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

I'll wait for the agreed-upon PATH Act (nothing to do with taking an underground train from NJ to NY) to be signed into law by BO, which he is expected to do, before posting about it.

* New from the IRS - “2016 Standard Mileage Rates for Business, Medical and Moving Announced” -

ü  54 cents per mile for business miles driven (down from 57.5 cents)
ü  19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes (down from 23 cents)
ü  14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations  

  * Did you see Tuesday’s post at BOBSERVATIONS?  Well do it now!  You still have time to answer my trivia challenge.  

* William Perez explains “Moving? How to Tell the IRS about a Change of Address” at ABOUT.COM –

“It's a good idea to let the Internal Revenue Service and any state tax agencies if you move.”

* The “Tax Year In Review” posts have begun.  Professor Annette Nellen of 21^st CENTURY TAXATION started a series on the “Top Ten Items of Tax Policy Interest for 2015”.

“#1” = “Congress can alter our tax system via a lot of non-tax bills.  In 2015, we saw ten bills enacted (as of 12/11/15) with tax changes. Yet, these bills were not intended to be tax bills, they all had a different primary purpose such as enacting trade deals or funding the Highway Trust Fund. Various tax changes were added in, many of which had been around for a while.”

 

This is because the idiots in Congress can't just sit down and pass a bill specifically and solely to deal with an issue - they always have to tack extraneous stuff, often pork, on.  

* It seems that Pennsylvania also has a property tax rebate for the elderly and the disabled, which also applies to tenants.  We are told the “Property Tax/Rent Rebate Claim Deadline is Dec. 31”.

* Jason Dinsesen continues his series on “Glossary” at DINESEN TAX TIMES WITH a review of the deduction for “Casualty and Theft Loss”.

* A fellow tax pro posted the following on a closed tax-preparer Spacebook group-

“Things I am grateful for:

1. Waiting on hold with the IRS at 8:30 AM for 45 minutes to ask a simple question relating to a client; literally took 30 seconds for the answer.

2. The IRS giving out my email to hundreds of 'education providers' that popped up since the RTPT debacle.

3. The AFTR creation AFTeR the RTPT because we all know this is going to stop fraud just like Dodd-Frank Act and a slew of other laws have protected consumers.

4. The enormous waste of taxpayers’ funds with the RTPT/AFTR while they complain about not having enough money allocated from Congress yet they can’t hire a few more warm bodies to answer the phone. Perhaps the focus of the budget is in the wrong place.”

Right on!

THE FINAL WORD

Trump makes a fortune selling products with his name attached – Trump Steaks, Trump Ties, etc.

He is currently in negotiation for developing a line of Trump Ice Cream made from his feces, and a men’s cologne based on his flatulence.

For Trump supporters who do not understand wit (hey, at least attempted wit) I will explain the above simply – idiot Trump is so arrogant he thinks his shit is ice cream and his farts are perfume.

TTFN