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Who says teachers don't prepare for the new school year? One Day More

H-m-m. I would have thought that the use of the words "might", 'if, "could", and the general context of the conversation make it clear that this is speculative. Guess I need to hone up on my writing skills,. Or I could ignore the noise and not waste time trying to reduce all my thoughts to the lowest common denominator.

Mystic Pizza Owner Gets Prison Sentence for Tax Evasion The owner of Mystic Pizza, the Connecticut pizzeria made famous by the 1988 Julia Roberts movie of the same name, has been sentenced to over a year in prison on charges of tax evasion and structuring cash transactions. John Zelepos, 49, of North Stonington, Conn., was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for tax evasion and structuring cash transactions. Zelepos also was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, forfeit more than $500,000, and pay back taxes with interest and penalties. Zelepos is the sole owner of Mystic Pizza, LLC, a Schedule C retail restaurant business in Mystic, Conn. From 2006 to 2010, he allegedly diverted approximately $567,435 in cash from Mystic Pizza’s gross receipts, approximately $330,005 of which was deposited into his personal bank account, his and his wife’s personal checking account, his wife’s personal checking account and passbook savings accounts in the name of each of his three minor children, according to prosecutors. During the same time period, Zelepos caused Mystic Pizza to pay a total of $162,168 to two “no-show” employees who performed no work for the restaurant. He then deducted the wages as expenses on his tax return’s Schedule C for Mystic Pizza. Prosecutors claimed Zelepos failed to disclose to his tax return preparer receipt of the diverted cash and the two no-show employees. Based on this conduct, the federal tax loss for 2006 to 2010 was $234,407. Zelepos has paid restitution in that amount, but still is required to pay interest and substantial penalties. Zelepos also intentionally structured financial transactions to avoid having the bank file Currency Transaction Reports, according to prosecutors. Federal law requires all financial institutions to file a CTR for currency transactions that exceed $10,000. To evade the filing of a CTR, individuals will often structure their currency transactions so that no single transaction exceeds $10,000. Structuring involves the repeated depositing of amounts of cash less than the $10,000 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements. Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law. Structured funds are subject to forfeiture to the United States. Between January 2010 and January 2011, Zelepos engaged in 61 currency transactions in amounts less than $10,000, depositing a total of $522,658 into the business account, his personal account, his and wife’s personal bank account, and his three children’s bank accounts in amounts ranging from $3,000 to $9,998. The cash deposits were made on sequential days, or multiple cash deposits were made on the same day. Prosecutors said Zelepos knew the bank was required to issue a report for a currency transaction in excess of $10,000 and by conducting his financial transactions in amounts less than $10,000 he intended to evade the transaction reporting requirements. Zelepos was ordered to forfeit $522,658 as a result of his illegal structuring. On January 2012, pursuant to a court-authorized federal seizure warrant, the IRS seized $63,084.49 from a payroll account Mystic Pizza held at Chelsea Groton Bank. Those funds are being applied to the forfeiture, reducing the remaining forfeiture amount to $459,573.51. On March 31 of this year, Zelepos waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and one count of structuring financial transactions. He was ordered to report to prison.

Thanks Catherine. Now the universe is back in balance.

I loved both of these! I'd seen the Aging one before but this was so timely today. My husband's 65th birthday is next month so I want to have this ready to run when we gather for the singing thing. I decided to have a picnic buffet at home so this is perfect! We recently attended a 50th party that involved a scavenger hunt for the brought gifts. First time for me but so fun. Great idea to share the other one with teachers. How wonderful to see the creativity of so many folks!

Now I'm Hungry............

SaraEA, so sorry you couldn't see the link. It shows the cat totally ignoring the cat door, reaching up to the regular door handle (lever style), opening it and strolling right in. Should your cat be so talented, the cat door would not be a luxury but an unnecessary nuisance. It would probably just serve to obstruct entry with the recent catch. I have one indoor cat with access to an enclosure outdoors and one semi outdoor cat. He's older now and prefers to stay in about 20 hours a day, sleeping for 22 of those. He hasn't brought in take out but did upchuck some chipmunk size bones once. When he goes, no more outdoor cats for me!

Thanks for posting this, Catherine. I enjoyed this so much that I had to share it with my friends that teach.

It might be easier than it first appears if they just go for the low-hanging fruit. They know when the taxpayerr reaches 70, and they have the 5498's each year. So beginnning at 71, the computer could just generate a CP notice for anyone who doesn't report a distribution, leaving it up to the taxpayer to prove there is basis or that it's a Roth. More or less how they handle 1099-B presently. There will be plenty of people who will just pay up and hope the problem goes away.

My trainer:

My understanding is that children's SS numbers fetch a lot more money on the underground websites than adults' numbers because they are useful for much longer. Someone opens a credit card under your name and number and you'll find out about it when you apply for a car loan and learn your credit is shot. A four year old isn't going to apply for a car loan or credit card for 15 years. Sounds like this crook got greedy and filed a tax return with that valuable info, ruining his or her chances of getting a mortgage, credit, health insurance, a job using the victim's info for years to come. Agree, your only choice is to file a paper return. Hopefully the ID theft unit will contact the taxpayer (someday). The parents should file a police report and a complaint with the FTC like adult victims of ID theft are supposed to.

Adding to the above, it's separate for each account because the beneficiaries can vary and might not be the same for all of the IRAs that the account holder has, and so the life expectancy and table used to calc the RMD may vary from one IRA to the next. Choose the life expectancy table to use based on your situation. Joint and Last Survivor Table - use this if the sole beneficiary of the account is your spouse and your spouse is more than 10 years younger than youUniform Lifetime Table - use this if your spouse is not your sole beneficiary or your spouse is not more than 10 years youngerSingle Life Expectancy Table - use this if you are a beneficiary of an account (an inherited IRA)

Was the child used as a dependent ? If so just file paper return. I have several situations like that every year. If the social was used as a taxpayer than that is identity theft.