I had prepped myself for the idea that taxpayers were going to be confused by the new health care reporting requirements ever since last year when the rumormongering about taxing health care benefits in 2011 started. I wasn’t expecting taxpayers to be in a dither quite so far ahead of tax season. Judging from the…
There’s no way round it: Americans are getting fat. According to the CDC, there has been a “dramatic increase in obesity” over the past twenty years. Across the country, about a third of all adults are classified as obese, meaning that they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher. To put that…
It was one of those jaw dropping, rubbing your eyes, cleaning out your ears moments. Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, thought by many to be a frontrunner for the GOP nomination, went out on a limb and criticized his own party’s plans for Medicare reform. Speaking on Meet the Press, Gingrich said about the Republican plan:…
I’ve received a couple of emails asking me to verify a rumor that the IRS is expanding in 2012 due to the new health care law. So, here’s the truth: the IRS is expanding in 2012 due to the new health care law. The details of the expansion can be found in the IRS budget…
Apparently, the rumor mills are at it again. I’ve received three emails already this morning to this effect: I’ve been told by several friends that my employer provided health care benefits will be subject to regular income tax treatment in 2011. I pay a monthly amount that partially pays for a high-deductible Blue Cross policy….
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…
And by “suddenly” I mean months later, after they passed it as part of a bill that they clearly didn’t read… But now that folks are ramping up their complaints over the new tax reporting requirement that was included, logically (not), in the health care bill, both Dems and the GOP have decided that they…
How can you tell it’s an election year? By the sheer number of scare tactics and outright lies being shuffled about. An email is making the rounds – again – suggesting that health care benefits will appear on forms W-2 and will be taxed. I was alerted to this fact on yesterday via reader email…
Taxpayer asks: My brother works for a company who pays $12K a year for his health insuranceHe is 64, single, no children, no ex-wifeMy brother understands starting in 2011 the government will treat the $12K as income and he will be taxed on itAlso because it is over $8,000 a year it is considered a…
The health care reform bill, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in March 2010 is massive (you can catch some of the highlights here). It’s divided into ten titles and is roughly 2,400 pages long (that’s longer than a standard King James Version of the Bible)….