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

 

* A client recently emailed me to ask if he should apply for an “IP PIN” - Identity Protection Personal Identification Number – since he learned his Social Security Number was compromised as part of the recent National Public Data hack (to find out if your SSN was included in the data breach click here).

My experience with an IP PIN in the past was the very few times the IRS issued one to a client due to a potential identity theft discovered by the Service.  I was not aware that a taxpayer could request such a number.  Apparently, it can.  And “IRS encourages all taxpayers to sign up for an IP PIN for the 2025 tax season” –

“As the 2025 tax season approaches, the IRS encourages all taxpayers to take an important step to safeguard their identity by signing up for an identity protection personal identification number (IP PIN). . . Signing up early will ensure taxpayers have extra safety by having an IP PIN to electronically file their returns when the filing season begins in 2025.”

As I said to my client – “It couldn’t hurt”.

* More proof that Trump doesn’t know his arse from a hole in the ground about anything, especially economics, from Andrew Leahey at FORBES.COM – “Trump’s Tariffs Would Cost Trillions—And We Learned This A Century Ago” (highlight is mine) -

“Trump’s 20% tariffs would take a massive toll on American households—especially those least able to afford it. History has shown us the damage that tariffs can do, and it’s a lesson we would be wise to remember.”

* The TAX FOUNDATION has just released it's “2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index”.

The 10 best states in the 2025 Index:

1.   Wyoming

2.   South Dakota

3.   Alaska

4.   Florida

5.   Montana

6.   New Hampshire

7.   Texas

8.   Tennessee

9.   North Dakota

10.Indiana

The 10 worst states in the 2025 Index:

   41. Massachusetts

   42. Hawaii

   43. Vermont

   44. Minnesota

   45. Washington

   46. Maryland

   47. Connecticut

   48. California

   49. New Jersey (no surprise - rdf)

   50. New York

THE LAST WORD –

Forget politics and policy. 

Trump has proven himself time and again to be the absolute worst human being to seek, or hold, the office of President in US history.

Trump is completely devoid of intelligence, character, integrity, honor, humanity, sympathy, and empathy.  He does not possess a single redeeming positive human quality or value.  He is a malignant narcissist who does not care one ounce about anyone or anything but himself and who has never performed a single totally unselfish act in his entire adult life. 

TTFN

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

 

* The IRS has released the first-round of 2025 inflation-adjusted tax numbers.  Click here.  I will prepare my WHAT’S NEW FOR 2025 report when all the numbers are in.

* The latest federal disaster relief – “IRS help available to victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton; May 1 deadline now applies to individuals and businesses”.

* And disaster relief from New Jersey (click here) – “The New Jersey Division of Taxation's general policy is to follow the latest federal guidelines provided by the IRS for special tax relief for taxpayers in the Presidential Disaster Relief Areas.”

* And, as NATP reports, also FBAR (not to be confused with FUBAR) – “FBAR deadlines postponed for victims of hurricanes Helene, Beryl and Debby, Tropical Storm Francine.”

* Kay Bell, the yellow rose of taxes, reports “New Tax Gap estimate hits $696 billion” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.

“The IRS calls this difference between projected true tax liability and the amount of tax that is actually paid on time the Tax Gap. . . An analysis of owed vs. payment projections for tax year 2022 shows an expected gross Tax Gap of $696 billion.”

* Stephanie Lai tells us about more frivolous tax proposals from Trump simply for the purpose of buying votes in “Trump considers no taxes for military, police and firefighters” at ACCOUNTING TODAY.

Instead of exempting the wages of police, firefighters, and the military from taxes Congress should exempt the flat clothing and expense allowances of police and firefighters from inclusion in W-2 income and allow police, firefighters, other first-responders, and teachers to deduct unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses in excess of any flat allowance without limitation.

The limited educator expense adjustment to income is based on a good idea, but any deduction should be expanded to all unreimbursed expenses and to include police, firefighters, and other first responders. 

Actually, the itemized deduction for net unreimbursed expenses for all employees should be reinstated and not subject to any AGI limitation.

THE LAST WORD –

Absolutely nothing is more important for the future of America this November than –

1) keeping Trump out of the White House, and

2) keeping today’s Republicans from gaining control of the House, the Senate, state legislatures, and local school boards.

The election is not about specific political policies or issues – but about protecting and maintaining American freedoms and democracy and true American values.

If Republicans win America loses!

TTFN

THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUMP'S MENTAL CONDITION

 

A big mistake made by many Americans is to treat Donald Trump as a “normal” and “legitimate” politician – the same way one would treat any other major Party politician.  However, Trump is neither “normal” nor “legitimate”.

Those who say he is “not ideological” are correct.  He has no political philosophy, beliefs, or convictions, as a “normal” and “legitimate” politician would.  His one and only belief and conviction is “Trump is great and Trump is good”.

We must be constantly reminded why Donald J. Trump is the only elected President, who was truly mentally unfit to serve.

The main reason is the fact that he suffers acutely from a mental disability known as “Narcissistic Personality Disorder”.

According to the Mayo Clinic –

“Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultra confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that is vulnerable to the slightest criticism.

