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MARCH 2025 VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3
TOPH’S TAX RESOLUTION TIMES
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CHASING RAINBOWS Toph’s Quest: Better Work-Life Balance
“Daddy’s home!”
That’s what I hear when I walk in the door after work every evening, and it’s great. I’m met by six kids who are excited to see me! Ashley and I have been very blessed with each and every one of them. But then, they each want attention. They are jumping all over me and wanting to tell me about their day. With six kids between the ages of 1 and 10, moving from work to home can be hard to manage. I struggle constantly with trying to gain some semblance of work-life balance and being as engaged at home as I want to be. A bestselling author advises parents to spend less time on what seems urgent (like work) and more time on what is truly important — like enjoying your family. In recognition of Absolutely Incredible Kid Day on March 20, I’ve been trying to figure out how to do that. So far, I feel like Ahab chasing the great white whale. As a parent, it’s endearing when your kid wants to spend time with you. But my brain is usually pretty fried by the time I come home. I’ve been on the move all day, on the phone and working with clients, and coming home, I still have 20 work-related issues on my mind. I try my best to give everyone some attention. The two oldest, Mac and Rex, are getting into sports. I have to be careful because, to be honest, their activities are easier for me. Just because I like throwing the football more than I like playing Barbies, I don’t want to seem as if I’m favoring the boys. Our fifth child, Kip, is 3, and he is big into a police game. He dresses up as a policeman and arrests everybody. And he is relentless: If you don’t respond, he pulls on you: “You have to follow me to jail!” You can’t take your eyes off Kip for a minute, or he will counter with, “No, you did it wrong, Dad! You have to do it this way!” My parents always said that when my two sisters and I were growing up, I was the kid who was hyperfocused on getting somebody to play with me doing whatever activity or game I wanted. Kip’s personality is probably the most like mine; I probably behaved with my parents the way he does with us.
Our girls are a little more independent. Now that Tess, our fourth child, has gotten older, Roz, who is No. 3, has a buddy, and they have their own Barbie room and games. When they want to get Dad involved, I certainly embrace that. But I’ve been told that I’m not a very good Barbie player because the way I interact with the Barbies is not quite right. So I have to be cognizant of that, too. Many parents with older kids give us the same advice: “Enjoy them while they’re young!” I totally agree, but in my day-to-day reality, achieving that is difficult. (Ashley and I didn’t plan this, but she writes about the same issue this month in her column inside this newsletter.) I have tried going back to work after the kids go to bed, but I am hoping to do less of that. One of my goals has been to continue to build our team at the office, to give me a little more time at home — and more bandwidth to be engaged when I am there.
I haven’t figured out any magic formula yet. But when I do, you, my readers, will be the first to know!
–Toph Sheldon
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There’s nothing better than spending time with your kids outside, enjoying an entertaining, creative, and informative activity. But sometimes, these activities are hard to coordinate. Thankfully, gardening appeals to parents and kids from all walks of life. All you need is a dedicated area in your yard or patio and seeds, and you’re ready to get started. LET YOUR KIDS CHOOSE THE PLANTS. This is arguably the most crucial part of igniting your children’s interest in gardening. If you pick out the fruits, veggies, and flowers you want to grow and invite your kids to help plant, water, and pick, they may lose interest quickly. Instead, include them in the process from the get-go. GREEN THUMBS IN TRAINING HOW TO MAKE GARDENING A FAMILY ADVENTURE
Since joining our firm last spring, Shanti Steffen, our new Operations Manager, has been climbing a steep learning curve. “People go to school for four years to learn what I learned in my first nine months,” she says. Shanti has more than a decade of experience in accounting, bookkeeping, and finance roles, mostly for large corporate employers, and she is accustomed to learning on the job. In her current position, she provides all-around administrative support, from answering phones and email to assisting Toph with client service. “Anything that anyone needs here — I like to fill in the gaps,” she says. She joined our firm partly because she wanted to work on a close-knit team that would support her in advancing her career. “I wanted to find a place I could call home, that could be a career for me, that I could stay with, grow with, and be more than just a number,” Shanti says. ”It’s a nice community we have been able to build.” Shanti already has passed the first of three parts of the Special Enrollment Exam to qualify as an Enrolled Agent authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Holders of this license must demonstrate skills in tax planning, individual and business tax returns, and taxpayer representation. As a working mother of a 10-year-old daughter, Shanti sandwiches studying for the exams into the evening hours, “after school, after showers, after my daughter goes to bed,” she says. “The TV is turned off and the schoolwork gets turned on, and it’s time to crack down.” Shanti makes sure her daughter, who is in fifth grade, stays on top of her schoolwork, too. At 10 years of age, her daughter is active in Girl Scouts, has participated in gymnastics and cheerleading, does frequent community service projects, and takes sign language classes with her mom. “She is very spunky, very energetic, and very smart,” Shanti says. “She definitely gives me a run for my money.” On the job, Shanti says, helping clients is the role she enjoys most. “It’s definitely fulfilling to be able to provide services that are meaningful to somebody else,” she says. As she works toward her Enrolled Agent license, she is looking forward to “gaining that knowledge, sharing it, and incorporating it to benefit someone else’s life.” Mastering Career Growth and Motherhood Meet Shanti, Our New Operations Manager
Take them to the store and let them pick out seeds or plants. Encourage them to choose produce they
already enjoy eating, making it even more fun for them! Just be sure their choices
can grow in your area during the current season.
