Where tax policy meets politics — legislation, elections, and the debates in Washington that decide how (and how much) you’re taxed.
Taxpayer asks: Hi there, I’ve purchased a new vehicle in 2009 on Jan. 31. The original provision of the new bill that was passed by the Senate stated that it would be from mid November 2008 through Jan. 1, 2010. I saw your response where Congress has now said that new vehicles purchased from Feb….
What’s worse than your Governor trying to sell a Senate seat? Making you pay for his defense. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (yes, I can now write “former”) has run out of cash. His campaign funds were frozen at the request of prosecutors. And his legal bills are mounting. So, what’s a politician to do?…
I think a lot of folks make a lot of assumptions about me based on my current demographic. But what you may not know about me is that I’m originally a country girl from the South. My first real album was Randy Travis, my first real concert was George Jones and my dog was named…
Remember years ago when there was a lot of buzz about the federal estate tax “repeal” set to take place in 2010? It’s still law. But the thing that Congress didn’t make quite so public is that the repeal only lasts for one year. One. After 2010, the federal estate tax rolls back in at…
For years, it was believed that you had to be mega-rich to have accounts in exotic locations. Switzerland, for example, was the millionaire’s playground. Billions and billions of dollars were *allegedly* stashed in secret accounts, “safe” from the probing fingers of Uncle Sam. Along with Switzerland, countries such as Liechtenstein developed successful industries based on…
Sheesh. At this point, it’s almost comical. Only it’s not. Following in the footsteps of Timothy Geithner, Tom Daschle, Nancy Killefer, and Ron Kirk and Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius has announced that she made the dreaded “unintentional errors” on her tax returns. She recently corrected three years of tax returns and paid…
These days, you have to really want to smoke to be a smoker. In many cities (like Philly), you can no longer smoke in public buildings or restaurants. Many workplaces are smoke-free. There are fines for smoking in the wrong place at the wrong time. And now, it just got even more expensive. On Wednesday,…
The House moved quickly to vote yes on a bill to tax big employee bonuses given by companies who have taken substantial amounts of TARP money. The bill would impose a 90% tax on bonuses to highly compensated employees of companies that received more than $5 billion (with a b) in TARP money from the…
The House Committee on Ways and Means has announced that Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) has introduced legislation to tax executive bonuses. The legislation, if passed, would affect bonuses received after January 1, 2009. You can read the text of the bill here as a pdf. The legislation, which has been introduced as H.R. 1586…
When Ed Liddy took the reins of troubled insurance giant AIG, he probably thought it would be tough. I’m guessing he had no idea how tough. Today, Liddy will face the House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets in DC, and chances are, he’s in for a flogging. It’s now been made clear that AIG…