“It took seven years, but Charles Ulrich did something many people dream about, but few succeed at: He beat the IRS in a tax dispute. Not only that, but tax experts say potentially millions of other taxpayers could benefit from his victory. The accountant from Baxter, Minn., challenged the method the IRS has used for more than 20 years to tax shares and cash distributed by mutual life insurance firms to their policyholders when they reorganize as public companies. A federal court recently agreed with his interpretation. ‘There’s a tremendous amount of money at stake,’ said Robert Willens, a New York City-based tax analyst at Robert Willens LLC. ‘Tens of thousands of people could be in line for a refund.’” [editor’s note: This “win” is only a diversion from the much larger issues in this arena of “taxable income” - SAT] (08/25/08)