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| Articles about Taxes |
| Obama Favors Raising Taxes on Veterans | | 2008-08-25 23:00:00 | | Is this headline accurate? Technically, yes. Sen. Barack Obama wants to raise taxes on high-income Americans, some fraction of whom are veterans. But this headline is also misleading because Barack Obama does not single out veterans for tax increases. I could have also said that he favors raising taxes on people who give to homeless shelters or that he favors tax cuts for convicted felons, and those statements would have been technically true as well, although misleading. But this type of misleading advertising is currently at work in Barack Obama's ad against John McCain's proposal to cut the corporate income tax. Obama and his surrogates constantly quote the fact that McCain's tax plan would cut taxes for Exxon Mobil. That's true, but misleading. His plan is to cut the corporate income tax rate across the board, thereby lowering taxes for all corporations that had a positive income tax liability, thereby leading to higher returns for shareholders and, in the long run, higher wages fo | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | | Blog Looks at Maryland, Virginia Taxes | | 2008-08-21 23:00:00 | | Blue Ridge Forum, a blog on Maryland and Virginia regional issues, quotes Tax Foundation materials in assessing the area's tax burdens:What would taxpayer advocates do without the Tax Foundation?Last week, that non-partisan professional group published a most instructive "County and City Income Taxes Clustered in States with Poor Tax Climates" here.[...]The Foundation followed up here this week with a list of Maryland county income taxesnoting that: "Nonresidents are not subject to the county income tax, but must pay to the state an amount equivalent to the lowest county tax rate (currently 1.25% - Maryland residents should thank Worcester County for keeping this low!)."The Forum goes on to discuss Josh Barro's blog post "State Lawmakers Promote Sound Tax Policy by Doing Nothing."Check it out here.Blog posts on Maryland and blog posts on Virginia. | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
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| Corporate Taxes Hitting the Editorial Pages | | 2008-08-20 23:00:00 | | Richard Rahn of the Cato Institute warned of the domestic and global impacts of America's corporate income tax in a Washington Times commentary this morning. Rahn cited the latest OECD report that shows America's corporate income tax rate being the second highest among industrialized nations, 50% higher than the average, a report that we have delved into as well. While confirming that the corporate income tax is the most harmful to economic growth, Rahn goes on to vilify politicians, like Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who seem to think that corporations aren't paying their "fair share":Unfortunately, the corporate income tax is often the favorite tax of fiscally irresponsible politicians because it is not easily seen. In fact, the corporate tax is paid by workers in lower wages and fewer new jobs, by consumers in higher prices and by savers and investors in lower rates of return.After correctly contextualizing the GAO report on corporate income tax payments, a study the | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Tax Foundation Launches CompeteUSA Campaign to Highlight Impact of High Business Taxes on U.S. Jobs and Wages | | 2008-08-18 23:00:00 | | When people hear the phrase "corporate taxes," they tend to tune out if they don't own a business, assuming that corporate taxes don't affect them. However, all Americans should be concerned about the impact of corporate taxes, not only on business owners but also on prices, shareholders, international competitiveness, and workers' wages.Today the Tax Foundation launched its CompeteUSA campaign to raise the public's awareness of America's high business tax rates and how those taxes have a "real-wallet" impact on our competitiveness, wages, and living standards.As part of this look at the "real-wallet" impact of business taxes, the CompeteUSA campaign will also talk about how the American worker shoulders a disproportionate amount of the corporate tax, and the fact that the poorest 20 percent of households pay more in corporate income taxes each year than they pay in individual income taxes. In fact, corporate taxes were 6.3 percent of low-income house | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Travel Deals: bmibaby seat sale, just pay taxes and charges | | 2008-08-18 22:50:00 | | UK based low cost airline bmibaby.com are having a quick fare sale - over 100,000 seats available, just pay taxes & charges.This offer ends midnight Tuesday 19th August and is available for travel from 10th September until 11th December 2008.fly from Birmingham Intl, Cardiff Intl, East Midlands, Manchester and Glasgow.bmibaby.com
| | By: itravelnet Travel Blog | | |
