Taxes

Comptroller: Pearl Bar Owes More Than $40K in Taxes

According to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts' office, Pearl Bar owes more than $40,000 in mixed-beverage and franchise taxes, and agents confiscated some cash as part of a "limited seizure" operation at the Washington Avenue bar this past Saturday evening. A lien has also been filed against ... More >>

The Top Ten Most Corrupt Tax Breaks

Did you know Apple Inc. was Irish? Did you know the mortgage interest deduction can be applied to yachts? Big million dollar yachts? Or that even though the five biggest oil companies made a collective $137 billion in revenue last year, they also got $20 billion in tax breaks? A year ago Citize ... More >>

Tax Day: The 5 Best Things About It

Tomorrow is deadline day for filing your federal income taxes. Normally, that's a terrible thing. No one except Warren Buffett is eager to pay taxes. And it's worse for us members of the hoi polloi, for while we're handing over a big chunk of our wages, we do it knowing some one-percenter member of ... More >>

Taqueria Arandas Owner Gets Year in Prison on Tax Charges

Jesus Huerta, the owner of two Taqueria Arandas restaurants in Houston, has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for filing false tax returns that underestimated income by $4.6 million over five years. Huerta was also ordered to pay $543,646 in restitution; he's already repaid $276 ... More >>

HISD Joins the Lawsuit Against State's Educational Funding Plan

Taking it to the courthouse.​The Houston school board voted unanimously this morning (with four absentees) to join the burgeoning lawsuit against Rick Perry's latest funding scheme for public education, which cuts $5 billion over the next two years. HISD's state funding was cut $78 million th ... More >>

Christian Lopez, Overtaxed Yankee Fan, The Sequel (Where He Becomes A Charity)

Christian Lopez: Now sponsored by the champagne of bottled beers​That's it, you win, Christian Lopez. I give up. You all remember, Christian Lopez, right? (It's only been like 24 hours since I last wrote about him. Please tell me you remember.) Just in case, Lopez was the ample Yankee fan wh ... More >>

Protest Your Drainage Fee Via the World's Most Boring How-To Video

The city has announced the procedures it will use to hear protests over assessed drainage fees, and they look like they're about as much fun as protesting your property tax assessment. Worse, they involve watching the above, five and a half minutes of instruction on how to use the "You think you ca ... More >>

Jimmy Mitlo: Incredibly Successful Machine Repairman Gets Two Years. Owes IRS $550,000

Repairmen just don't rock the cool hats anymore.​Jimmy Mitlo is one industrious guy, but he's going to have a lot of time on his hands pretty soon. He'll be in a federal prison, perhaps contemplating how he's going to come up with the $550,000 he needs to reimburse the IRS for unpaid taxes. ... More >>

Sherwood Oaks Eyesore: Owners Aren't Talking

Welcome to Sherwood Oaks​We were intrigued by reporter Emily Akin's story on a long-vacant Sherwood Oaks strip mall that residents say is an unwelcome hangout for vandals and crackheads -- intrigued mostly because her story stated that "it's unclear who owns the property since the owner on rec ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Back to the `50s, But All The Way

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Celebrity Tax Cheats: Five Pieces of Crap Produced to Pay the IRS

Tax time is looming, and even though you get a weekend reprieve this year -- the deadline is April 18, not the 15th, because of an obscure Washington, D.C. holiday -- you'd no doubt like to skip the whole thing altogether. Some famous people have taken that same route. Unfortunately for them, they ... More >>

Sheila Jackson Lee is Fasting for a Budget Deal

Fasting for a "moral budget"​You probably didn't know that people are fasting as a call for a fair budget deal in Congress. Among them: our own Sheila Jackson Lee. (We didn't know of the fast until we read about it in the Houston Chronicle's religion blog.) We cannot begin to imagine what so ... More >>

Higher Taxes, Fewer Teachers: HISD Readies Itself for a Tough Sell

Margaret DowningTerry Grier and the board face tough financial decisions​Higher taxes, a sweeping change in bus times, a cut in the number of police officers in the schools and an end to special school adjustments that for the noted T.H. Rogers elementary and middle school alone would mean a l ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Justin Bieber, Political Sage

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Curtis Doss: Tax Collector Pleads Guilty To Misusing Public Funds, Keeps Job

No, it was the OTHER elected position I misapplied funds in​Curtis Doss is the Tax Collector of Burleson County. Curtis Doss pleaded guilty last week to misapplying public funds. Curtis Doss will not be losing his job as Tax Collector of Burleson County. Why? The wily Doss misused public fu ... More >>

