Where have all the tax breaks gone? Long time passing. Where have all the tax breaks gone? Long time ago. With apologies to Peter, Paul & Mary we've taken some liberties with the lyrics so we can make the dry topic of taxation a little less, well, boring. As a counterbalance we'll toss in a few statistics [...]
Here's what's making the rounds on Capitol Hill: Taxes: Representative Jan Schakowsky (Democrat - Illinois) introduced HR 1124 - a measure that, if enacted, would institute new and higher income tax brackets for Americans earning more than $1 million. Those earning between $1 million and $10 million would pay a confiscatory 45% while those making $1 billion [...]
A wonderful opinion piece appeared on Bloomberg a couple of days ago with an interesting perspective on entitlements and how to pay for them. It's a quick read worthy of a couple of minutes out of the day. Click here to read the op-ed.
"You know, I didn't just heed what I was taught, men and women should be together, it's the natural way, that kind of thing. I'm not with you because of what family, society, life tried to instill in me from day one. The way the world is - how seldom it is that you meet [...]
The Obama administration's proposed budget includes myriad items that, if enacted, would impact individual taxpayers. Some of the key proposals include: a 3 yr AMT "patch" a limit on the rate at which "high income" earners could itemize deductions such as mortgage interest and real estate taxes an increase in the dependent-care tax credit Additional details of [...]
Microsoft? Google? Facebook? Forget about it. If you want to break the bank forget about pre-IPO investing. Instead nationalize an entire company. Today AIG is expected to report earnings. The focus will be on performance at SunAmerica and Chartis - the life/annuity and P&L operations being counted on for future growth. What will likely be [...]
What? Is that possible? Could there truly be a good place to die? When did dying become a good thing? It isn't. But from a tax perspective there are places where it's "less bad" to die. Why's that? Because of state-imposed estate and inheritance taxes. Much has been made of the $5,000,000 Federal estate tax [...]
No Income Tax: In a bill that has a snowball's chance in hell of becoming law the Fair Tax Act of 2011 introduced by Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Georgia) seeks to abolish the IRS and the Federal income tax. The proposed replacement is a national sales tax that would be administered by the states. The bill [...]
Let's play a game of word association. What comes to mind when you hear the word "depression?" That's right - Philadelphia Eagles fans - those that live in the unhappiest pro football city. (Link has since been removed from NYPost) And what about Feb 14th? Valentine's Day, right? Candy and flowers maybe? How about income [...]
To close out the year on the lighter side of things we thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the oddest tax laws enacted in 2010. This collection of the bizarre needs no prefacing and proves once and for all that truth is surely stranger than fiction. Enjoy! CANDY: [...]