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

* In an item from last December that was recently referenced on Twitter the TAX FOUNDATION explains “The Economic and Distributional Impact of the Trump Administration’sTariff Actions”.

Key findings –

“The Trump administration has imposed $42 billion worth of new taxes on Americans by levying tariffs on thousands of products.”

“For taxpayers in the middle quintile, this represents a decrease of $146 in after-tax income.”

So much for moron Trump saying "China has been paying tariffs to the USA".  It is American companies and ultimately the consumer who actually pays the tariffs.  Clearly Trump doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground about anything.

* In response to the news of the arrival of the royal baby Kay Bell identifies “5 tax breaks to help offset child-rearing costs” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.

* Congratulations to Prof Annette Nellen on the 12^th Anniversary of 21st CENTURY TAXATION!

* Michael Cohn tells us “IRS fixes worksheet that miscalculated capital gains taxes” at ACCOUNTING TODAY.

“The Internal Revenue Service has posted a revised 2018 Schedule D Tax Worksheet in the instructions for Schedule D (Form 1040) after finding out that it contained an error that ended up calculating higher taxes for many investors.”

The item quotes the IRS as saying –

“Affected taxpayers need not file an amended return with the IRS or call the IRS.  The IRS is reviewing returns submitted prior to May 16; more information will be provided about this review later.”

It also suggests –

“Those taxpayers who might be potentially affected can always try to recalculate their regular tax using the new worksheet to see if it changes.”

The majority of my clients, and I expect the majority of taxpayers in general, used the “Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet” if applicable and not the Schedule D Tax Worksheet.  The Schedule D worksheet would only be used if a taxpayer had an entry on lines 18 and/or 19 on Page 2 of the 2018 Schedule D. 

* FORBES.COM’s “TaxGirl” Kelly Phillips Erb reports “IRS Offers Filing Relief For Taxpayers Affected BySoftware Outage”.

None of my clients were affected by software outage.  The tax preparation software I use is my brain.  In 48 tax seasons I have never personally used flawed and expensive tax preparation software to prepare a federal income tax return.

* Once again, like Oliver Twist the state of New Jersey is last on the list.

The list in question is the TAX FOUNDATION’s “2019 State Business Tax Climate Index”.

“New Jersey, for example, is hampered by some of the highest property tax burdens in the country, recently implemented the second highest-rate corporate income tax in the country, levies an inheritance tax, and maintains some of the nation’s worst-structured individual income taxes.”

The 10 best states in this year’s Index are:

  1. Wyoming

  2. Alaska

  3. South Dakota

  4. Florida

  5. Montana

  6. New Hampshire

  7. Oregon

  8. Utah

  9. Nevada

10. Indiana

The 10 lowest-ranked, or worst, states in this year’s Index are:

41. Vermont

42. Ohio

43. Minnesota

44. Louisiana

45. Iowa

46. Arkansas

47. Connecticut

48. New York

49. California

50. New Jersey

My current home state of PA is #34.

TTFN