Funny Money Friday: Weird Tax Rules

Money doesn't have to be boring! Each week, CreditBloggers.com takes a look at the lighter side of the personal finance world in a series called Funny Money Friday.

Ugg...it's tax time. I finished my filings a few months ago and have already gone through the five stages of grief for the big checks I sent to the IRS. My fiance always waits until the last minute, though, and is going through the stress of decoding tax rules this week.

There are some real gems hidden in the 295-page Federal Income Tax handbook (pdf). One of my favorites is the Other Income section that instructs you to declare:

• Page 87 - "If you receive a bribe, include it in your income." Exactly how would this work?
  
• Page 89 - "Illegal income, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity" I'm sure my local meth dealer will get right on that, Uncle Sam.
• Page 90 - "If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal unless in the same year, you return it to its rightful owner." Are there actually criminals out there stupid enough to go for this?

Good luck with your taxes this weekend! If you find any other funny tax rules, post them in the comments section below. Happy Friday!

Comments

[Jim G]

I got my refund today from Uncle Sam. Nothing like getting the money I already made paid back in one lump sum. I ended up having to pay more to the state but that's not all that bad.

Bottom of page 247: Credit for Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid. I no longer had paper copies of my phone bills so I just took the standard deduction which was around $40 bucks. I think this had something to do with a phone tax that has been collected to pay for a war over a century ago. Learn something new every year.