At least once a week, I get an email asking me about whether I think that President Obama will launch a national sales tax as part of tax reform efforts. My answer? Nope. I’ve said before that I think tax reform is an enormous undertaking and, let’s face it, with a struggling economy and health…
I’ll confess that I got up today with a bit of fear and trepidation. You see, I had been assured by both sides of the health care reform debate that no matter the final tally, the world would end after the health care vote. Remarkably, Earth is still spinning this morning. The health care reform…
Of course, one of the biggest tax stories of the year would hit while I was on the road… But never fear, I’m on it. And by biggest, I mean huge. Representative Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) has been dodging ethics complaints left and right for a few years now. It’s made news for a few…
For all that it’s popular today to play partisan politics, it’s clear that some officials in Congress are actually listening to voters. Newly elected Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) knows that a significant issue in his most recent election was the economy. That’s likely why he – and four other Republican Senators (Kit Bond R-MO; Susan…
I got a glimpse of the 2011 budget proposal on the news last night. It’s big. As in big thick book big. And I will admit to not having read all 192 pages yet. But I’m making progress. You can download the whole thing at once – or in little bits (as I have done)…
An effort is underway to bring tax legislative research into the 21st century. The Joint Tax Committee, a non-partisan research arm of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee, is working on a project to digitize tax legislative documents creating a searchable digital archive. This would include not only JCT publications –…
You know how it goes. You sit for a bit, staring at the phone, maybe even biting your nails a bit. Should you call? Is it too early? You take a deep breath, pick up the phone, and dial. It rings and rings. No answer. You bite your lip and hang up. And then you…
I, for one, am just reeling about the possibility that the House may vote on legislation to extend current estate tax rates. Shocked. I mean, there are, what, four weeks left until the end of the year? That’s just crazy. Tax professionals have just gotten comfortable with the idea that there’s no news on the federal…
William Gifford, MBA, writes: Congress should eliminate the current system altogether. Throw out the federal income tax because it’s too broken to be fixed. In it’s place, I think we should pass something like the VAT in Europe: a federal sales tax. Think about it. Rather than penalize people for making more money, a federal…
Frank Siler writes: All members of Congress should be forced to do their taxes with pencil, paper, and IRS instructions. I am hopeful they would all conclude that the process is ridiculously complicated, invasive, and needs to be greatly simplified. Often I see politicians making clearly false or at least misleading statements about changes they…