Harris County Tax Rate: Shockingly, No Increase In An Election Year

Renovated courthouse to open in August​Harris County's mid-year budget review is out, and it recommends no change in the tax rate from what it has been since 2007.There will be a little juggling involved: the tax rates for the port and the flood control and hospital district will go up, while the ... More >>

Two-Thirds Of Texans Blow Off Church; Even More Don't Want No "Social Justice" With Their Religion, Thank You

Two-thirds of those polled knew who this guy was?​The latest UT/Texas Tribune poll shows some stuff to give Democrats hope (Rick Perry polling at his usual 39 percent, etc.), but there are also some interesting things in the throw-away questions on the survey.UT/TT polled 800 registered voters, an ... More >>

Rick Perry & Bill White: Midnight Is Nigh In The Great (And Silly) Deadline For Debates

Debates over debates are so fun​The finger-pointing continued Wednesday as the great gubernatorial debate over who's at fault for not having a gubernatorial debate came to Houston.Republican Governor Rick Perry has given Democrat candidate Bill White until midnight tonight to release tax returns f ... More >>

Game Time: George Steinbrenner's Death Raises Anxiety of Billionaires

You may be rich, but your heirs may be dangerous come December​If you're one of those people that has tried a thousand different ways to take off weight, somewhere along the way you've probably tried Bill Phillips "Body For Life" program. It's a pretty popular one because (a) it works and (b) it ... More >>

City Budget Includes Getting More Bucks From Metro

​In the mayor's proposed budget, released earlier this week, Metro is on the hook for almost twice as much money than it had to pay the city in previous years.The money comes from an agreement that gives the city a portion of Metro's sales tax revenues, and the city used the money for building and ... More >>

Gimme (A Tax) Shelter

​Even if Uncle Sam took a great big bite out of your wallet this year, there are still ways to enjoy a good meal today -- several, in fact -- thanks to local restaurants taking advantage of your newfound poverty to offer free or reduced-price goodies today. It's like a crack dealer giving you ... More >>

Texas Salutes You, Mr. (or Ms.) Beer Drinker!

Photo courtesy of Randy OHCWhy do we salute you?  Because your enjoyment of a cold mug of suds has contributed $16 billion to the Texas economy in the last year, far more than our budding entertainment industry (only $409 million), and provided over 78,000 jobs at breweries and distribut ... More >>

People Rich Enough To Own Boats Find It Easy To Evade Taxes

Galveston County is getting screwed out of about $33,000 in property taxes from a League City marina. The county knows about it, but doesn't seem to care. On the Wharf Marina web site, it says plain as day (if you don't take into account spelling and grammatical errors) that wet slip owners "must pa ... More >>

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Sugar Land, Missouri City Get Into The Entertainment Business

Taqueria Arandas Offers Tax Fraud On The Side (Allegedly)

Taqueria Arandas Offers Tax Fraud On The Side (Allegedly)

Mexican-American Culture

Passing a Buck to the Smokers

Holiday Spirit

A real-life Christmas move in Kemah

Political Identity Crisis

Ronald Green's the only black Democrat left on the city ballot. Or is he?

Food Fight Indigestion

A losing lobbyist claims a councilman switched after failing to get his pals in on the deal

More District D Footprints

Airing out Darryl Carter's dirty laundry, with the help of Womack's campaign

NoDo Invades; Rebels Skirmish

A downtown taxing zone flushes the Warehouse District from its quaint quarters

Best Gadfly

Dan Hart

Officials Probe Refund Collector

Dallas CPA failed to use required disclaimers in collecting a quarter-million dollars

The Vulture Factor

Officials ought to do more to protect the elderly from tax schemes

Letters

From the week of February 03, 2000

Doug's Deals

Real estate consultant Williams continues to serve two masters

Ad Nauseam

Despite what the campaign says, that new arena will cost plenty

Trash Talk

Condo groups want the mayor to pay up on a campaign promise

Striking Out

Reid Ryan embarked on a new career as a team owner facing one big obstacle: voter approval of a new stadium. Then he called in a campaigner with the perfect pitch: a father named Nolan.

Raising a Red Flag

Former Bellaire High School student shakes things up in the Capitol

Embarrassing Little Secrets of Hotel Six

Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You ...

Tales From the IRS

Three stories of taxman terror

Sweet Deal

Why did county commissioners agree to subsidize a swanky golf resort that will benefit a wealthy Harris County developer?

Midtown Jamboree

Why let a few conflicts of interest get in the way of a grand redevelopment scheme?

Stadia Watch

The Rule of Men, Not Law

Who gave Lanier & Co. permission to loot Metro? They did.

Term limits and a domineering mayor have combined to make the City Council little more than a rubber stamp. And Houston may pay dearly for that down the line.