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| Under Obama the "Rich" Would Pay More than Half of All Taxes | | 2008-08-16 23:00:00 | | New analysis of Barack Obama's tax plan by the Tax Policy Center puts a hard number on the extent in which Obama would shift the nation's tax burden on to the so-called rich. Obama has been very clear that he would increase taxes on couples earning more than $250,000 (and singles earning more than $200,000) while cutting taxes for all other households. Obama's rhetoric gives the impression that middle-class taxpayers are paying a greater share of the tax burden than upper-income households and that his plan would correct this inequity. However, the reality is the 122.7 million taxpayers earning between $0 and $100,000 pay a collective 29 percent of all federal taxes while the 7.1 million taxpayers earning over $200,000 collectively pay 45.5 percent of the federal tax burden. Apparently Obama is not content with that ratio. According to Tax Policy Center estimates, Obama's plan would increase the burden on wealthy households by 5.9 percentage points while lowering the burden on those ea | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Real Estate Property Taxes and Assessment Loopholes | | 2008-08-16 10:34:32 | | Blanket assessments are made in a community to re-assess the property tax. Little time is allowed for this approximation of value and inaccuracies often creep in. It's not unusual that a multiplier factor is used to adjust property values. | | By: Crosby Finance | | |
| | NY May Offer Tax Credit for Volunteering to Pay Taxes | | 2008-08-14 23:00:00 | | With complaints of high property taxes in NY, Gov. David Paterson has proposed limiting property tax increases to 4 percent per year. However, the plan has some politicians and voters worried that schools will no longer receive adequate funding. Another bill recently introduced in the NY legislature is meant to help schools avoid cutting their budgets. The Educational Tax Incentives Act would provide a partial tax credit for donations to public education entities – school districts, specific public schools, or local education foundations – or private scholarship foundations (donations are already deductible for those who itemize, but a credit would be available to all taxpayers).The tax credit, available to individuals as well as businesses and corporations, is designed to encourage donations to schools. It sounds straightforward, but the credit has some interesting effects worth pondering. First, the credit is essentially a matching program. The NY government promises to f | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Thursday Video: Social Security (and Payroll Taxes) Turn 73 Years Old Today | | 2008-08-13 23:00:00 | | Today is the 73rd birthday of the Social Security system in the United States. Signed into law in 1935, the first payroll taxes were collected in 1937 and the first payment made in 1940. Although initially the system was designed to pay out benefits from a reserve fund, it was changed in 1939 to "pay-as-you-go"—payroll taxes that are collected are immediately paid out to current retirees. Taxes are split, with half deducted from employee paychecks and the other half paid by the employer. Consequently, early retirees enjoyed a large windfall: the first recipient, Ida May Fuller of Vermont, for example, paid $22.54 in payroll taxes but collected $22,888.92 in benefits before her death at age 100. Increased life expectancy and expanded benefits have led to increases in the Social Security payroll tax over time. Initially set at 2% (half each from employer and employee) in 1937-39, today it stands at 12.4% (6.2% each from employer and employee). In 2007, $481 billion in | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | C'est comment tu taxes qui compte! | | 2008-08-13 22:23:00 | | Je ne dis rien de neuf pour ceux dans les couloirs des départements d'économie, mais il est mieux de taxer la consommation et réduire l'impôt des entreprises pour financer les activités de l'État - tant et aussi longtemps qu'elles sont bien conçues! La taille de l'État n'est pas une variable significative dans la création de richesse, c'est comment l'État se finance. Si il se finance de la poche des impôts sur le bénéfice des sociétés, il réduit le stock de capital, les extrants | | By: Vincent Geloso: 100% libéralisé | | |
| | Sen. Levin Should Know That Corporate Income Taxes are Taxes on Profits; No Profits, No Taxes | | 2008-08-12 23:00:00 | | Yesterday we criticized the errors in an Associated Press story about a recent report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which found that many U.S. corporations had no corporate tax liability from 1998-2005. The study had been requested by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who immediately seized it as evidence of widespread corporate tax evasion: Senator Dorgan called the conclusions "a shocking indictment of the current tax system." "It’s shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country. The tax system that allows this wholesale tax avoidance is an embarrassment and unfair to hardworking Americans who pay their fair share of taxes. We need to plug these tax loopholes and put these corporations back on the tax rolls,” Dorgan said. "It’s time for the big corporations to pay their fair share." “This report makes clear that too many corporations are using tax trick | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Corporate Taxes: Who is Really Paying? | | 2008-08-12 13:00:39 | | Many corporations pay little or no income tax and some folks in Washington want to fix that problem. However, before they do, maybe they need to figure out what the problem is, first. Is it greed and a pirate mentality on the part of business, or is it the system that not only encourages corporations to play fast and loose with the tax code, but in many cases makes it a necessity of survival?
