♦  Another celebrity with tax problems:  “William Shakespeare was a ‘ruthless businessman’ and tax dodger, researchers have claimed. Although he wrote plays that championed the rights of the poor and the needy, archived documents show the playwright was actually a wealthy landowner repeatedly dragged before the courts and fined for illegally stockpiling food and threatened with jail for evading taxes.” Daily Mail, 3-31-13

♦  What I do resent are stupid tax forms that are badly written and impossible to understand. I hope the IRS agent looking at my tax return understands I’m just kidding. Andy Rooney, Commentator on CBS 60 Minutes

♦  All Israel was “dismayed and terrified” [at Goliath’s challenge] and, not surprisingly, there were no volunteers until the young harpist and poet, David, stepped forward. Now why would he be that foolish? Because Saul promised that the man who slays Goliath will receive riches, the king’s daughter, and exemption from all taxes! “Riches” is a relative term that could mean anything, and we all know that most women were virtually chattel, a dime a dozen, in the Bible, so it had to be the tax exemption that drove David to risk his life! –Conrad Rosenberg

♦  Most of us treat the Internal Revenue Service as if it were an ancient and powerful god. We pay tribute through payroll deduction. We perform the annual ritual of the tax forms. We bring forth sacrifices and homage on its chosen day of April 15. We dread provoking its wrath. Jim Gallagher ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 2-14-10

♦  The first income tax law of the American century was only fourteen pages long, but it contained enough exceptions and exemptions, loopholes and inconsistencies to keep top notch accountants capably employed. (Shelley L. Davis)

♦  A tax attorney defended case of tax evasion for an affluent client. He devoted over a year to the case, familiarizing himself with every loophole and angle of current legislation, and made a brilliant argument before the court. His client was called out of town when the jury returned with its verdict, a sweeping victory for his client on every count. Flushed with victory, the lawyer exuberantly sent an email to his client, “Justice has triumphed!”  The client immediately emailed back, “Appeal at once!”