Taxable Talk

...in jail.

After having been gone for just under a week, I must thank Roth Tax Updates for the first of a few gems. It seems that Lynne Meredith received 121 months (10 years and a month) for conspiring to defraud the IRS. The Los Angeles Times details the story here (one-time registration required). In her book, How to Cook a Vulture, she stated that she could show people how to get the IRS to write you a letter that you didn't have to pay taxes.

It didn't work.

But Ms. Meredith won't have to pay taxes in upcoming years. She'll be making sub-minimum wage in a Federal penitentiary.

Ok, what does that have to do with tax?

That's what I was thinking when I read this article (one-time registration required). Restaurateur Neil Stein plead guilty yesterday to federal tax fraud charges and will likely receive a term of 12 to 30 months in prison.

Mr. Stein apparently skimmed upwards of $450,000 from his restaurants (including Rouge and Bleu) while reporting just over $100,000 in salary. Unfortunately, spending $65,000 on his daughter's wedding while earning just over $100,000 made his conspicuous consumption just a bit too visible.

As to the quote, that's right from the article. While Mr. Stein may now be clean from drugs and alcohol, he'll apparently have some free time on his hands to contemplate the past.