My Turn At Forbes
I was thrilled to be asked by the folks at Forbes to follow up on my tax amnesty piece that was posted here on taxgirl. You can read my take here.
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PA Says No To Expanding The Tax Base
Remember Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell’s (D) gutsy move to avoid a “financial tsunami” (yes, his words) in the state? It’s not going to work. With little fanfare, he pulled the plug on the plan yesterday, calling it “very complex” (that’s government speak for: they’re onto us for cutting tax rates but expanding the tax base)…
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Christie Wastes No Time on Veto for Millionaire’s Tax
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) wasn’t kidding when he claimed he would veto the so-called “millionaire’s tax” bill. Moments after the Senate passed the bill on a 46-32 vote, Senate President Steve Sweeney walked the bill down to Gov. Christie, who was waiting with his veto pen. Christie vetoed the bills immediately. Christie’s official…
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Some Find Pennsylvania’s Tax Amnesty Ads Too Scary
Some find Pennsylvania’s tax amnesty ads too scary – featuring interviews with the fabulous Joe Kristan and well, me.
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Philadelphia Real Estate Taxes On Their Way Up
I woke up this morning to grumblings on Facebook about Philadelphia’s budget deal: a “temporary” 9.9% increase in property taxes. The “temporary” (cause who really believes it will be temporary?) increase is an effort to plug a $150 million deficit in the city’s budget. The boost was approved by City Council and Mayor Nutter is…
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SC Legislature Overrides Sanford Veto
In a remarkable change, South Carolina has voted to increase its cigarette tax for the first time since 1977. Well, sort of for the first time. The legislature originally increased the cigarette tax earlier in the month. But it was subsequently vetoed by Governor Sanford (R-SC). Today, however, the legislature managed to override the veto,…
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Sanford Vetoes Cigarette Tax
Well, one thing we know about Sanford (alrighty, two, if you count the whole cheating on his wife and lying about it bit) is that he keeps his word… to the legislature. The governor of South Carolina vetoed a bill yesterday that would have increased the cigarette tax in the state by 50 cents. The…
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Tug Of War In SC Over Cigarette Tax
Even with a projected $1 billion budget gap looming, there are some items in South Carolina that are apparently “off the table” when it comes to taxation. Chief among them? Cigarettes. South Carolina enjoys the lowest cigarette tax in the country at a paltry 7 cents per pack. Nope, that’s not a typo: 7 cents….
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PA Amnesty Ad
I’ve received lots of interest in my tax amnesty piece from yesterday, mostly in the form of emails. The majority of questions and comments about the piece came from those of you who live outside of the state of Pennsylvania and who wanted to know about the commercial. As it turns out, it’s available on…
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What’s In A Name?
Okay, the press has me officially riled up – well, the press and Governor Rendell (D-PA). Suddenly, the tax amnesty program has everyone all fired up about scofflaws. Yep, everywhere you look – even on the amnesty ads – tax officials and the media are painting tax delinquents with a broad brush, labeling them as…