Tuesday, May 28, 2019

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


The BUZZ is back in its “regular time slot” – Tuesday morning.

* Finally, a list on which New Jersey is not the last – or worst – state.  US News and World Report’s “Best States Rankings” puts NJ as #2 overall.  However, it is #49 in the category of “Fiscal Stability”.  And there is no specific category for “Taxes”.

I am surprised that PA is #41.

Washington is the best state in the nation, while Louisiana and Alabama are the worst,

* The NSTP BLOG tells us about the online IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search in “Tool Helps Donors Research Tax-Exempt Organizations “.

*  Some advice for recent college graduates from my “Dear Graduate” post in 2017 (that was actually a reprint of advice first given even earlier).

The only thing I would change – most definitely claim Single-0, and forget about Single-1, considering how FU-ed the withholding tables are.

BTW – the book is still available.

* What is the true legacy of the Trump Presidency?  Click here to find out.

* Over at ACCOUNTING TODAY Michael Cohn reports “House passes bill to help workers save forretirement”.


Two important, and welcomed (by me and others), changes for individual taxpayers in the bill –

+ increasing the minimum age for annual Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from 70 ½ to 72, and

+ allowing individuals with earned income to continue to contribute to an IRA after age 70½.

This may be one of the multitude of bills passed by the House that McConnell will allow to be voted on in the Senate (he refuses to submit any other legislation passed by the House), and may be one of the truly few bills that will actually be passed by Congress this year.

* Sam Brunson provides a detailed two-part discussion of the new “kiddie tax” in “The Kiddie Tax Needs a Better Fix” Part 1 and Part 2 at the SURLEY SUBGROUP blog.

For those curious about the blog title - the writers are apparently not “bad-tempered and unfriendly”, nor do they work for the firm of Surley and Sons.  Click here for a lengthy explanation of the title.

* The IRS is offering a free 100 minute webinar on the “Qualified Business Income Deduction (199A)” on Thursday, May 30, 2019.
   
THE LAST WORD

I didn’t think the 2-part season finale of NCIS LA could get better. It finally (I have been waiting for years) brought back Harm and Mac from JAG (the original NCIS was a “spin-off” of JAG).

But Part 2 also gave us the absolute best line in a scripted drama since the new CHARMED pilot had the character of Harry tells the sisters –

The Ancient Oracles predicted three signs of apocalypse. The first, ‘When the weakest of men reaches ill-gotten glory, and,’ oh, God, this goes on and on. The language is far too flowery for my taste. But suffice to say, it's your current president.”

In NCIS LA Hetty and Mac are talking to a Russian diplomat. The diplomat tells them -

If your president has done nothing else, he has proven that lies don't have to be good.”

TTFN









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