Simple economics: as costs go up, so do prices. We know this. When weather damaged crops last year, you saw it at the grocery store. When gas costs edged up, so did delivery fees. And as the price of beef has crept up, so have the costs of many items on restaurant menus. Customers generally…
I’m an unabashed Waffle House fan. I love everything about it – from the kitschy coffee mugs to the busy lunch counter to the colorful clientele (myself included). My college roommate and I even have a favorite song on the Waffle House jukebox (yes, there’s a jukebox). The waitstaff at the Waffle House works hard….
If those giant potholes and crumbling bridges are causing you concern, you’re in good company: a recent survey commissioned by AAA found that just over two-thirds (68%) of Americans believe that the federal government should be spending more on roads, bridges, and mass transit systems. Only five percent of those surveyed thought that the federal…
A 2012 taxpayer survey revealed that only 46% of taxpayers believe that they have any rights before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Just a mere 11% of taxpayers actually knew what those rights were. Those statistics, according to National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson, are demonstrative of why she has worked for the better part…
(Update: The final number on those tax credits, which was previously not available, is said to be $82 million.) What was the difference in Thursday’s NBA finals game between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs? Most would say conditioning. The Heat’s much-touted star, LeBron James, was unable to stay hydrated in the heat…
Did you get your free doughnut today? You should: it’s National Doughnut Day across the country. I know what you’re thinking. You think this is some marketing ploy recently dreamed up by bakers to sell more doughnuts. But you would be wrong. National Doughnut Day has been going on for 76 years strong, having made…
The largest private employer in the U.S. continues to exploit tax breaks to rewards its executives, according to the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a D.C. based think tank that has researched executive compensation, and Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF), a tax reform coalition. That finding was published in a report released today, Walmart’s Executive…
Not all taxpayers had to file for extension if they weren’t ready on April 15: taxpayers who live abroad qualified for an automatic two-month extension to file their 2013 federal income tax returns. That means that those returns are due in just a few days, on Monday, June 16, 2014 (there’s an extra day to…
In 2012, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), collected nearly $242 million as a result of the Delinquent Return Refund Hold Program. Under the program, the IRS can hold onto income tax refunds for up to six months while it investigates return delinquencies from other tax years. If it turns out that a taxpayer owes money,…
You don’t think tax returns are handy? Tell that to John Daly. Daly recently revealed that he ran the numbers and determined that his actual gambling losses were $90 million compared to $35 million in gambling wins. The numbers are so staggering that it shocked even him: he had only estimated the figures in prior…