Where tax policy meets politics — legislation, elections, and the debates in Washington that decide how (and how much) you’re taxed.
With the ink barely dry on the Supreme Court ruling striking down most of Arizona’s controversial immigration measures (click here to read the opinion on Scribd), tax professionals were collectively wagging their tongues over another immigration-related measure: the IRS crackdown on Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). Over the weekend, the IRS announced important changes to…
If, at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And again. And potentially, again. Despite being spurned not once but twice with vetoes from New Jersey Governor Christie (R), Democrats in the New Jersey Assembly are trying again to impose a “millionaire’s tax” in the state. The proposal would increase the tax rate by nearly…
Last week, voters in California were split on a measure that would impose a $1 per pack excise tax on cigarettes. Despite more than $60 million in advertising pumped into calling attention to the measure, referred to as Proposition 29, voters weren’t swayed one way or the other: the vote remained split up until the…
You’ve probably never heard of H.R. 436, the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2011. The bill was proposed by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) just a few months after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (more commonly called “the health care reform bill” or alternatively, “Obamacare”) was slated to take effect. It has languished in…
When it comes to tax, everyone has an opinion about what’s best for small businesses. President Obama has told us what small businesses want. Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has told us what small businesses want. Congress has told us what small businesses want. But small businesses haven’t really told us what they want. I suspect…
So first, the good news: the U.S. ended April in the black. Yes, it was largely the result of tax revenues from Tax Day but still, black. The bad news: it won’t last long. We’re ramping up spending yet again. The latest culprit is H.R.4310, known as the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year…
Whew, S corporation shareholders… You dodged a bullet last week when the bill to raise your taxes was voted down. You mean you didn’t know there was such a bill? Of course, you didn’t. That’s because Congress did what it does best: it snuck a controversial provision to boost taxes on certain S corporation shareholders…
Earlier this month, a reader sent me an email with a link to a news clip from Channel 13 (WHTR in Indianapolis) with the title “13 Investigates: IRS tax loophole.” She wrote: “I was wondering if it was true…seems a little far-fetched to me.” I checked it out and dismissed it as much ado about…
Yesterday was Career Day at my kids’ school. So, around 9:00 a.m., I found myself standing in front of a room full of kids, touting the virtues of staying in school. I recited the saga of being the first in my family to go to college. I talked about how I loved what I do…
Happy Cinco de Mayo! Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo isn’t Mexican Independence Day – that’s on September 16 (be sure and drop that casually tonight over tequila and margaritas and you’ll sound super smart). It is, instead, the anniversary of the Mexican army’s victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the…