tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1392929325271530478.post5448759275024617915..comments2023-10-07T03:05:00.027-07:00Comments on Out of the Darkroom: Ride a Horse to LondonM. C. Valadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06301675413866610210noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1392929325271530478.post-42020063690708227742012-06-21T16:01:35.476-07:002012-06-21T16:01:35.476-07:00Oh you are correct about this. Things were so much...Oh you are correct about this. Things were so much easier when it was two years of profit in five years of operation. But the IRS tends to take a really close look at things that can be hobbies. The ABC article I just added has a lot of detail about the limited partnership which buys and sells horses and how the Romneys didn't attend the World Cup in the Netherlands to watch their horse this month, although it would normally be their habit to do so. It is being equated with John Kerry windsurfing for making them look out of touch with common people. I think that some of things they said makes it apparent they are truly out of touch and tone-deaf.<br /><br />I know lots of people who compete at dressage who don't have the money that the Romneys do, so I think it is unfortunate that the sport is taking a bum rap right now. I do wonder how many undocumented workers are involved with the care of these horses, because the practice of using them to care for horses at low levels of pay is endemic in the show horse industry. I don't have a problem with undocumented aliens being here and doing this work ("Give me your tired, your poor et al.)if they are paid fairly and have good working conditions, because they tend to really love and care for the animals. I don't like to see them exploited, though, and it's clear from what I've read that they often are.M. C. Valadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06301675413866610210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1392929325271530478.post-19442926214238400142012-06-21T14:11:46.354-07:002012-06-21T14:11:46.354-07:00I could be wrong on this, but my recollection is t...I could be wrong on this, but my recollection is that a not uncommon tax "dodge" with respect to hobbies is that while you need a profit in 3 of 5 years, it doesn't have to be a profit over the whole five years. So you load as many expenses as possible into the two years of loss (say, buying a year's worth of horse chow in December of a loss year, paying the trainer in advance, etc.) and get a small profit in the profit years, even if to do so you don't claim some expenses in the profit years.Tom Gallowayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17164851214377133676noreply@blogger.com