TaxCure Blog

If you are fortunate enough to have received a full or partial scholarship to use toward your educational studies, it is important for you to be aware that you may be taxed on some or all of the money that you receive. Depending on what the scholarship money is spent on or used for, the IRS may very likely classify the funds as taxable income. If you have received a scholarship, you will want to carefully determine whether or not the money you received needs to be claimed on your end-of-year tax return.

Former NBA player Latrell Sprewell once secured the number one spot on a list of Wisconsin’s top 100 delinquent taxpayers. Sprewell’s NBA career famously ended in 2005 after he scoffed at a three-year, $21 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, publicly stating that the money offered would not be enough to feed his family. Now, the Wisconsin native owes more than $3.5 million in state back taxes.

Christian Lopez, a 23-year-old from Highland Mills, NY, caught Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit home run ball. Instead of selling the ball – as many others in similar situations have done in the past – or holding on to the ball as a keepsake, Lopez chose a much more generous route: he gave the ball back, no strings attached. His selflessness will now be rewarded with the warm feeling of giving, several luxury box tickets and some autographed Yankees memorabilia – and a tax bill exceeding $10K.

Protestors from the direct action group Art Uncut crashed U2’s long-awaited headline performance at the Glastonbury Festival this past Friday, June 24th.  A group comprised of artists and musicians, Art Uncut organizes creative events in opposition to major public service cuts – which involve music, comedy and short talks – in order to inform, inspire and motivate the public to action.

It sounds like something out of a bad dream. You file your taxes and happily anticipate a refund. You start thinking of all the things you’ll do with that money…buy a new couch, pay off that credit card, or take a mini-vacation. But day after day, your refund fails to arrive. Finally, you check its status and are horrified to discover that your entire refund has been seized by the IRS or another government agency. You might even have your state tax refund seized! How do you know when your refund might be taken?