It’s not just the federal race that made news on Election Day: state and local initiatives were on also on the ballot. In California, that included a vote on whether gig drivers like those who work for Lyft, Uber, and DoorDash, should be considered employees: 58% of voters decided that they should instead be classified…
Ask The Taxgirl: Domestic Partnerships & Filing Status
When it comes to tax incentives, Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) wants to take it off… as in all off… for two strip clubs in California. Sen. Hill has introduced legislation in the Golden State to put an end to a “loophole” that allows certain businesses to take advantage of a tax break meant to…
Taxpayer asks: I live in California. I had the wedding in 2012, but I applied marriage license in January 2013. Can I file a joint return for 2012? Thanks.Thanks. taxgirl says: For federal income tax status, marital status is determined by state law. If you are married for state purposes, you are married for federal…
Five days. That’s how long until the sequestration goes into effect. Sequestration, painted as one half of the worst thing ever, is a series of across the board federal cuts that are scheduled to occur if Congress doesn’t act to cut spending. And Congress hasn’t acted on spending since 2011 (when they voted not to…
Every one of us has had that moment when we’ve had to shuffle the cards a bit to make sure all of the bills get paid. That’s exactly the situation our country is finding itself in right now. And what’s in the stack of “to pay later”? It could be your tax refund. How could…
We all have those clients. You know, those that annoy you a lot. But most of us have the good sense not to hire someone to kill them. Not so Steven Martinez. Martinez, a former IRS agent turned private tax preparer, was arrested in March of this year in Sorrento Valley, California, and accused of…
According to the Weather Channel, it feels like 92 degrees right now. I firmly believe that it should never feel like 92 degrees in the evening in Philadelphia. On the plus side, after a grueling day gardening in the heat (hey, it had to be done), I now have the opportunity to sit down, check…
Light up, California! You have no worries. It turns out that, with just a few days left to count and certify ballots, proponents of Proposition 29 are officially conceding that the measure will not pass. The measure, which landed on ballots this month, would have increased the state tax on tobacco in the Golden State…
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…