Lots to report today, BUZZ-wise.
* The TAX POLICY BLOG tells us that the Tax Foundation has “re-released the 2009 version of Facts and Figures, a pocket-sized booklet comparing the 50 states on 37 different measures of taxing and spending, including individual and corporate income tax rates, business tax climates, excise taxes, tax burdens and state spending. The number and significance of state tax changes that have occurred in the first half of 2009 has necessitated the first mid-year update of the booklet in the annual publication's history.”
.
Click here to download a PDF version of the booklet.
.
* The TAX POLICY BLOG also reports that “Tax Burden of Top 1% Now Exceeds That of Bottom 95%”. According to the post -
.
“Newly released data from the IRS clearly debunks the conventional Beltway rhetoric that the ‘rich’ are not paying their fair share of taxes and disproportionately benefited from the Bush tax cuts.
Indeed, the IRS data shows that in 2007—the most recent data available—the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following the 1986 tax reform act.
Remarkably, the share of the tax burden borne by the top 1 percent now exceeds the share paid by the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers combined. In 2007, the bottom 95 percent paid 39.4 percent of the income tax burden. This is down from the 58 percent of the total income tax burden they paid twenty years ago.”
.
* And before we leave the TAX POLICY BLOG – they also look at the various federal, state and local taxes paid by Americans and “provide the relative magnitude of various taxes in the U.S. based upon how much Americans remitted in various taxes in calendar year 2007” in the Post “What Taxes Do Americans Pay”.
* Mountain Biker TomK continues his discussion on regulating tax preparers in “Tax Talk - Part 2” at THE MTBIKING TAX PRO.
.
Tom says –
.
“BUT if and when this comes about I want it to be across the board. I want ALL who do or are associated with preparing; examining, questioning, auditing, etc of individuals, businesses, estates, etc. tax returns should have eventually the same license or classification. Doesn't that just seem fair?”
.
* And Monica Lawver, the TAX CPA, gives us her take on my post “Manual Labor” in “Pencil or PC?”.
.
* TAX PROF Paul Caron outlines “Gingrich's Tax Reform Plan”. Newt Gingrich, now there’s a name we haven’t heard in a while.
.
* Paul also gives us a look at tax form “W-K9: Pet Tax Return”. You can click here to check out Form 1040-DOG.
* Joe Kristan discusses a recent Tax Court case that indicates “Home is Where the Job Is”.
.
His bottom line – “You may not live at work, but as far as the tax law is concerned, your home is where your job is.”
.
* Joe discusses another case in which “a Shaklee dealership went a bit overboard” in deducting expenses in “Don’t Take Your Work Into the Bathroom”.
.
As I said in my comment on the post – We always referred to the "jake" in our tax office as the "law library". It was where we would go to do our research.
.
* Fellow twit Chad Bordeaux has done some research to verify that “Small Business is the Lifeblood of the US Economy” over at BEANCOUNTER RAMBLINGS.
.
Chad’s bottom line –
.
“Small business is without a doubt the lifeblood of the American economy, and we need to do everything we can to allow entrepreneurs the opportunity to be successful. We have to remove burdens and roadblocks to success - not reinforce them.”
.
* Chad also lets us know that apparently “Cash for Clunkers is Dead”.
.
Chad has been away from blogging for too long, and I look forward to his promised return to regular posting.
.
* Check out these WW2 cartoons with Donald Duck at YouTube - “Income Tax Propaganda Cartoon” and “The Other Donald Duck Tax Propaganda Film”. They were made before federal income withholding was enacted.
.
* Prof Jim Maule tells us that “Not Paying Taxes No Obstacle to Being Hired by Government” over at MAULED AGAIN.
.
He brings us the disturbing news that –
.
“According to an article by Patrick Kerkstra and Dylan Purcell in the Philadelphia Inquirer, at least 2,000 city employees are tax delinquents with respect to city taxes. They include a ward leader currently holding a patronage job who hasn’t paid real estate taxes for more than 20 years, several dozen who are employed in the Law Department, the Revenue Department, and the Board of Revision of Taxes, almost 20 who work as City Council aides, and a former candidate for City Council who is now an aide.”
.
I am sure that this is not limited to the City of Brotherly Love. I seem to remember reading about a large number of federal employees who owed back income taxes as well as many government vendors.
.
It seems that one way to make a big dent in the federal and state budget shortfalls is to garnish the wages of government employees and payments to government vendors who owe back taxes.
.
Speaking of garnishments – back when I was still an “apprentice” tax preparer we had a client, a Hoboken police officer, who always told us that he wanted to make sure to pay all his income taxes because he did not want Uncle Sam to “gonorrhea his wages”.
.
* The Small Business Taxes and Management website gives some good advice in its July 31st News offerings –
.
“If you want to sustain your deductions, the best evidence is always written. That means receipts, invoices, canceled checks, purchase and sale agreements, cash register tape, etc. Some deductions can be evidenced by a contemporaneous diary (e.g., mileage). The IRS may, but doesn't have to, accept verbal testimony.”
.
* Vermont and Louisiana are taking a cue from New Jersey’s recent success and implementing Tax Amnesty programs.
.
* Kerry Kerstetter always manages to find the best tax-related cartoons. Check out “A ‘No New Taxes’ pledge isn't good enough...”
.
