Tax Myth-Killers
Popular tax claims tested against the actual law. Each page quotes or cites the controlling IRC section, Treasury regulation, Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) provision, or court decision, and explains what to do instead.
Legend: 🟢 generally available / true · 🟡 depends on your facts / partly true · 🔴 high-risk / false. Reviewed by Ebot Mbi, CPA, EA.
Also see: Tax Strategy Library · IRS Notice Library
All myths, A–Z
- Are IRS Audit Technique Guides binding law?
- Are sugar baby payments tax-free gifts?
- Are there secret tax laws only insiders know?
- Can a 30-second video clip be my tax advisor?
- Can a newborn be an employee for tax purposes?
- Can a trust make my income tax-free?
- Can content creators write off everything that appears in their videos?
- Can I count beach days as business days on a work trip?
- Can I deduct anything I put in my videos?
- Can I deduct manicures because clients see me?
- Can I hire my newborn and deduct the salary?
- Can I just call myself a church to avoid taxes?
- Can I just rename an expense to write it off?
- Can I just sign my tax return without questioning it?
- Can I lower my taxes by paying my kids?
- Can I put my kid on payroll to lower my taxes?
- Can I put my newborn on payroll?
- Can I rebuild my real estate hours during an audit?
- Can I use passive losses by renting my building to my own business?
- Can I write off 100% of my car?
- Can I write off my lunch every workday?
- Can I write off my Rolex as a business expense?
- Can I write off my yacht?
- Can my CPA make any tax problem disappear?
- Can putting my business income in a trust make the taxes disappear?
- Can the IRS audit me forever?
- Can the right trust make my income vanish for tax purposes?
- Can you avoid tax when buying a car?
- Can you make a vacation a business expense?
- Can you outsmart the IRS?
- Can you really write off your daily meals?
- Can you sell an abusive tax shelter without penalties?
- Can you write off clothing and items associated with your brand?
- Can you write off Louis Vuitton or other designer items?
- Do credentials really matter when taking tax advice?
- Do vehicles over 6,000 pounds get a full write-off?
- Does "buy, borrow, die" really avoid all tax?
- Does "my accountant said it was fine" protect me from the IRS?
- Does a living trust give my house tax benefits?
- Does a tax hack work if nobody can cite the law behind it?
- Does a yacht really save $120,000 in taxes?
- Does an LLC give you tax benefits for real estate?
- Does calling it a business expense make it deductible?
- Does calling it a church erase the tax?
- Does crossing 6,000 pounds mean a full vehicle write-off?
- Does drive time count toward real estate professional hours?
- Does leasing a car make it a tax write-off?
- Does my accountant's mistake shield me from the IRS?
- Does my personal brand make my haircuts tax-deductible?
- Does my Rolex write off because clients see it?
- Does owning rentals make me a real estate professional?
- Does the Augusta Rule make rental income tax-free automatically?
- Does the IRS really check the dependents I claim?
- Does this viral tax trick actually work?
- Is "clever paperwork" a real tax strategy?
- Is a side-by-side UTV an automatic business write-off?
- Is an SUV over 6,000 pounds automatically a full write-off?
- Is every rental fix an instant write-off?
- Is every work trip a tax write-off?
- Is that viral tax hack clever planning, or is it tax fraud?
- Is there a secret California state tax break?
- Is this $30,000 tax trick real?
- Is this just aggressive tax planning, or is it evasion?
- Is whatever an IRS agent tells me the law?
- Should I trust someone who says they read the tax code for me?
- Should you sell your house to your kids for a tax loss?
- What does the IRS actually look for when it selects returns for audit?
- Will the IRS reimburse me if it accuses me falsely?