TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
Why We Need To Bring Back the Miscellaneous Itemized Deduction
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...
Massive Deficit Accumulating
The Trump Administration is on the path to rack up a trillion dollar deficit for fiscal year 2018-2019, due to a combination of declining total tax revenues and administrative overspending. The federal government collected a record $1,521,589,000,000 in individual income taxes through the first eleven months of fiscal 2018 while corporation income tax collections and total federal tax collections were in decline. Trump needs to work on cutting spending in order to reduce the massive deficit he...
Republicans Might Actually Try to Make Tax Cuts and Changes Permanent
House Republicans have put forth a bill that would make some of the tax cuts and changes permanent instead of expiring after a few years. This includes: The reduction in the individual tax rates The increased new standard deduction, which went to $12000/individual and $24000 married couples Special deduction for pass-through business owners It's worth noting that the corporate tax reduction was already permanent with last year's law. Other additional financial parts of this new legislation...
Water Tax/User Fee Disgrace
When is a tax not a tax? When it’s a user fee -- at least in New Jersey. That’s what one lawmaker is attempting in the legislature. A bill that would tax water based on use, in order to “ is fix a crumbling water delivery infrastructure in the state.” The problem is that a tax already exists for that purpose. It was enacted in 1984, and is charged as a public utility franchise tax on water system operators of $0.01 per 1,000 gallons of water delivered to a consumer in order to "ensure clean...
Four States Attempt To Sue Government Over SALT
New York Governor Cuomo leads a four-state lawsuit against the federal government over the tax reform law that passed last fall. Governor Cuomo declared it "a practical act of self-defense against an adversarial federal government" and suggested that the bill was aimed to target left-leaning states. But everybody who has any knowledge of taxation and its constitutionality knows that Cuomo’s assertion is ludicrous. The SALT deduction – and ALL deductions – are at the complete discretion of...
The State Department, IRS, Now Denying Some Passports
The State Department, in tandem with the IRS, has stepped up enforcement of an Obama-era law that blocks Americans with ‘seriously delinquent’ tax debt from receiving new passports -- and will, at some point -- be allowed to rescind existing passports of people who fall into that category.” The roots of this law began back in 2012, when a report issued by the GAO suggested the possibility of tying tax collection to passport issuance, in an effort to collect revenue. Soon thereafter, Senator...
More Concern for Weissmann
I've written about Andrew Weissmann in these pages before, and this article, written earlier in the year, recently came to my attention. Weissmann has a history of despicable lawyer practices, and this latest article shows growing concern about his past tactics -- which could ultimately affect his role in the present investigation. I have reprinted the article below: The top attorney in Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s office was reported to the Department of Justice’s Inspector General by...
WSJ: Gender Pay Gap Gaffe
The Wall Street Journal published a ridiculous article, “The Gender Pay Gap Is a Lot Bigger Than You Think” that used every possible misconception, misstatement, and lie about the gender gap. The author, Maddy Dychtwald, talks about an 18 cent pay gap differential, but instead of acknowledging that any differentials that exist relate to choices, the article only focuses on retirement funds. There are many reasons for a pay gap - but it isn’t merely because of one’s gender. It has been shown...
Please Do NOT Donate to Oxfam
FEE.org recently shed light on the ridiculous behavior of Oxfam, a charity that is supposed to be dedicated to fighting poverty. Indeed, their statement of purpose proclaims “The purpose of Oxfam is to help create lasting solutions to the injustice of poverty. “ However, careful reading of their most recent report show that Oxfam spends most of its time, energy, and our donated funds monitoring and writing about the false “need” to reducing wealth and income inequality - the very opposite of...
SCOTUS and the Internet Tax
This week, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of taxation for businesses that lack a physical nexus. Justices Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch, writing for the majority opinion, believed that the emergence of the internet as a mainstream medium for interstate commerce caused the physical presence rule to become further removed from economic reality and resulted in significant revenue losses to states. The revenue loss argument is nonsense; it is a...
TAX
Tips
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...