Fun Tax Facts
We understand at Poe Group Advisors how grueling tax season can be for Accountants. We thought we would give you a brief respite and try and make you smile with some interesting and fun tax facts. Enjoy!
- In Texas, cowboy boots are exempt from the sales tax, but hiking boots are not.
- In South Carolina, one can get a $50 deduction if they donate a dead deer to the poor.
- People who were persecuted by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923 were exempt from taxes in California.
- In Minnesota a drug dealer argued that he should be able to deduct a significant amount of the back taxes as business costs incurred by running his business from his home. He managed to get a deduction, but still went to jail for drug possession.
- In Germany, one can deduct bribes. While the deduction is seldom used, it does exist as part of the tax code. All one has to do to report it is disclose their name and the name of the official that they bribed.
- Canadian tax filers can claim credits for more than one spouse. While technically defensible under tax laws, sections 290 and 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada ban bigamy and polygamy.
- Americans spend 7.6 billion hours each year doing their taxes.
- Roman emperor Vespasian placed a tax on urine in the 1st century A.D. Urine at that time was collected and used as a source of ammonia for tanning hides and laundering garments.
- Russian Emperor Peter the Great placed a tax on beards in 1705. He hoped that the tax would encourage men to have a clean-shaven look that was popular in Western Europe.
- It is estimated that the collective cost of tax evasion over the last 10 years in the United States equals approximately $3.09 billion.
- According to Money Magazine, when nearly 50 tax professionals and accountants were asked to complete the same tax return for a single family, they came up with nearly 50 different answers.
“Like mothers, taxes are often misunderstood, but seldom forgotten.” –Lord Bramwell, 19th Century English jurist
About the author: Stephanie Smith is a Senior Accounting Practice Intermediary with Poe Group Advisors.
