The IRS has launched a new Affordable Care Act Tax Provisions website to educate individuals and businesses on how the health care law might impact them. The home page includes sections explaining the tax benefits and responsibilities for individuals/families and employers including tax provisions currently in effect now and those that will go into effect in 2014 [...]
The frustration about regulations is often the (needless) complexity. Can't we have a CliffsNotes version? Yes we can - Kaiser Family Foundation to the rescue! This simple flow chart explains who will be required to purchase coverage or be subject to the "remember it's not a tax...oh, wait, The Supreme Court said it is" penalty. This calculator helps in understanding premium assistance / [...]
CCH has released a new briefing analyzing President Obama's fiscal year 2014 budget. The $3.77 billion plan includes approximately 160 individual and corporate tax provisions intended to raise revenue and reduce spending.
The Orator in Chief wants to play a shell game with American taxpayers. He's about to pull a bait and switch that would be the envy of even the most unscrupulous salesman. Barely three months removed from the fiscal cliff deal that made "permanent" the inflation-adjusted $5 million exemption and set the top rate at 40% [...]
In response to this report about assistance for homeowners in the wake of Hurricane Katrina David Montoya (Inspector General - Department of Housing and Urban Development) admitted the program was little more than a complete and utter failure. "I'd give it a very low D," he said. More than 24,000 Louisiana homeowners received grants of up to $30,000 [...]
The Monday release of the 2012 IRS Data Book provides a look at agency activities from 10/1/11 - 9/30/12. Information available includes the number of filed returns, amount of taxes collected, enforcement, filing method (paper vs. electronic), taxpayer assistance and IRS budget/workforce among others. The IRS said it examined less than 1% of all tax [...]
In an attempt to fix America's broken housing market Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the direction of The White House previously authorized short selling - transactions allowing homeowners to sell their properties for less than what's owed on the mortgage. Instead of lenders pursuing to recoup the difference sellers are permitted to cancel the debt. In another gift [...]
Starting with the 2013 tax year the Internal Revenue Service is introducing a simplified means for small business owners and home-based employees to claim the home office tax deduction. Those working from home and maintaining a qualifying home office are able to deduct $5/ft2 of office space on up to 300 ft2 for a maximum deduction of $1,500/yr. Current [...]
Following his final round of the U.S. PGA Tour's Humana Challenge in La Quinta, California, professional golfer Phil Mickelson was asked for an opinion about the reduced schedule of some of his colleagues. "I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do yet. If you add up all the federal and you look at the [...]
Ever wonder why taxpayers are outraged? Could something like this be a contributing factor?