| | By: America's Best Companies Blog | | |
| | Finance Ministry cuts taxes on animal-feed | | 2008-08-10 05:16:00 | | Do Hoang Anh Tuan, deputy minister of finance has just signed a decision to reduce the import tax of some ingredients for animal food production.
The import tax on whey and whey powder has been cut from 10% to 2%, while soybean has been reduced from 2% to zero.
The decision aims to solve some difficulties for farmers following 20 to 50% increases in the price of animal feed ingredients in | | By: Vietnam Business Finance News | | |
| | | Windfall Profits Taxes: Still a Bad Idea | | 2008-08-04 23:00:00 | | Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal's editorial page took another much-deserved thwack at Barack Obama's execrable "windfall profits tax" proposal. (Unfortunately, between this idea and John McCain's gas tax holiday plan, we know that stupid energy tax gimmicks are de rigueur for today's presidential candidates.) The WSJ correctly notes that oil companies' profit margins are not outsized, and that companies like Google look a lot more "unreasonably" profitable than Exxon.High oil prices are a signal of strong demand and scarce supply, and they provide an incentive for increased production. Taxes discourage production because they drive a wedge between the price paid by the consumer and received by the supplier. Windfall profits taxes also drive up oil imports because they discriminate against domestic oil producers to the benefit of the Saudis and the Venezuelans—even Barack Obama lacks the power to impose production taxes on foreign oil producers. It's almost | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | | New Tax Foundation YouTube Video on Corporate Taxes | | 2008-07-30 23:00:00 | | A humorous new Tax Foundation YouTube video titled "Dream Job" addresses the problem of the United States' high corporate tax rate.While Americans pay close attention to individual tax rates, many tune out when the conversation turns to business taxes. This is a mistake. The tax climate for business should be important to all Americans, regardless of whether they actually own businesses themselves. Businesses pass their tax burdens on to their customers, employees, and shareholders. In fact, Tax Foundation research shows that in 2005 the average household paid $2,757 in business taxes.Anybody who owns stock in a company stands to lose if higher tax rates reduce that company's earnings growth. Additionally, basic economics tells us that a corporation forced to pay high taxes must offset that cost by taking one of three courses of action. Charge higher prices, although competitive pressures can limit this option. Pay less in profit to investors, but investors' funds are nimbly | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | New McCain Ad Accuses Obama of Wanting to Impose New Taxes on Electricity | | 2008-07-29 23:00:00 | | A new ad from Sen. John McCain is questioning whether Barack Obama is just a rock star, or whether he is ready to lead. But in the ad, McCain gets specific by accusing Obama of wanting to raise taxes on electricity. According to Newsday blogger John Riley, the source of this statement is based on a comment that Obama made to a newspaper in which he said "What We Ought To Tax Is Dirty Energy, Like Coal And, To A Lesser Extent, Natural Gas."While it is true that such a tax policy would amount to new taxes on electricity, what McCain does not tell you is that he supports what is essentially the same policy. McCain was one of the leading supporters of the Lieberman-Warner bill in the Senate, which was designed to combat climate change by implementing a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions (dirty energy) in the United States. And a cap-and-trade system that auctions off the permits (thereby charging companies for the right to emit pollu | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Nearly 8,000 Sales Taxes and 2 Fur Taxes: Reasons Why the Streamlined Sales Tax Project Shouldn't Be Quick to Declare Victory | | 2008-07-27 23:00:00 | | The Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) is a working group of revenue officials and experts, with the stated purpose of bringing simplicity and uniformity to sales taxes in the United States. There are nearly 8,000 sales taxing jurisdictions, each with their own bases and rates, and the enormous complexity involved in tracking borders and changes is a huge stumbling block to state efforts to