Deep dives into tax policy — the laws, proposals, and reforms shaping the tax code, explained without the jargon.
Earlier this morning I received an email from a reader who confessed that they really weren’t sure how the Bush tax cuts would affect them and wondered if I could give a quick summary of what all of this really means for taxpayers. It’s an excellent question and I’m on it… Check back later in…
My daughter hates to do her chores. Last week, she got it into her head that it wasn’t fair that she had to set the table so she decided that she wasn’t going to do anything else until we gave her a better job. A few minutes of sitting in time out changed her mind…
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) indicated just a few weeks ago that a vote on the expiring Bush tax cuts would happen in mid-December. It turns out that the rest of the House is a bit more optimistic than she is: Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) has announced that he expects a vote on Thursday….
Remember those expanded 1099 reporting requirements that were included in the health care bill? It was all anyone could talk about for quite awhile. Clearly underestimating the rage of voters and business owners, members of Congress (yes, the same ones that voted it in) vowed left and right to do away with it. Apparently, those…
So, none of us have a crystal ball but earlier this week, I made some predictions about potential tax changes in the new year. I touched on federal estate tax repeal, capital gains rates, oil and gas company tax breaks, increased income tax rates and the expiration of the Making Work Credit. Later in the…
Seattle, long known as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the US, may be facing some resistance in its efforts to green up the city a bit more. With a multimillion dollar deficit looming, Mayor Mike McGinn is threatening to pull financing for the city’s Bike Master Plan; specific projects planned for the coming…
I have to say that I remain fascinated by the vote in Washington state that would have transferred a majority of the tax burden onto the upper wage earners (those earning more than $200,000 as individuals and $400,000 as married couples). Despite the fact that most Washington taxpayers would be financially better off under the…
When I first moved to Pennsylvania from North Carolina, I thought I had hit the lottery. I distinctly remember standing in Express buying some clothes on sale and waiting for the total. When the sales girl finished ringing me up, the total showed. It was the same as the subtotal. I stood there for a…
According to most post election polls, voters cited the economy as the #1 factor in influencing votes – more than health care, more than abortion, more than homeland security, more than immigration, more than education. This makes me wonder: what influenced your vote this year? If it was the economy, were taxes a factor? Or…
There’s rich and then there’s Bill Gates rich. And apparently, the two don’t see eye to eye. At last night’s election, Washington voters soundly rejected a plan to introduce a state income tax aimed at upper income taxpayers to pay for education and health initiatives. The Microsoft billionaire publicly endorsed the measure, known as Initiative…