TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
COVID, Lockdowns, and the Economy
It might not be so crazy after all for relatively young people who are going broke and having their lives torn out from under them to try to get back to normal in as careful a way as possible: going to gyms, salons, and other businesses. Might it be reasonable for some people to try it out to see if it can help with the infection rate? Can we trust people to be careful? Some businesses such as FedEx, supermarkets, and medical practices are open and more are starting to or trying to open...
COVID and the Importance of Free Markets
One of the most important takeaways from this COVID affair is the clear evidence of how critically important free markets are. While the free market is developing workarounds for providing necessities and developing relevant new products, the government can’t get out of its own way in terms of what it is trying to do and is finding that an overabundance of regulations has hampered its responsiveness. There have finally been some recent changes, such as allowing telemedicine across state lines,...
Biden Wants to Nearly Double the Capital Gains Tax
Democrat Presidential Candidate Joe Biden not only wants to return capital gains to Obama-era rates, but furthermore he would increase them while simultaneously returning the top rate on ordinary income. Biden has said, “I believe we should, in fact, the capital gains tax should be at what the highest minimum tax should be; we should raise the tax back to 39.6 percent instead of 20 percent.” Add to that the 3.8% Obamacare tax (NIIT) instituted in 2013, and he would have some taxpayers...
The Club For Growth Needs Tweaking
For years I have been following the candidates that have been supported by the Club for Growth, contributing to both their campaigns and to the Club. Although overall they do a decent job finding and supporting candidates , there are two areas in which they are weak. The Club For Growth has always been an advocate of the free market, limited government, and low taxes -- the same thing that the Tea Party originally intended to be. However, within this realm, there are four things that the Club...
An Open Letter to Tea Party Patriots
An Open Letter to Tea Party Patriots: Years ago, I joined the Tea Party in New York, because I sincerely believed in its simple, yet extremely powerful and direct message. The Party stood for low taxes, limited constitutional government, individual liberty, and rule of law -- and nothing else. The Tea Party was not meant to be a political “Party” with positions on everything. It would only be involved in efforts that protected their core beliefs so as not to dilute their message. Therefore, it...
The FDA and COVID Response
I came across this article describing how the FDA is holding up a vaccine that's being used in other countries. This the best concise explanation I have seen to describe the truth that the FDA drug oversight is a net negative to American's health. From the article: "In March, when the coronavirus arrived in the US in earnest, governments around the country locked down economies to prevent the spread of a virus that to date has claimed the lives of nearly 400,000 Americans. While these actions...
Harris and the Pay Gap Myth
Democrat Kamala Harris is the latest Presidential candidate to peddle the myth about “pay gaps” for female workers, going so far as to make this an essential part of her platform. Harris has a plan to require larger companies with 100 or more employees to obtain an “equal pay certification” every two years in order to ensure that men and women are paid equally.There are many reasons a pay gap to exist -- but it isn’t because of one’s gender. It has been shown time and again that many women...
Sen. Hawley’s Section 230 Amendment is Bad Policy
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is leading the charge to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, essentially giving the government broad powers to regulate tech industry giants. This legislation undermines free speech and would be an egregious overreach of federal powers under the guise of “fairness.” As Section 230 was construed, it’s aim “was to protect the openness of online culture while also protecting kids from online smut, and protecting the web at large from being overrun by...
Congress Needs to Fix Some of these Tax Code Changes
The Tax Cuts and Job Act made some positive changes to the tax code. The reduction in marginal rates, especially on the corporate side, is noteworthy. However, there were several changes on the individual side which were absolutely ludicrous. These are noted below: Without any discussion, Congress eliminated the miscellaneous itemized deductions. As I have written about before, in actuality, this one is truly the only legitimate deduction and is absolutely necessary to maintain the integrity...
How the Loss of the Miscellaneous Itemized Deduction Affects Taxpayers at All Levels
In 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Job Act, which has been beneficial on the corporate side of tax reform. On the individual side, Congress allowed politics to get in the way of real reform, and that is inexcusable. The most egregious example of this was the elimination the miscellaneous itemized deduction.The miscellaneous itemized deduction was truly the only legitimate deduction in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Its inclusion was absolutely necessary to maintain the integrity of...
TAX
Tips
Some Incorrect Obamacare Forms are Still Incorrect
Roughly 2 weeks ago, I wrote about the IRS sending out corrected tax forms for the 820,000 Obamacare users who received incorrect 1095As in late January. On March 22, it was reported that, “Federal officials said on a Friday press call that about...
Obamacare Tax Compliance May Be An Issue For the Poorest
This year is the first year for which proof of health insurance, or payment of the "shared responsibility" tax/fee/penalty, is required to be accounted for on one's tax return. But what happens when a person does not meet the income threshold to...
A Very, Merry (Un)birthday to Obamacare
March 23, 2010: Obamacare was signed into law by President Obama. How have we fared since then? Sally Pipes over at NYDailyNews gives a good overview of how Obamacare has failed to live up to its expectations. "Obamacare turns five years old today....
Incorrect 1095A Forms Are Finally Being Corrected — Nearly 2 Months Later
There have been many reports about incorrect 1095A forms being sent out. The 1095A (the Health Insurance Marketplace Statement), is the form that the government sends you if you enrolled in an Obamacare plan last year, and is your proof of...