In light of President Bush’s plan to allow a standard deduction for all persons who pay for healthcare insurance (or receive insurance through an employer), today’s Fix the Tax Code Friday question is:
Should itemized deductions be eliminated completely in favor of a standard deduction?
According to the Weather Channel, it feels like 92 degrees right now. I firmly believe that it should never feel like 92 degrees in the evening in Philadelphia. On the plus side, after a grueling day gardening in the heat (hey, it had to be done), I now have the opportunity to sit down, check…
There is no such thing as free money. Let’s just go ahead and get that out of the way first thing. Our Treasury does not have a pot of money just sitting around waiting for you to scoop it up (we’re nearly bankrupt, remember?) And no matter what anybody tells you otherwise, tax credits, refunds…
Earlier in the week, I reported that Georgia is considering implementing a tax on personal services, meaning that professions like barber shops, law firms and accountants would impose a tax on their services, which would likely be passed through to the consumer. This tax would replace property taxes in Georgia. Now, normally, my Fix the…
Now that we’re into 2014, it’s worth taking a moment to consider what’s different this year from a tax perspective. Congress has made some changes for 2014 including adding a few new provisions and letting some existing tax breaks expire. So what’s different?
When I first got married, I didn’t immediately change my name. It felt weird to me to have my maiden name for years and years and then – poof! – be somebody else. My diplomas, my law licenses, all of it was in my maiden name. It was who I was. Plus, I liked my…
It’s Fix the Tax Code Friday! This week, the focus has been on California and the possibility that they could legalize marijuana, primarily so that it could be taxed. Of course, this made me think about the tax consequences of taxing other illegal activities such as prostitution. While it is true that income from these…
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I’ve always believed that the only “fair” tax cut would be raising the standard deduction. It could be raised high enough that itemizing would be a thing of the past. Raise it $10.000 and save the 10% bracket $1000 while saving the 28% bracket $2800. It would in effect be taking taxes off of the last dollar earned. Leave the itemizing option there if they want. I haven’t been able to use it in years.