TTFN
* The TAX POLICY BLOG tells us that the Tax Foundation has “re-released the 2009 version of Facts and Figures, a pocket-sized booklet comparing the 50 states on 37 different measures of taxing and spending, including individual and corporate income tax rates, business tax climates, excise taxes, tax burdens and state spending. The number and significance of state tax changes that have occurred in the first half of 2009 has necessitated the first mid-year update of the booklet in the annual publication's history.”
.
Click here to download a PDF version of the booklet.
.
* The TAX POLICY BLOG also reports that “Tax Burden of Top 1% Now Exceeds That of Bottom 95%”. According to the post -
.
“Newly released data from the IRS clearly debunks the conventional Beltway rhetoric that the ‘rich’ are not paying their fair share of taxes and disproportionately benefited from the Bush tax cuts.
Indeed, the IRS data shows that in 2007—the most recent data available—the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following the 1986 tax reform act.
Remarkably, the share of the tax burden borne by the top 1 percent now exceeds the share paid by the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers combined. In 2007, the bottom 95 percent paid 39.4 percent of the income tax burden. This is down from the 58 percent of the total income tax burden they paid twenty years ago.”
.
* And before we leave the TAX POLICY BLOG – they also look at the various federal, state and local taxes paid by Americans and “provide the relative magnitude of various taxes in the U.S. based upon how much Americans remitted in various taxes in calendar year 2007” in the Post “What Taxes Do Americans Pay”.
* Mountain Biker TomK continues his discussion on regulating tax preparers in “Tax Talk - Part 2” at THE MTBIKING TAX PRO.
.
Tom says –
.
“BUT if and when this comes about I want it to be across the board. I want ALL who do or are associated with preparing; examining, questioning, auditing, etc of individuals, businesses, estates, etc. tax returns should have eventually the same license or classification. Doesn't that just seem fair?”
.
* And Monica Lawver, the TAX CPA, gives us her take on my post “Manual Labor” in “Pencil or PC?”.
.
* TAX PROF Paul Caron outlines “Gingrich's Tax Reform Plan”. Newt Gingrich, now there’s a name we haven’t heard in a while.
.
* Paul also gives us a look at tax form “W-K9: Pet Tax Return”. You can click here to check out Form 1040-DOG.
* Joe Kristan discusses a recent Tax Court case that indicates “Home is Where the Job Is”.
.
His bottom line – “You may not live at work, but as far as the tax law is concerned, your home is where your job is.”
.
* Joe discusses another case in which “a Shaklee dealership went a bit overboard” in deducting expenses in “Don’t Take Your Work Into the Bathroom”.
.
As I said in my comment on the post – We always referred to the "jake" in our tax office as the "law library". It was where we would go to do our research.
.
* Fellow twit Chad Bordeaux has done some research to verify that “Small Business is the Lifeblood of the US Economy” over at BEANCOUNTER RAMBLINGS.
.
Chad’s bottom line –
.
“Small business is without a doubt the lifeblood of the American economy, and we need to do everything we can to allow entrepreneurs the opportunity to be successful. We have to remove burdens and roadblocks to success - not reinforce them.”
.
* Chad also lets us know that apparently “Cash for Clunkers is Dead”.
.
Chad has been away from blogging for too long, and I look forward to his promised return to regular posting.
.
* Check out these WW2 cartoons with Donald Duck at YouTube - “Income Tax Propaganda Cartoon” and “The Other Donald Duck Tax Propaganda Film”. They were made before federal income withholding was enacted.
.
* Prof Jim Maule tells us that “Not Paying Taxes No Obstacle to Being Hired by Government” over at MAULED AGAIN.
.
He brings us the disturbing news that –
.
“According to an article by Patrick Kerkstra and Dylan Purcell in the Philadelphia Inquirer, at least 2,000 city employees are tax delinquents with respect to city taxes. They include a ward leader currently holding a patronage job who hasn’t paid real estate taxes for more than 20 years, several dozen who are employed in the Law Department, the Revenue Department, and the Board of Revision of Taxes, almost 20 who work as City Council aides, and a former candidate for City Council who is now an aide.”
.
I am sure that this is not limited to the City of Brotherly Love. I seem to remember reading about a large number of federal employees who owed back income taxes as well as many government vendors.
.
It seems that one way to make a big dent in the federal and state budget shortfalls is to garnish the wages of government employees and payments to government vendors who owe back taxes.
.
Speaking of garnishments – back when I was still an “apprentice” tax preparer we had a client, a Hoboken police officer, who always told us that he wanted to make sure to pay all his income taxes because he did not want Uncle Sam to “gonorrhea his wages”.
.
* The Small Business Taxes and Management website gives some good advice in its July 31st News offerings –
.
“If you want to sustain your deductions, the best evidence is always written. That means receipts, invoices, canceled checks, purchase and sale agreements, cash register tape, etc. Some deductions can be evidenced by a contemporaneous diary (e.g., mileage). The IRS may, but doesn't have to, accept verbal testimony.”
.
* Vermont and Louisiana are taking a cue from New Jersey’s recent success and implementing Tax Amnesty programs.
.
* Kerry Kerstetter always manages to find the best tax-related cartoons. Check out “A ‘No New Taxes’ pledge isn't good enough...”
.
TTFN
No comments:
Post a Comment