The Tax Lawyer's Blog

Obama Says Raise Taxes on Millionaires

WebCPA reports that President Obama used his weekly address to say it was necessary to raise taxes on the wealthy to help close the budget deficit. Obama pointed out that Democrats and Republicans have already identified more than $1 trillion in spending cuts. But he added that it was necessary to also look at every…

What Now for the Bush Tax Cuts?

Howard Gleckman of Tax Vox lists the options Congress and the President have regarding the Bush tax cuts in The Lame Duck Congress and the Fate of the Bush Tax Cuts: So what will happen? Here are the options: Adopt Obama’s tax hike on high earners. It is dead. Even the President now says he is…

A Chap from Hawaii

There once was a chap from Hawaii Who said he wouldn’t tax high ye. He spent like a drunk, The bottom line shrunk, Now he taxes ye tan and ye Pepsi      

President Obama’s Version of the Beatles’ “I Am the Taxman”

The Bank Tax is Called the F_ C_ _R Fee

Last week the White House issued a press release on the newly proposed bank tax that contained these statements from President Obama: My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are owed. And my determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at the very…

Is the Bank Tax Unconstitutional?

The New York Times reports that the banking industry is not taking the proposal of a special bank tax lying down (emphasis added): In an e-mail message sent last week to the heads of Wall Street legal departments, executives of the lobbying group, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, wrote that a bank tax…

Cadillac Tax, Labor Unions, Maggot Cheese and The Metamorphosis

“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from a troubled dream, he found himself changed in his bed into a giant cockroach.”  - First line of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis - Whoever coined the adage, “don’t tax me, don’t tax thee, tax the guy behind the tree,” knew whereof he spoke.  WebCPA reports that President Obama and Congressional Democrats…

Obama Tax Report Card: Brookings Institute

Ted Gayer of the Brookings Institute grades President Obama on taxes (Time: 01:44):

Tax Planning: Last Minute Moves

Less than a week left to do year end 2009 tax planning and William Perez gives us a neat list of the traditional year-end moves: Tax planning at the end of the year involves a few basic ideas: if you can, defer taxable income to the following year; if you can, accelerate tax deductions into this…

A Tax Incentive for New Hiring?

Steven Ohlemacher of the Associated Press reports that President Obama has proposed a tax incentive for small business to add new workers: Lawmakers have been working for several months to develop a tax credit for businesses that hire workers, but they have been unable to figure out how to do it in a way that…

IRS to Pursue Tax Cheats Hard

Kay Bell of Don’t Mess With Taxes writes about the IRS’s intensified program to find and prosecute rich tax evaders in Get Ready for Increased Audits: “The [amnesty] initiative is part of a much broader effort to crack down on offshore tax evasion,” [IRS Commissioner Doug] Shulman said. He noted that the IRS also plans to…

Federal VAT Coming, KPMG Warns

We told you so. WebCPA reports that the international accounting firm KPMG  (formerly Peat Marwick Mitchell for whom I worked in the early 80′s) warns that the U.S. may seek to broaden the tax base by enacting a federal value added tax or VAT : A new study by KPMG has found more governments worldwide imposing…

Tax Piranha

I saw on the Discovery Channel the other day a school of frenzied Piranha violently devour a duck in three seconds. I think it’s an apt metaphor for what is happening now as President Obama and his spendthrift cohorts in Congress, tax fangs out, hungrily circle everything that moves. Of course when you’re running up deficits to an estimated $9 trillion you…

Taxing the Rich to Reduce the Deficits: Is it Enough?

Earlier this week CNBC’s Erin Burnett asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s a question about whether tax increases would be required to fund healthcare reform and reduce the deficit. Here’s the exchange according to the Washington Post: Asked by Burnett: “Will taxes go up?”, Geithner began, “I want to do it this way…I want to do it carefully…” He went on…

Healthcare Cartoon

Another timely cartoon from Michael Ramirez of Investors’ Business Daily: