Transcript
October 31, 2011. Section 165 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code allows taxpayers to claim a deduction for losses. Taxpayers may claim deductions for personal casualty losses, or "losses of property not connected with a trade or business or a transaction entered into for profit, if such losses arise from fire, storm, shipwreck, or other casualty, or from theft," only to the extent that such losses exceed $100 and 10% of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income.
No such restriction exists for business losses.
A note on cats: A professor I knew had several pet cats. I once asked him why he had so many cats. He responded, "Cats are evil and selfish. And I teach tax law."
Thanks to Ash for pointing me in the direction of the original Business Cat.
Meow Meow Mafia
Brown Rabbit dons a green eyeshade at the Law School Tax Clinic.
A dim yellow light is perched overhead.
Shadowy Character (off-panel): Mr. Rabbit?
Brown Rabbit: Yes?
End of panel.
Two yellow eyes glow in the darkness of a doorframe.
Shadowy Figure: I have a tax issue arising from ...
an associate of mine who recently
sank to the bottom of the ocean.
Brown Rabbit (off-panel): I'm sorry to hear that.
Shadowy Figure: I'm not.
End of panel.
Shadowy Figure (off-panel): She was a liar and a thief.
She burglarized my home.
Shadowy Figure (off-panel): And she took the secret of
where she hid her ill-gotten
gains to her watery grave.
Cut to image of a bunny with concrete shoes swimming with the fishes.
End of panel.
The figure hands over a Form 1040 for the couple of James Meowreth and Susan Gatto.
Their address is "Old Cardboard Box by the Fence, Unit 12, Bunkley, CA 94720".
Author's note: I was this close to making them reside in "Oh-hai-yo".
Shadowy Figure: So as it is, I wish to amend my tax
return and deduct the $10,000 in
stolen goods I will never recover.
Brown Rabbit (off-panel): Do you have any other losses?
Shadowy Figure: No.
End of panel.
Brown Rabbit: You're out of luck then. Your
adjusted gross income is more
than $100,000, and you can only
deduct a personal casualty loss--
Shadowy Figure (off-panel): Personal?
End of panel.
Shadowy Figure: It's never personal, Mr. Rabbit.
The shadowy figure steps into the light, revealing himself to be a cat with a yellow tie.
Shadowy Figure: I'm a Business Cat.
End of comic.
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