Tax Chats

Send us a textIn this episode, Marna Ricker, Global Vice Chair -- Tax at EY joins us from the Milken Institute Global Conference 2003 to discuss the global tax landscape. We get Marna's perspective on the OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, the TCJA, and how AI might affect the world of tax practice.

Send us a textWe chat with Morris Pearl, Chairman of the Board of Patriotic Millionaires, an organization of millionaires who, among other policy objectives, are advocating to alter the tax system so that the rich pay more in tax.

Send us a text

Send us a textWe chat with Silencer Central CEO Brandon Maddox about the excise tax stamp on firearm suppressors, which is a $200 federal tax introduced as part of the 1934 National Firearms Act., which is part of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC § 5801 – 5872). We discuss the origins of the tax, its purpose, and how it is implemented today. We discuss the formation of so-called "gun trusts" as legal entities to purchase suppressors. 

Send us a textScott and Jeff chat with Jay Zagorsky from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University about his experience trying to pay his tax bill with cash. We discuss the complexities of paying with cash, and the costs that might be incurred if one does not have access to the traditional banking system. Jay wrote about his article here:Can you pay your taxes with cash? One economist did | Fortune

Send us a textStarbucks is piloting a reward program called Odyssey in which members get rewarded with NFTs. We discuss the possible tax consequences to Starbucks and its customers. We also discuss the issues surrounding taxation of NFTs in general.

Send us a textIn "The Wealth of Nations",  Book V, Chapter ii, Adam Smith lays out some fundamental principles of taxation. We discuss some of those principles, and describe how they are still being applied today.

Send us a textScott and Jeff chat with Sir Andrew Dilnot, currently serving of Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, about his experience evaluating bias in the BBC's coverage of tax-related topics. We discuss the complications reporters face when covering complex economic issues. We review the findings of his recent report entitled "Review of the impartiality of BBC coverage of taxation, public spending, government borrowing and debt."

Send us a textJeff asks ChatGPT a series of tax-related questions, and Scott evaluates the answers.

Send us a textWe chat with James Wetzler about the time a legislative mistake accidentally abolished the corporate tax in 1975. This leads to other discussions, including when the New York State Tax Authorities tried to impose sales tax on a kids lemonade stand, the dilemma that arose when the tax authorities seized pornographic videos from a delinquent taxpayer, and the strange situation where an IRS auditor uncovered evidence of a murder.Near the end, we also briefly discuss the deterrent effect of the new excise tax on share repurchases.