As published in the Winter Park/Maitland Observer, Thursday Jan. 3, 2012 Edition Offers... Read More »
Articles in category 'Tax Policy'
Gallup: Americans Don’t Much Like Class Warfare
What if they waged a class war and nobody showed up? Jeffrey Jones of Gallup Politics tells us: PRINCETON, NJ — Creating good jobs, reducing corruption in the federal government, and reducing the federal budget deficit score highest when Americans rate 12 issues as priorities for the next president to address. Americans assign much less…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Campaign 2012, Tax PolicyThe Voluntary Buffett Rule and Designated Tax Payments
Professor Todd Henderson supports the Buffett Rule but says it should be voluntary: We can now add actor Will Smith to the growing list of celebrities, business leaders, and politicians who have recently come forward to complain that they don’t pay enough in taxes. Bill Gates has volunteered to pay more. So too has Warren…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Tax PolicyMaryland to Increase Taxes on “Rich” Residents Earning More than $100K Per Year?
Tax Policy Blog reports that the Maryland legislature is considering whether to pass a law that would raise tax rates on wealthy individuals. And what is considered wealthy in Maryland? $100,000.00 of annual income: Maryland’s tax special session began today; expect more analysis on it from us tomorrow. However, we just received detail on S.B.…
Read Full Article Categorized in: State Taxes, Tax PolicyWealth Flight: Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Renounces U.S. Citizenship to save Taxes
Roger Russell of WebCPA reports that Eduardo Saverin, a co-founder of Facebook, has renounced his U.S. citizenship prior to the company going public in a move apparently designed to limit his U.S tax liabilities: The Brazilian-born resident of Singapore took the action last year, and his name appears on an IRS list of people who…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Tax PolicySenate Votes Down S Corporation Changes
A few days ago the Senate failed to pass Senate bill S. 2343, the “Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012 which would have limited the ability of S corporation shareholders to classify payments made to them by their corporations as distributions thereby avoiding self employment tax. Tony Nitti has the story: The bill would have…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Legislative Watch, S Corporations, Tax PolicyAmerican Taxpayers’ Taxes Exceed their Living Expenses
Kevin Duncan of The Tax Foundation writes in Americans Paying More in Taxes than for Food, Clothing, and Shelter: In 2012, Americans will pay approximately $4.041 trillion in taxes, which is $152 billion, or 3.9%, more than they will spend on housing, food, and clothing. … Between 1929 and the early 1980s, aggregate tax collections…
Read Full Article Categorized in: News, Tax PolicySeven Major Tax Uncertainties
David Rosenberg On Taxation-Shock-Syndrome: While nothing is more certain than death and taxes (and central bank largesse), David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff uncovers The Unlucky seven major tax-related uncertainties facing households and businesses that will likely lead to multiple compression in markets (rather than the much-heralded multiple expansion ‘story’ which appears to have topped the…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Tax PolicyFiscal Times: The Buffett Rule is an “Empty Shell”
By way of Paul Caron, Liz Peek of Fiscal Times explains why the Buffett Rule is pile of propagandistic nonsense (emphasis added): Fiscal Times, Obama’s ‘Buffett Rule’ Fails the Tax Reform Test, by Liz Peek: President Obama has a new favorite possession – the “Buffett Rule.” Like a poodle with a new chew-toy, Mr. Obama can’t…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Tax PolicyWealth Tax, Conservatism and the Right to Privacy
In today’s WSJ, Stanford economics professor Ronald McKinnon makes what he calls a “conservative” case for a wealth tax (the emphasis is mine): In order to have a fairer tax system, we should implement a new federal wealth tax in addition to the federal income tax. Unlike the current income tax, the wealth tax would not rely on how…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Tax PolicyChart: Tax Rates by Zipcode
Here is an interesting chart from the Tax Foundation that shows the average effective tax rate by zip code. The bluest areas have the highest tax rates and the light brown areas the lowest: Before you rely on this chart, check out Mary O’Keefe’s post Am I Colorblind? How Can This Tax Map be Correct?
Read Full Article Categorized in: Tax PolicyWealth Flight Update
Kay Bell reports: Democrats who control the New Jersey legislature are vowing to revive the state’s millionaire’s tax. The state’s Republican governor releases data showing that higher taxes drive out New Jersey’s top income earners. Coincidence much? No, politics as usual. Dr. Charles Steindel, the top economist for the N.J. Treasury Department, and two colleagues…
Read Full Article Categorized in: News, Tax PolicyAdam Smith.Org: UK’s Fat Tax Won’t Work
From AdamSmith.Org Fat Taxes Won’t Prevent People From Getting Fat, Fatheads: Research released last week suggested that people in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland should follow an ‘English’ diet to reduce levels of obesity. Fair enough, but unfortunately they also recommended imposing this diet by taxing fatty foods. ‘Sin’ taxes do not merely fail in…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Tax PolicyVOW to Hire a Hero Tax Credit Rewards Employers for Firing a Hero
Read Joe Kristan’s Hire a Vet, Fire Someone Else for yet another reason to distrust government. In it he tells of a new law, the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, which gives a tax credit to employers who hire veterans. A very nice gesture, don’t you think? Not so fast Kowalski. The geniuses on Capitol Hill failed to include…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Credits, Tax PolicySCOTUS to Hear Health Care Mandate Challenge
The United States Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services. The main issue before the court is, [W]hether the Affordable Care Act‘s mandate that virtually every individual obtain health insurance exceeds Congress‘s enumerated powers and, if so, to what extent (if any) the mandate can be severed from the…
Read Full Article Categorized in: News, Supreme Court, Tax PolicyMessage to 99% of Americans: The Top 1% Pay 37% of Federal Income Taxes
Kiplinger has a neat little widget that tells you where you stand as an income earner relative to other taxpayers. Here is the entry for someone with $350,000 of adjusted gross income: Your $350,000 adjusted gross income (AGI) puts you in the top 1% of earners. The top-earning 1% of taxpayers reported 16.93% of all…
Read Full Article Categorized in: News, Tax Policy, The Economy