be much better off embracing the tax everyone loves to hate and making it universal.

From beard taxes to yachts, history teaches that you never can tell how people will respond when you find a new way to tax them. Except that some of them will find some way to avoid paying it.