The McTexLaw Email Alert for October, 2003
| Last month, I made two trips to Austin to speak at continuing education seminars. One of those was a television broadcast, which was my first time to go through make-up and wardrobe check, etc. It was a most interesting experience talking to a camera with no live audience whatsoever. I asked the producer if they could add a laugh track at the appropriate moments and they promised they’d get that capability for my next TV presentation. In all, I spoke to over 1,500 lawyers about the new laws affecting Texas real estate. But now after a month off from writing this newsletter, it’s back to business, and so in this issue we look at the most important new state tax law affecting your business, the true cost of Cuban cigars, and the Texas Supreme Court decision that is driving an overhaul of the entire ad valorem tax system. New on The McTexLaw Business Owner’s Resource Center:
New on The McTexLaw Commercial Real Estate Resource Center:
WATCHING YOUR FUTURE GO UP IN SMOKE Pity the poor Zachary Sanders of Portland, Oregon. Or maybe the residents of the State of Nu Yauk. Somewhere along the way, Sanders decided to be a lawyer when he grew up. For good or bad, he certainly gave himself enough opportunities to practice his skills of argument as he aged. When he was only 14, he was picked up for violating curfew. He claimed he was stopped because his companion was black, that the stop was all about police racism. Never mind that the police were right about his curfew violation. In high school, he helped teach Hispanic immigrants the English language, but he was dropped from the program after tutoring a female student outside of class. His explanation? “I didn’t know until later that the girl considered me her boyfriend.” Yeah, right. In college, he was charged with carrying an open container of alcohol, leading to a fine. His explanation? It was just a “boda bag” and he didn’t think it constituted an “open container” under the statute. After graduating from college, he lived in Queretaro, Mexico, where he was a part-time English teacher. In May of 1998, while living in Mexico, he made a trip to Cuba, returning by way of the Bahamas. Problem was, while in Cuba, Sanders bought a box of Cuban cigars, clear evidence that he was there. Bigger problem–U.S. Customs decided he was “it” for a random bag search, and found the cigars. And his biggest problem of that trip? Lying about his whereabouts until confronted with the tobacco. And the government wasn’t through with our Mr. Sanders, either. The U.S. Dept. of Treasury sent Sanders a letter requesting additional information about this trip. Ignoring the letter, Treasury fined Sanders $10,000, a fine he didn’t bother making any attempt to pay. In August of 1988, he began law school. But failing to respect history, he doomed himself to repeat it. Yes, I mean to tell you that he tripped out to Cuba again in 2000, between law school year 2 and year 3. This time he toured via Canada. And again he was searched on the way back in, where a box of Cuban cigars were found. At least he was consistent, because he again denied going to Cuba until confronted with the loot. This time, he was fined $100 on the spot. I guess Canada doesn’t have anything like our 5th Amendment. In July of 2001, he sat for–and passed–the Nu Joisey bar exam. While you may think he had now gotten the Cuba thing out of his system, or at least had gotten the law fined into his system, not so for our clever Mr. Sanders. No, in August of 2001, he made a third fateful trip to that fair Island paradise known to many as “Cooba.” The difference was this time he didn’t contribute as much to the gross domestic product of Cuba, failing to bring any cigars back home. Now, for you non-lawyers, passing the bar exam is only one component of what is required to get your law license. For example, candidates have to be fingerprinted and have the prints run by law enforcement. And in Nu Joisey, candidates also have to somehow “prove” they possess a particularly acceptable moral character. Hence the problem for our young Mr. Sanders, explaining all of the above incidences away in order to “prove” he was now worthy of a law license, or somehow convincing the Committee on Character that he was now a different person, along with the requisite amount of remorse. “I messed up, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.” How hard could that be? Impossible, as it turns out. Rejecting the opportunity to hire counsel to represent him, and thus representing himself, here are his own words:
“Civil disobedience”? Yep, that was the best explanation he could come up with for those trips to Cuba. Well, that plus his “sincere desire to see a country which has chosen to organize itself around socialist principles first hand.” Proof positive all over again that he who represents himself has a fool for a client. And up in cigar smoke went his chances to obtain a license to practice law in Nu Joisey as they denied his application. What was our fair Mr. Sanders to do? Where could he go and foist his obvious talent for argument on an unsuspecting public? Nu Yauk. He not only passed the Nu Yauk bar exam in the same year he passed the Nu Joisey exam, he also satisfied all other Nu Yauk requirements to get his law license. Last heard from he was living in Broklyn while working at a non-profit law firm in Manhattan. No word on any further trips to Cooba. NEW WAY TO GET AN EIN The IRS continues to tinker with how they assign EINs. As of October 1, 2003, the distinct “EIN hotline assignment” phone number was disconnected. Taxpayers needing an EIN now should use either the new business and specialty tax line, 1-800-829-4933, or the new on-line EIN Internet application, at http://www.irs.gov. Hours for this new speciality tax line are Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. On-line application is of course open 24/7, assuming the website is up and operating. REFERRAL NETWORKS Your new client referrals are a big part of our continued success, and the same is true about this newsletter. Please take a moment to think about friends and colleagues you know who might enjoy receiving our Email Alerts and forward this to them. Individual subscription information is below. ARCHIVES This Email Alert and all prior McTexLaw Email Alerts, are archived at www.mctexlaw.com/emailalerts.asp for your convenience. Feel free to browse through any newsletters you may have missed. SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT
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