Saturday, August 11, 2012

WHAT’S THE BUZZ? TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’

My first BUZZ as an official Pennsylvania resident!

* Over at THE MISSOURI TAXGUY, frequent guest-poster Jen Carrigan suggests you “Get a Roth IRA Now to Help You in the Future”.

A good idea, if you ask me.

Don’t forget to check out Bruce’s STORE while you are there.

* Jason Dinesen has begun “a multi-part series on one taxpayer’s saga with identity theft and the IRS”.  See “One Taxpayer’s Identity Theft Saga – Part 1” and “Part 2”and “Part 3”.

* Will Freeland makes some good points in “Misunderstanding Tax Reform: The Case of The Olympic Tax Elimination Act” at the Tax Foundation’s TAX POLICY BLOG, a response to the reaction to the fact that Olympic medalists’ winnings and stipends are taxable income.

I agree with Will when he says –

There is no reason to privilege the winnings of American Olympians over the income earned by any other hardworking citizen. Moreover, exempting Olympic prize winnings alone sets up a dubious special standard for Olympians over all other types of competitors. After all, why just exempt the prize winnings of Olympians? Other sports and activities also have prize winnings—should competitors in these events face less favorable tax treatment for their hard earned rewards?

And he is correct in his bottom line (the emphasis is mine) –

The formula for improving federal tax policy for America’s most outstanding athletes is no different than the formula for a better tax policy for every American: reduce the rates, eliminate loopholes, and move to a territorial or home system of income taxation that only taxes income earned in the U.S. Adding new exemptions and loopholes only complicates our tax code further and distracts from fundamental tax reform.”

* Kay Bell brings us “Tax Carnival #105: Dog Days of Taxes” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.

The entry “Fund a Teenager’s Million-Dollar Retirement” from MAROTTA ON MONEY echoes an item I wrote over a dozen years ago (before I even began blogging – and when interest rates were much higher).  The concept is the same, and still sound – contributing to an IRA for your child during their teen years can result in a million-dollar retirement fund (and a ROTH makes it even better – as the fund is tax free) – but I did not even use 11% as an annual earnings when I first wrote the piece.  If Marotta knows how to earn an average 11% per year, please share this with us.

I am not represented this month – as all of my posts lately have been BUZZ installments.

* Kay follows up her Tax Carnival by telling us “IRS Ignored Fake Tax ID Numbers, Potentially Costing Treasury Billions”.

"Internal Revenue Service supervisors urged employees to ignore possibly fake ITIN applications.

That's the finding of a recent Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) investigation, which was prompted by complaints of IRS employees about the lax ITIN verification process.”

* I especially like the beginning and the end of Robert W Wood’s post “'Use it or Lose it' Applies To Your Taxes” at FORBES.COM -

There’s a lot about tax laws that is hard to understand. The rules are technical and numerous. Some are downright Byzantine.”

And -

. . . our tax system is bloated to the bursting point. It is massively over-complicated and needs an overhaul not just of tax rates.”

And the rest of the post is spot on as well.

* EFILE.COM provides an excellent review of “How to Claim a Qualifying Child as a Dependent for Tax Deductions”.

* Tax pros – don’t forget to check out my Special Summer Savings!

THE LAST WORD

What will I miss about living in New Jersey?

The Cream of Potato soup at GINO’s RESTAURANT on Central Avenue in Jersey City. 

WLIW and WNJN (or whatever it is called now) – because of the British mysteries and sitcoms that they showed.  I will still get “Masterpiece Mystery”, but need to investigate further to see what other British tv shows appear on the PA PBS station.

And being able to walk one block, hop a bus, and be in midtown Manhattan in less than an hour for a night, or afternoon, at the theatre.  I will still come back for a Broadway show once or twice a year (finally going to see THE WIZ in October).

I will still visit LBI occasionally for shows at the Surflight Theatre (I have a booking at the Coral Seas Oceanfront Motel scheduled for September), so nothing to miss there.

That’s about it.

TTFN

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