Friday, July 26, 2013

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


When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.” –P.J. O’Rourke


No comment.


* This past Tuesday’s McTax Hangout tv show topic = “Enrolled Agent (EA) What is it?

* Jason Dinesen explains “When Do Dependents Have to File a Tax Return?”, with a couple of scenarios.

* POLITICO PRO tells us “Senators Unsure of Steps for Tax Reform”.

I apologize, but what I found interesting in this post was the fact that there is a Senator named Crapo.

Again, no comment.  

* SAN DIEGO BUSINESS ADVISORS lists “Eight Tips to Help You Determine if Your Gift Is Taxable”.

#3 deals with a question I am often asked (highlight is mine) –

Generally, the person who receives your gift will not have to pay any federal gift tax. Also, that person will not have to pay income tax on the value of the gift received.”  

* Over at the ROTH AND COMPANY TAX UPDATE BLOG Joe Kristan brings us the word that “Man Who Supported Someone Elses Kid Gets Attaboy, but No Tax Credit”.
 
* Things that make you go “huh?” – “Baucus, Hatch Promise Lawmakers 50 Years Secrecy for Tax Comments” – from CCH.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and ranking member Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, have promised lawmakers 50 years of secrecy if they submit their preferences and justifications for which tax expenditures to save as the committee considers tax reform legislation, a Finance Committee aide has confirmed.”

Huh?
 

* Kelly Phillps Erb, FORBES.COM’s TaxGirl, lets us know that “Louisiana To Offer 'Fresh Start' Tax Amnesty Program” –

This year, taxpayers in Louisiana will have the opportunity to participate in the state’s ‘Fresh Start’ program. The state is offering tax amnesty for two months beginning September 23 and ending on November 22. The program is an opportunity for delinquent taxpayers to resolve their outstanding liabilities and with fewer penalties.”

Like me, Kelly is “a big believer in the idea of tax amnesty and I have been for years. It’s an opportunity for a fresh start. And it works, as I said in my first article to appear on Forbes.com ‘not because of the fear of getting caught but because of the opportunity to get it right’.”


The post is written to “nannys”, but for the most part applies to anyone in the same situation.

Being paid “off the books” or “under the table” “can have serious consequences for both the employer and the nanny because working off the books is illegal”.

* How much would you bet that this tax break remains in the rewritten Tax Code – “Lawmakers Benefit More From Second-Home Tax Break”?

FINANCIAL ADVISOR blogs –

Members of the congressional tax-writing committees are eight times more likely than the average American to own a second home with a mortgage, casting doubt on their eagerness to curb the tax break, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.”

This deduction would not make the cut in my new Tax Code.  I would limit the deduction to one’s primary principal residence.

TTFN

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