Dear Family,

Well, if you check CBS.MarketWatch.com this weekend, you'll find the tax issues surrounding Oprah's cars. If you remind me, in January, I'll put up an expanded version of that article with all the citations and comments from the IRS and the tax professionals who were consulted. Now that advertisers are spending so much money on big-ticket gifts for audiences of talk shows - you're going to be ever more interested in being a spectator at a taping. And you're going to care more about the tax treatment of the gifts.

Today's Money Funny strikes home for me. If you didn't live through times like that, perhaps you might want to talk to someone who did. It was wonderful!

I went to some update workshops in the past couple of weeks. Thank goodness _I_ don't have to read all the new laws myself. I am so grateful that there are others I can pay to distill the information for me. But, that also means I have LOTS of news and warnings and tips for you. You'll be seeing notes, tips and alerts over the next few weeks. So, please read the IRS News pages.

I was looking for THE BOOK in Barnes & Noble last week, but didn't see it on the shelves yet. But Amazon has been selling it like crazy this week. Yesterday, Small Business Taxes Made Easy had an Amazon rank of 150,000. Today, it's at 45,000. And we haven't even started to promote it. Most of the active media stuff will happen after the first of the year...though, I'm starting to tape materials with radio columnists this month. I've got to tell you, I am meeting some of the nicest people - you'll read more about them next year.

Oh, great news for families saving up for college. Attorney Bruce Drooks, in West Hills, CA, just told me that MBNA has credit cards where, instead of getting mileage or other points, they'll put a percentage of your purchases into a 529 College Savings Plan - check it out. They have two plans. http://www.mbna.com/creditcards/investor.html

And here's a bit of fun - World Hypnotism Day is coming up on January 4th. Join Tom Nicoli, Ph.D. and his buddies. Sign up now to reserve your space in space - www.worldhypnotismday.com

Time to run. I don't know if we'll have an issue next week, since I'll be on vacation. If not, well, I'll miss you. Merry holidays - and treat someone really well today. Someone who has no reason to expect it.

Best wishes,

Eva Rosenberg, EA
Your TaxMama is watching...out for you.