MAKE SPACE AND PLANT TOGETHER. After choosing your
seeds, you must ensure your garden is ready to sustain life. Dedicate a section of your lawn or patio
to your gardening efforts and start laying soil or filling your planters. Help your children transplant their seeds or young plants directly into the area. Now, put them in charge of caring for the plants by checking on and watering them. You may want to follow behind to ensure they aren’t over or under-watering. MAKE IT FUN AND INFORMATIVE! You can get your kids more involved by encouraging them to research their plants and track their growth. They can even look online to see how their plants should be developing. Soon enough, those fruits and vegetables will be ready to eat, and you should let your children pick anything ripe when possible. Seeing the fruits of their labor (literally) will make this experience even more enlightening and enjoyable for them.
–Toph Sheldon
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Ashley’s Corner: Going Rogue What if We All Just Stopped the Summer Camp Madness?
As we head into spring and the busiest weeks of tax season, Toph and I are like ships passing in the night.
My current goal is to figure out how we fit in time to do family activities and relax, and not just be running from one thing to the next. (Toph is clearly thinking about the same thing, as his Cover article shows.) We used to do a special night for each
Summer camp registrations overlap with tax season, plunging us both into a black hole of activity. Mac is playing baseball and basketball, plus taking Ninja Warrior classes. Rex, Tess, and Kip are doing soccer. Roz is in dance. Some days, I get more than 10 text messages and a slew of emails about summer camps so I can figure out which of the kids’ friends is doing what and how we can coordinate sign-ups and car pools. And parents have to plan three steps ahead because the camps all sell out.
kid, when Toph or I would take one child out for an evening. I think they each enjoyed having time dedicated just to them. We need to reboot that.
We had a couple of snow days, and it was kind of nice. The kids played with their toys, and I played games with them and taught them new games. We need to find more quality time together. So, that’s my goal: how to create more time dedicated to being together — less screen time, less phone time, and more time to just live in the moment and enjoy time together.
As I stare at my phone, I’m thinking, this is just madness! Maybe we don’t do any camps. Maybe we just go rogue. Sometimes, less is more.
Of course, I love the camaraderie of the sports and having the kids do different activities. I’m glad they have a lot of interests. But this is summer camp madness. The kids complain, too. They like the camps when they are doing them, but they also say they want time for the family to go to the pool together, where they can see their friends from school. But, of course, all their friends from school are in camp, too.
I don’t know exactly what that looks like or how to get there. But if I figure it out, I will update you here!
Take a Break
NOT YOUR MOM’S CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE
Ingredients
Inspired by AllRecipes.com
• 1 (4 lb) corned beef brisket with spice packet • 3 qts water • 1 onion, quartered • 3 carrots, cut into large chunks
•
3 celery stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 tsp salt • 2 lbs red potatoes, halved • 1 small head of cabbage, cut into eighths
Directions
1. In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, combine corned beef, spice packet contents, water, onions, carrots, celery, and salt. Bring to a simmer (skimming off any foam on top). 2. Cover pot, reduce to low heat, and let simmer for 3 hours until meat is fork tender. 3. Add potatoes to the pot and let simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until potatoes are al dente. 4. Add cabbage along the edges of the meat and on top. Cover and let simmer until cabbage is tender, 20–30 minutes. 5. Place meat on a cutting board and let rest for 10–15 minutes. After meat has cooled, slice against the grain. 6. Add to a large serving bowl, ladle vegetables and broth over top, and serve.
Solution on Page 4
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Cincinnati Tax Resolution Powered by Toph Sheldon 9200 Montgomery Rd., Ste. 7B Cincinnati, OH 45242
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INSIDE 1
Daddy’s Home! Toph’s Pursuit of Better Work-Life Balance
2
Engage Your Kids With Fun Gardening Projects Meet Shanti Steffen, Our New Associate Ashley’s Corner: A Quest for Quality Time With Kids Not Your Mom’s Corned Beef and Cabbage
3
4
Harry Potter Star Hit With $2.3 Million Fine
EVEN WIZARDS MUST PAY TAXES TOPH’S TAX NIGHTMARES
You would think that a wizard conjuring up a clever tax dodge favored by megastars of the entertainment world could successfully evade tax authorities.
is 36, earned an estimated $29.5 million by co- starring in all eight “Harry Potter” films.
In England, the maximum tax rate on long-term capital gains in one recent tax year was 20%, compared with a top marginal income tax rate of 45%.
You would be wrong. A cagey tax dodge by a beloved “Harry Potter” co- star has brought the wrath of British tax officials raining down on his head.
Rupert Grint, who played the loyal, winsome Ron Weasley in the “Harry Potter” film series, was nabbed by British tax officials and fined 1.8 million pounds, the equivalent of $2.3 million, for misclassifying residuals from the films as a capital asset rather than income. The residuals, valued at about 4.5 million pounds or $5.5 million, included TV syndication, DVD sales, and streaming rights, The Associated Press reported. That ruse resulted in a much lower tax rate. A British judge ruled that since the bulk of the cash arose from Grint’s work as an actor between 2001 and 2011, it had to be classified as income. Grint was ordered in 2019 to pay taxes the government said he owed as of 2012. His lawyers appealed the ruling, leading to years of wrangling, until Judge Harriet Morgan entered her order last November. Grint, who
The same financial loophole claimed by Grint was also used by The Beatles to reduce taxes on their millions in earnings. British tax officials repeatedly cited the “Beatles clause” in
referring to the strategy. In both cases, the performers formed separate companies and sold the rights to their work as capital assets, then claimed the income as capital gains, according to Entertainment Weekly. In his defense, Grint argued that he did not understand the extent of the tax evasion that had occurred. In her ruling, the judge supported Grint’s claims that his father and his accountants had mismanaged his financial affairs.
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