TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
Tax Freedom Day Has Moved Up Another Three Days
The Tax Foundation releases an annual "Tax Freedom Day" report, which calculates "the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for year". This is done by looking at federal budget projections, data from the U.S. Census and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and projections of state & local taxes. Then, all the federal, state, and local taxes are divided by the country's income. This year, Tax Freedom day is April 21st, 3 days later than last year. The Tax...
IRS Decides No New Changes to 501c4s — This Year
Last week, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service, John Koskinen, spoke to the National Press Club on a variety of matters. One of the items he discussed was the proposed regulation changes to 501c4s. As I mentioned earlier, the citizen commentary on this matter was unprecedented. As such, the IRS concluded they could not review it all in a timely matter for this year. However, he did not say that the matter was closed -- only delayed: "Another recommendation by the IG was that the...
Why the Proposed 501c4 Regulation Change is Such a Big Deal
The IRS recently proposed major changes to the way not-for-profit 501c4 organizations operate, which would effectively and severely limit their ability to engage in advocacy. These are your social welfare organizations, for which advocacy for “the common good and general welfare” is their primary purpose. They differ from 501c3, which are your charitable organizations; 501c5s, your labor unions; and 501c6s, your trade organizations. The one thing all of these organizations do have in common is...
An Overview of the IRS Proposed Changes to 501c4s
Mat Staver from the Liberty Council put together a good overview of the proposed changes to Social Welfare Organizations (501c4s). Below is a partial list that attempts to define political activity, changing the language that has stood for more than 50 years. "IRS Regulation-134417-13, “Guidance for Tax-Exempt Social Welfare Organizations on Candidate-Related Political Activities,” is a proposed new regulation that is an outrageously brazen attempt by the IRS to silence the speech of 501(c)(4)...
The IRS Will Not have Their “Targeting” Investigation Completed by the 2014 Elections
The Washington Times reports that the IRS will not be able to finish their investigation regarding the targeting of Tea Party and other groups, until far after the 2014 elections: "John Koskinen, the man President Obama tapped to clean up the embattled agency, also said it will take years to respond to all of the document requests from Congress. He told Congress that even complying with a subpoena for emails from just a handful of key employees couldn’t be done before the end of this year...
Another Obamacare Tax Clarified by the IRS
So, the tax that was supposed to hit high income earners now also can affect children under certain conditions involving investment. Taxpayers -- take note! The Weekly Standard discusses a newly clarified component of the Obamacare 3.8% Investment Surcharge Tax: "Last Friday, the IRS published a tip on its website entitled "Tax Rules for Children with Investment Income." Included is this note regarding the Net Investment Tax [emphasis added]: Starting in 2013, a child whose tax is figured on...
Quickly Noted: Putin and Obamacare
This is pretty clever
The Budgets For Federal Regulators Are Clearly Too Big
The Wall Street Journal has run a couple of stories in recent months documenting the overreaching work of the FTC. In November, it ran a story describing how the FTC actually investigated whether The Music Teachers National Association was engaging in "anticompetitive practices". Because the non-profit, which had been in existence for years, did not have the financial resources to fight the investigation, the FTC laid out its conditions for continuation: "It must, however, read a statement out...
Tax Changes to the 2013 IRS 1040, Part IV: Itemized Deduction Phase Out Rules
What is a phase out rule? When a taxpayer nears an income limit to qualify for a tax credit, there is a gradual reduction of that tax credit. This is known as a phase out. Higher income earners need to be aware that phase outs will come into play as they file their taxes this year. It is noted that "The last time we saw a phase-out rule for itemized deductions was back in 2009. Unfortunately, this phase-out provision has also been resurrected for 2013 and beyond. As a result, you can...
Bob Beckel Should Go to Jail
During Bob Beckel’s recent appearance on “Cashin In”, Bob stated that "Wall Street investment bankers should be in jail because they nearly threw this country into depression". This statement is quite ridiculous. Since when is the economic cycle grounds for throwing people in jail? Bob Beckel has absolutely no information that anybody from Wall Street who committed any wrongdoing has not already been appropriately prosecuted. There is no more evidence that any of these people should be in jail...
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