A narcissistic personality disorder causes problems in many areas of life, such as relationships, work, school, or financial affairs. You may be generally unhappy and disappointed when you're not given the special favors or admiration you believe you deserve. Others may not enjoy being around you, and you may find your relationships unfulfilling.

Narcissistic personality disorder is one of several types of personality disorders. Personality disorders are conditions in which people have traits that cause them to feel and behave in socially distressing ways, limiting their ability to function in relationships and other areas of their life, such as work or school.

If you have narcissistic personality disorder, you may come across as conceited, boastful, or pretentious. You often monopolize conversations. You may belittle or look down on people you perceive as inferior. You may feel a sense of entitlement — and when you don't receive special treatment, you may become impatient or angry. You may insist on having "the best" of everything — for instance, the best car, athletic club or medical care.

At the same time, you have trouble handling anything that may be perceived as criticism. You may have secret feelings of insecurity, shame, vulnerability, and humiliation. To feel better, you may react with rage or contempt and try to belittle the other person to make yourself appear superior. Or you may feel depressed and moody because you fall short of perfection.

Many experts use the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association, to diagnose mental conditions. This manual is also used by insurance companies to reimburse for treatment.

DSM-5 criteria for narcissistic personality disorder include these features:

•Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance

•Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it

•Exaggerating your achievements and talents

•Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate

•Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special people

•Requiring constant admiration

•Having a sense of entitlement

•Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectations

•Taking advantage of others to get what you want

•Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others

•Being envious of others and believing others envy you

•Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner

Although some features of narcissistic personality disorder may seem like having confidence, it's not the same. Narcissistic personality disorder crosses the border of healthy confidence into thinking so highly of yourself that you put yourself on a pedestal and value yourself more than you value others.”

This mental disorder makes Trump incapable of intelligent and rational action, and incapable of dealing with criticism and challenges like a mature adult.

Trump is also a sociopath.

Again, according to the Mayo Clinic -

“Antisocial personality disorder, sometimes called sociopathy, is a mental condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to antagonize, manipulate or treat others harshly or with callous indifference. They show no guilt or remorse for their behavior.”

Among the symptoms of this disorder include -

• Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others.

• Being callous, cynical, and disrespectful of others.

• Arrogance, a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated.

• Lack of empathy for others and lack of remorse about harming others.

• Failure to consider the negative consequences of behavior or learn from them.

And Trump suffers from the “Dunning-Kruger Effect” – a type of cognitive bias where people with little expertise or ability assume they have superior expertise or ability.  This overestimation occurs because they don’t have enough knowledge to know they don’t have enough knowledge.

So, basically, Trump is too dumb to realize he is dumb.

TTFN

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

 

* This just in from the SSA – “Social Security Announces 2.5 Percent Benefit Increase for 2025”.

* ANCHOR Scam Alert -

"If you receive a text message allegedly from NJ requesting a reply Do NOT Reply!

The New Jersey Division of Taxation will not initiate a text exchange to request personally identifiable information regarding your ANCHOR benefit, or your income tax filing.

We urge you to contact us directly before providing any sensitive personal information in response to received communications claiming to be related to the ANCHOR program."

* A disaster tax relief trifecta from the IRS -

ü  “IRS relief now available to storm victims in parts of Illinois; multiple deadlines postponed to Feb. 3, 2025”

ü  “IRS provides relief for Helene; various deadlines postponed to May 1, 2025; part or all of 7 states qualify”

ü  “IRS relief now available to wildfire victims in parts of Washington; multiple deadlines postponed to Feb. 3, 2025”

* Daniel Hood reports some good news at ACCOUNTING TODAY – “IRS to double reach of Direct File in 2025”.

* No surprise here.  Economist Richard McGahey explains "Trump’s Economic Plans Don’t Add Up" at FORBES.COM (highlights are mine) -

“Analyzing Trump’s economics—or any of his policy ideas—is challenging, because they often are sound bites with little underlying analysis or detail. And Trump pushes out new ideas virtually every day, with no underlying analysis of their impacts, making it even harder to keep track of his proposals.”

THE LAST WORD –

It remains impossible for me to conceive how any voter could be “undecided” at this point.

Either you support defending and protecting American freedom, democracy, and values or you want a fascist state run by a crooked and corrupt, ignorant and incompetent delusional malignant narcist.

TTFN

FRIVILOUS TAX PROPOSALS

There have been several tax proposals put forth by the Presidential candidates, mostly from Trump, that are bad and illogical tax and economic policy (though tax law often seems to be devoid of logic) and are just gimmicks to “buy” votes made without any real thought or research.  For example – no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, taxing unrealized capital gains.

Tips and overtime pay are compensation – earned income.  There is no logic or reason to arbitrarily make some forms of compensation non-taxable.  It is like saying “no tax on the W-2 income of accordion players”.  If these types of compensation are totally tax-exempt it would hurt applicable employees in the short and long term by reducing or eliminating any Earned Income Credit and reducing potential Social Security benefits at retirement.  Recent studies have indicated that making tips tax-exempt would only benefit a very small number of individuals.

