On Sunday night, I got a text from a friend. It said simply, “Did you hear about the Philly blogger tax?” I hadn’t heard of such a thing and made a mental note to check the news later to see what she was talking about. Less than an hour later, I got the following message…
I’ve received an amazing number of emails, phone calls and Twitter DMs about the infamous “blog tax” story making the rounds in Philadelphia… I am aware of it and I’m working on a story. Earlier today, I spoke with some folks at the Philly Department of Revenue. I’ll have their comments – and mine –…
Well, Philadelphia couldn’t let Chicago have all the fun… Just days after a jury failed to convict Rod Blagojevich on 23 of 24 counts (there will be a retrial) of racketeering, conspiracy and political misconduct, Philadelphia’s politicians are making headlines on their own. On Wednesday, the FBI and the IRS raided the offices of PA…
Who says tax amnesty doesn’t work? The cash-strapped City of Philadelphia expects to meet its goal of collecting between $25 and $30 million during its Tax Amnesty Program… and it just got a little bit closer. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the City received a single taxpayer payment of $2 million. That represents more than…
I woke up this morning to grumblings on Facebook about Philadelphia’s budget deal: a “temporary” 9.9% increase in property taxes. The “temporary” (cause who really believes it will be temporary?) increase is an effort to plug a $150 million deficit in the city’s budget. The boost was approved by City Council and Mayor Nutter is…
Okay, the press has me officially riled up – well, the press and Governor Rendell (D-PA). Suddenly, the tax amnesty program has everyone all fired up about scofflaws. Yep, everywhere you look – even on the amnesty ads – tax officials and the media are painting tax delinquents with a broad brush, labeling them as…
I’m off to Temple University to speak at the premiere of An Inconvenient Tax. You may recall that I was interviewed for the documentary a couple of years ago. It will be exciting to see the finished product. I’ll let you know what I think. In the meantime, check out the trailer: An Inconvenient Tax…
A study out of the Rand Corporation has concluded that “small taxes” on soda do little to reduce soft drink consumption or prevent childhood obesity. Economist Roland Sturm and his teams analyzed how more than 7,300 fifth graders ate, drank and moved. The children were asked, as part of the study, how many sodas and…
DOH! This version has been corrected. My original source indicated that the proposal was targeted to the city (like Philly) and not the state. Apologies for the error. Just days after Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter announced plans for Philadelphia to tax soda, New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg signaled that his city supports state efforts to…
Just a week after I reported that Colorado was moving to increase taxes on its sugary drinks, Philadelphia Mayor Nutter is expected to announced a new tax on sugary drinks. Nutter plans to present his 2010-2011 budget on tomorrow. Expected to be included is a 2 cents per ounce tax on sugary drinks. That’s right:…