The stress of holiday road trips can tempt any parent to let their kids zone out in front of a screen, but don’t give in! To prevent bored youngsters from disappearing into their tablets or phones during long drives, consider healthier modes of entertainment, such as audiobooks. Unlike passive entertainment media such as movies and video games, audiobooks can accelerate a child’s reading ability by making more complex language accessible. Also, the whole family can enjoy listening to a good audiobook — even sitting in separate seats in a moving car! Apps like Libby or Hoopla provide access to audiobooks and ebooks through participating public libraries. Amazon Prime subscribers can access some free audiobooks HIT ‘PLAY’ AND HIT THE ROAD AUDIOBOOKS THE WHOLE FAMILY WILL LOVE
Scoring a Huge Tax Win For a Hard-Pressed Client Toph’s Tax Triumph
through Audible. For suggestions on family fare, ask your local librarian or check out the nonprofit Common Sense Media website for recommended holiday- themed books. For elementary school children, consider “The Snow Queen,” a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.
Sometimes, you take a calculated risk for a hard-pressed client and hope for the best. In a recent case on behalf of a real estate agent who lives paycheck to paycheck, we were delighted to win an 85% reduction in her tax bill! Our client was a self-employed real estate agent who also had a small amount of W-2 income from a salary. She had been making about $2,000–$10,000 a year from 2012 through 2023 but hadn’t been paying taxes. She came to us after the IRS hit her with a $55,000 tax bill — a crippling debt for a taxpayer in her position. She was making just enough to get by and still living with this tax bill hanging over her head. As a first step, our associate, Mandi, who took the lead on this case, brought her into compliance with the IRS by paying her quarterly taxes for 2024. Then we made a lowball offer in compromise of $100. Although the agency threatened to reject any compromise, Mandi persuaded them to tentatively agree to a settlement of $8,200. Our client was ecstatic. In another twist, Mandi and I realized the IRS had made a mistake in their calculations and technically shouldn’t have agreed to the $8,200 settlement. We went ahead and sent in the paperwork anyway. This time around, agency officials rejected the settlement they had previously accepted. Although we were concerned that the IRS might catch their mistake if we pressed the issue, we appealed the decision based on the $8,200 offer in compromise, pointing out that the IRS had already agreed to settle the case. To our delight, the IRS signed off this time around and accepted it! The case is a great example of how the tax resolution process is seldom a black-and-white matter. There are enough gray areas that strategic thinking is sometimes required. Although this case looked several times as if it was going off the rails, we used our best judgment and did what we thought would produce the best outcome for our client. Fortunately, the result has given her a fresh start!
This classic story of a girl saving her friend from danger, read by
Julia Whelan, will inspire listeners with its lessons about fidelity and courage. Another classic is “The Cricket in Times Square” by George Selden. Read
with dazzling energy by “Monk” actor Tony Shalhoub, this tale of a streetwise city mouse encountering a country cricket in a New York subway station is an engaging, easy listen. For tweens, “The Mother-Daughter Book Club, Book 5” by Heather Vogel Frederick tells of five book club members setting out on holiday trips from the tropics to the Alps. Of course, numerous disasters befall them before the book’s satisfying ending! Another Christmas-themed winner is “Nickel Bay Nick” by Blair Jackson, a coming-of-age novel about a troublemaking 11-year-old boy who gets a chance to redeem himself when a mysterious neighbor blackmails him to perform acts of charity in their down-and-out town. And “Juniper’s Christmas” by Eoin Colfer is a Christmas adventure about 11-year-old Juniper Lane, who is accidentally exposed to North Pole magic after she asks for help from a mysterious woodsman living in a nearby park. As you listen, you can enjoy knowing that in addition to entertaining the family, you are stimulating your child’s imagination and language ability as they visualize the people and places in these delightful stories.
–Toph Sheldon
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