The biggest winners if these types of compensation are totally tax-exempt would-be employers in industries where employees earn most of their income from tips (like the Trump organization) or pay a lot of overtime, because it would substantially reduce the employers’ payroll tax cost (i.e. FICA match).

I would not necessarily oppose making Social Security tax-exempt.  Before the Reagan presidency Social Security was not taxed by “Sam”.  I would, however, prefer that Social Security be taxed like other retirement plan distributions.  The current method of taxing Social Security is unfair and just plain bad.

Also before the Reagan presidency, unemployment benefits were not taxed by “Sam”, although it appears nobody has proposed making unemployment tax-exempt.  I would support making unemployment benefits tax-exempt again.  This would have very little, if any, adverse “side-effects” – it is not subject to payroll tax and is not used in calculating the Earned Income Credit. 

Taxing “unrealized” capital gains (paper gains) is just plain bad economic and tax policy and should never become law.

Voters should ignore these tax proposals.  The only real issue in the 2024 election is defending and protecting American freedom, democracy, and values by voting against EVERY Republican candidate in EVERY election at EVERY level.  If Trump and today’s Republicans win America truly loses.

TTFN 

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

 

* More disaster relief – “IRS provides relief to South Dakota victims of severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding; various deadlines postponed to Feb. 3,2025”.

* Years ago, clients would often ask, usually facetiously, if they could deduct their cat or dog.  But the answer is not always “no”, as Kay Bell explains in “5 ways your pet might help cut your tax bill” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.

I discussed #4 here many years ago in "Doggie Deductions".

* Russ Fox tells us about “The Case of the Missing $632,825.18” at TAXABLE TALK.

The bottomline -

“Frankly, the IRS today rarely reads their mail timely or correctly. And that’s a huge issue.”

As I have said before, whenever I sent correspondence to the IRS (before the COVID closure) the taxpayer would eventually get a letter stating that the correspondence was received, but the Service need 90 days to review and respond.  Then 90 days later the taxpayer receives a second notice saying that another 90 days is needed.  Eventually the issue is resolved.

* Here is an “IRS reminder: Third estimated tax payment due Sept. 16; disaster-area taxpayers have more time “

THE LAST WORD –

It ain’t necessarily so.
It ain’t necessarily so.
The things that you happen to hear from a Republican
No, it ain’t necessarily so.

TTFN

NEVER FORGET!

 

 Police Officer Maurice Barry - PATH Emergency Service Unit - P.O. Shield #1038

A Port Authority officer for 16 years, Maurice "Moe" Barry, 48, was assigned to the PATH commuter train system. The resident of Rutherford, NJ, upon hearing the reports of the terrorist attacks, was one of the first on scene when he rushed from Jersey City to Lower Manhattan and then into the North Tower to help in the rescue efforts. As thousands fled the searing flames and smoke of the Towers, Officer Barry was attempting to reach trapped and frightened workers on the upper floors. The last time he was seen, he was on his way to the higher floors to get people out.
.
Moe had a history of heroism - he was involved in rescue efforts during an airplane crash at La Guardia airport; he once climbed a bridge to retrieve the body of a person electrocuted there; he was involved in the rescue effort during the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center; and he rescued a woman from her home, by boat, during Hurricane Floyd. Moe was also a volunteer for the Rutherford Ambulance Corps.

------------------------------------------------------

Most of us can remember exactly where we were and what we were doing on dates of historic importance.

The day President Kennedy was shot I was on a 6th Grade field trip to the Museum of Natural History in New York City. I was sitting in the theatre at the Hayden Planetarium watching a presentation when the show suddenly stopped. The lights went on and it was announced over the PA system that President Kennedy had been shot. We were all told to go home.

The day President Nixon resigned I was at a Crosby, Stills and Nash concert in Roosevelt Stadium on Route 440 in Jersey City (it no longer exists – it has been replaced by condos). CSN announced that Nixon had just resigned and proceeded to break into a rousing version of "Ohio" (“Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming…).

When the planes crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, I was on a Parker Tours escorted bus trip to Ocean City, Maryland. At the time of the attack our group was at the Assateague Island National Seashore. We were not told about it until we had returned to the bus and were driving back to our hotel, where we were supposed to attend a welcome reception. The reception was cancelled and we all went to our individual rooms to watch the tragedy unfold on television.

On September 11, 2001, my client, and fellow Dickinson High School Class of 1971 graduate (although we did not discover this until many, many years later when he happened to notice an award I had received from my high school graduating class that was hanging on the wall of the Newark Avenue office and said that he graduated from DHS in 1971 too), Maurice “Moe” Barry was one of the members of the Port Authority Police Emergency Response Team, among the “first responders” to the initial attack, who were killed when the tower collapsed.

Moe always came in to have his tax return prepared on the very last day of the season, April 15, 16 or 17 of each year, a long-standing tradition he first began as a client of my mentor Jim Gill before I “inherited” the practice. Each year when we saw Moe we knew it was almost over. One year he came in on April 10th and we told him to go away and come back on the 15th. To honor Moe’s memory I no longer work on 1040s on the last day of “the season”. For me the tax filing season ends each year on April 14th (or 15th or 16th). 

 

TTFN