In a move that should surprise no one President Obama once again put his political career ahead of the best interest of Americans. In a populist move designed to win favor from voters (but raise little in the way of revenue) the President on Monday will propose a tax on people earning more than $1 [...]
On Wednesday the IRS published guidance on the tax treatment of employer-provided mobile phones. Employer-provided cell phones are to be considered an excludible fringe benefit if provided primarily for non-compensatory business reasons.
"You can't bullshit a bullshitter." A little low brow? Maybe. Wisdom in those words? Absolutely. This sage advice was given to us a long time ago from someone who created brilliance from simplicity - gold from straw if you will. Nope, it's not a Yogi-ism. Close, though, and we like it. It's simple and effective. The [...]
Prior to adjourning for its August recess Congress approved a bill raising the debt ceiling and potentially eliminating $1,000,000,000+ from the budget over the next 10 years. That's the good news. The bad news is a measure was proposed shortly thereafter to curtail the so-called ‘super committee' entrusted to tackle deficit-reduction from considering cuts to Medicare and [...]
The Wall Street Journal is to thank for this wonderful write-up of the intellectual dishonesty underpinning Warren Buffett's suggestion that the government stop "coddling the rich." A better tax plan comes courtesy of The Onion.
You've known for years about your spouse's questionable hygiene, curious sense of style and dislike of your side of the family. You've often wondered why you married in the first place! Now you find out your spouse has been saying nyet to the IRS. What to do? Innocent Spouse Relief was made available by the IRS to [...]
With the unnecessarily painful rhetoric surrounding the U.S. "debt ceiling" subdued we can turn our attention to the revenue increases and spending cuts needed to lower annual fiscal deficits. Spending cuts are a matter of debate (will a government-funded midnight basketball league keep youths off the streets and, thus, lower petty crimes such as vandalism?) [...]
With today's noontime Senate vote providing a veto-proof majority President Obama is sure to sign into law legislation to extend the U.S. debt ceiling. Crisis averted - for now. Next up on the agenda needs to be true reform to restructure an unsound and inefficient economy. Credible plans are needed but where will they come [...]
Recently introduced legislation by Senators Carl Levin (Democrat - Michigan) and Sherrod Brown (Democrat - Ohio) would end the ability for corporations to deduct stock option expenses from their taxable income at amounts greater than those reported on their financial statements. Sounds fair, right? Read on. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation the measure known as "The Ending Excessive Corporate [...]
It may not be Roe v. Wade or Brown v. Board of Education but Roth v. Roth is bound to make history. Hyperbole you say? Of course it is. You try making finance interesting! By now we're familiar with how our 401(k) plans operate and much has been written about the pros/cons of Traditional v. Roth IRAs but the [...]