Well, Philadelphia couldn’t let Chicago have all the fun… Just days after a jury failed to convict Rod Blagojevich on 23 of 24 counts (there will be a retrial) of racketeering, conspiracy and political misconduct, Philadelphia’s politicians are making headlines on their own. On Wednesday, the FBI and the IRS raided the offices of PA…
As last year, I’ll be turning over the reins at taxgirl.com to my readers for the last week in August. This year, I’m offering you the chance to speak your mind about the proposed Bush tax cuts. As you know, unless Congress acts before the end of the year, there’s a lot set to happen….
If a member of Congress was ever qualified to speak up about the space program, I’d say Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) would fit the bill. In 1986, Nelson became the second sitting member of Congress to travel into space (Sen. Jake Garn (R-UT) was the first). Now, in an effort to boost interest in commercial…
Despite the fact that Pennsylvania’s tax amnesty campaign was routinely cited as “mean” and “inappropriate”, the Department of Revenue (“DOR”) felt that it worked. The DOR collected $261 million, about 40% than they had hoped for, which, while impressive, is statistically not as successful as a state like New Jersey which collected more than 3…
It’s a tough economy all over these days. It’s not just the feds struggling to raise revenue – state and local governments are facing the same challenges. Ideas abound for plugging holes in the budget, including raising tax rates to implement new taxes on everything from soda to legal services. Some governments, however, have decided…
In 1945, following the end of World War II, Korea was divided into two parts: the then-Soviet occupied North and the American-occupied South. Both Koreas claimed the entirety of the Korean peninsula as their own and the two went to war in 1950. The Korean War would last three years and would result in the…
Today’s Fix the Tax Code Friday question is inspired by a comment on yesterday’s post from TexasEd: What if there was no such thing as filing status? No single, no married filing separate, no married filing jointly, no head of household, no qualifying widow with dependent child. Just one taxpayer per return. What do you…
Yet another decision is expected on the legality of same-sex marriages (CNN predicts that it will happen between 9 am and noon PST today). This one focuses on whether to keep a temporary stay in place following a judge’s decision last week to overturn Proposition 8, the state’s ban on same-sex marriages. As then, I…
All of that fuss over Usain Bolt and now he has a back issue? Thank goodness he’s not the only mega-rich athlete thinking of playing in the UK these days or the British government might get bored. Now, they’re in talks with European Tour officials about the current tax structure because of noise on the…
I’m writing this particular post from my hotel room in Durham, NC, just across the way from Duke Hospital where my dad had surgery on yesterday. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. He came through surgery just fine – although the family and I are quite worn out from dealing with Duke (yes,…