WHAT’S THE BUZZ, TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’ – WEDNESDAY EDITION

A day late – but not necessarily a dollar short.   

* There is still time to take my TAX PROFESSIONAL SURVEY at THE TAX PROFESIONAL.  A new post will be up later this morning.

* How would you answer Kelly Phillips Erb’s (aka FORBES.COM’s TaxGirl) “Fix the Tax Code Friday” question from last week -

“If we scrapped all of the deductions under the Tax Code except one, which one would you want to hold onto?”

Actually this question will serve as the basis for my new post at THE TAX PROFESSIONAL.

* Want to know “How High Are Property Taxes in Your State?”  Check out the map from the TAX FOUNDATION.

It is no surprise to anyone who lives, or lived, in the “Garden State” that it is #1 on the list.  “New Jersey has the highest effective rate at 2.38%”.  NJ is “followed closely by Illinois (2.32%), New Hampshire (2.15%), and Connecticut (1.98%)”.   

The item also points out that New Jersey “impose{s} high property taxes alongside high rates in the other major tax categories.”

“Hawaii has the lowest effective rate at 0.28%, and is followed closely by Alabama (0.43%), Louisiana (0.51%), and Delaware (0.55%).”

My new home state of Pennsylvania is #13 on the list.

* Oi vey!  An “Extra 220,000 Hit by IRS ‘Get Transcript Breach’” Daniel Hood from ACCOUNTING TODAY tells us.

* THUMBTACK has released the results of its “2015 Small Business Friendliness Survey” – a report card on such components as –

§  Overall friendliness

§  Ease of starting a business

§  Ease of hiring

§  Regulations

§  Health & safety

§  Employment, labor & hiring

§  Tax code

§  Licensing

§  Environmental

§  Zoning

How did your state do?

* Can you get a “Tax Deduction with No Cash Outlay?”  Barbara Weltman says yes at BARBARA’S BLOG.  She explains –

“But under a special rule called domestic production activities deduction (DPAD), you can deduct 9% of your qualified domestic production activities income (after taking into account certain allocable costs).

This write-off is also called the Sec. 199 deduction and it’s on top of deductions you’ve already taken to generate the income. In effect, you get to double dip in tax breaks.”

* Let me leave you with “10 Facts You Need to Know About Required Minimum Distributions” from Sarah Brenner at THE SLOTT REPORT.

TTFN