Comments on: a spanner in the works http://www.chuckler.org/blog/2008/05/28/a-spanner-in-the-works/ the ramblings of a time-wasting buffoon Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:04:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Chuckler http://www.chuckler.org/blog/2008/05/28/a-spanner-in-the-works/#comment-1304 Chuckler Wed, 28 May 2008 23:51:17 +0000 http://www.chuckler.org/blog/?p=1228#comment-1304 Hi Karl, Thanks for visiting. You're right of course, and several times while I was writing this I had to rewrite entire paragraphs to make it vague enough to be (hopefully?) believable. Also, I had no real knowledge of American taxation laws so I fudged a lot of that part as well. Hope you enjoyed it! Hi Karl,

Thanks for visiting. You’re right of course, and several times while I was writing this I had to rewrite entire paragraphs to make it vague enough to be (hopefully?) believable. Also, I had no real knowledge of American taxation laws so I fudged a lot of that part as well.

Hope you enjoyed it!

]]> By: K. Temple http://www.chuckler.org/blog/2008/05/28/a-spanner-in-the-works/#comment-1303 K. Temple Wed, 28 May 2008 13:50:32 +0000 http://www.chuckler.org/blog/?p=1228#comment-1303 Actually, even if he never got caught, he didn't "score" anything other than an instance of attempted credit card fraud, a breach of contract with his credit card merchant account provider, and several counts of federal tax fraud. There's no loophole here. He just broke the law. He could have saved some time and skipped the credit card transaction and chargeback all together. There was no business transaction, so there was no effect on the taxability of the business. The fact is, he still owes tax on the income. Interestingly, the author seems to understand this but chooses not to let the facts get in the way of a good 'urban legend in the making' when he writes "If he’d sold his stock legitimately, at least forty percent would’ve been whittled away by the government, the bank, the IRS." Of course, the author should also check in with him after a few months and ask how his internet business is going if he is no longer accepting credit cards. Good luck with managing the cost of payments and bad debt. Accepting credit cards has a cost because the service provides a value. If it didn't, credit cards wouldn't exist. It's basic economics. Actually, even if he never got caught, he didn’t “score” anything other than an instance of attempted credit card fraud, a breach of contract with his credit card merchant account provider, and several counts of federal tax fraud. There’s no loophole here. He just broke the law. He could have saved some time and skipped the credit card transaction and chargeback all together. There was no business transaction, so there was no effect on the taxability of the business. The fact is, he still owes tax on the income. Interestingly, the author seems to understand this but chooses not to let the facts get in the way of a good ‘urban legend in the making’ when he writes “If he’d sold his stock legitimately, at least forty percent would’ve been whittled away by the government, the bank, the IRS.” Of course, the author should also check in with him after a few months and ask how his internet business is going if he is no longer accepting credit cards. Good luck with managing the cost of payments and bad debt. Accepting credit cards has a cost because the service provides a value. If it didn’t, credit cards wouldn’t exist. It’s basic economics.

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