Deep dives into tax policy — the laws, proposals, and reforms shaping the tax code, explained without the jargon.
Everyone has that moment when they get a bill and think, “Oh my gosh, how am I going to pay for this?” Just imagine how Amazon.com felt when it received a bill in August of this year for – wait for it – $269 million from the state of Texas. The bill represents what the…
A significant number of our law firm clients are in the tech sector. A fairly hefty percentage of those tech clients happen to be headquartered outside of the US, specifically in western Europe. As in the US, the success rates of many European tech firms have corresponded fairly directly with the health of the economy….
Yesterday, the National Retail Federation made news for its economic analysis of a Value Added Tax (VAT). The study considered the addition of a VAT to the existing tax structure, something that just won’t happen. But assuming that the existing tax structure was somehow tweaked, there is likely some limited support for a VAT (click…
The Washington Post ran a piece today about an “economic analysis” commissioned by the National Retail Federation (NRF) that seems to indicate that a VAT (a value added tax) would crush our economy. Oh wait. That’s the spin. The important bit is that the premise of the study was that a VAT would be added…
Interesting reading from CNN this morning that indicates that the housing market might be steadying: Existing home sales rebound in August – Sep. 23, 2010. This is clearly impossible. I mean, I’ve been reading propaganda from the National Association of Realtors articles for months now that absolutely, positively indicated that without additional housing tax credits…
I’ve been writing a lot this year about the upcoming Congressional election. It’s important for a number of reasons not the least of which is the sheer number of seats up for grabs. In the middle of all of this red versus blue, liberal versus conservative, Dems versus GOP, it can be difficult to sort…
Last month, I went on vacation and I saw America. No, I didn’t do some month long cross country trip (though with three kids and a dog in the car, it felt a little longer than it actually was) – just a few hours up the road to Maine. Along the way, we opted not…
Yesterday, I was scrolling through CNN and I saw a headline about the “Homebuyer Tax Surprise.” A similar finance site touted the headline “Nearly 1 Million Homeowners Shocked at Payback.” No, no, they’re not. They’re not shocked. They’re not surprised. Or at least they shouldn’t be. They knew exactly what they were getting into. They…
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….
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…