impose tax on online sales. Member states (of which there are 22 so far) must adopt reforms to align their tax code with the SSTP. While the SSTP has made some progress on uniformity (they have succeeded, for instance, in a single accepted definition of "candy"—something everyone defined differently before), it appears to be giving up the effort on simplicity. At their New Orleans meeting last week, for instance, I asked if any effort was being made to reduce the number of sales taxing jurisdictions, and/or to align them with 5-digit zip codes. "No and no," was the sh | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | More Bogus E-mails About Obama and Taxes | | 2008-07-24 23:00:00 | | Earlier this year, the Tax Foundation was bombarded with questions about a bogus e-mail that had been floating around (also on message boards, blogs, etc.) comparing taxes under Bush to Clinton. The e-mail had many problems, which we documented here. Since then, we've also gotten questions about our corrected figures, claiming they were wrong. They are not, and it largely stems from a misunderstanding of how comparisons must take into account the fact that parameters in the tax code are adjusted for inflation each year, even with no direct policy change (i.e. that is the current law baseline).But that Clinton/Bush tax bogus content is still out there, and it is now being included in an e-mail chain attacking Barack Obama about taxes. (View the content of the e-mail here.) The e-mail makes incorrect claims about Obama's tax proposals, as described in the table below.E-mail claim FactObama would tax capital gains on ALL home sales at 28 percentObama's plan (like McCain's) does not change | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | American Airlines Case in New York Highlights Problems with Hotel Taxes | | 2008-07-22 23:00:00 | | If you've stayed in a hotel room in the United States, you probably paid tax on it. Not just your share of the hotel's property tax and income taxes (embedded in the price), and not even the sales tax imposed on the transaction. Virtually every city (or other local government unit) imposes a separate (higher) tax on hotel stays. Today at the National Conference of State Legislators in New Orleans, one speaker referred to raising hotel taxes as a great way to raise new revenue "without taxing your own folks." That's certainly true in a narrow parochial sense. But when everyone imposes a huge tax on hotel rooms, we're all taxing each other. Take New York City for instance, according to an editorial in yesterday's New York Sun: A $200 a night hotel room in the city is already subject to an 8.375% city and state sales and use tax - $16.75. There's a $1.50 a room tax on top of that to pay for the "Javits Center Expansion," which has not happened and doesn't ha | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | New IRS Data Show Top 1 Percent's Share of Income and Income Taxes Paid at All-Time High in 2006 | | 2008-07-17 23:00:00 | | The Tax Foundation has updated its annual summary of the latest federal income tax data given that the IRS has released the percentile data early this year (July as opposed to September).The basic story that comes from this newly available data for tax year 2006 is that the share of income (as measured by AGI) and the share of taxes paid by the top 1 percent of tax returns are once again at all-time highs.In 2006, the top 1 percent of tax returns paid 39.9 percent of all federal individual income taxes and earned 22.1 percent of adjusted gross income, both of which are significantly higher than 2004 when the top 1 percent earned 19 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI) and paid 36.9 percent of federal individual income taxes. In 1990, those figures were 14 percent and 25.1 percent, respectively.The latest summary of IRS data is available here: http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/250.htmlBy one measure of tax progressivity (the ratio of taxes paid to income ea | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Show-Me Institute on Local Income Taxes | | 2008-07-17 23:00:00 | | The Show-Me Institute in Missouri noticed our recent release of Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 133: "County and City Income Taxes Clusters in States with Poor Tax Climates," and wanted to point out a few of their studies on local income taxes in that state: How an Earnings Tax Harms Cities Like Saint Louis and Kansas City"By adopting an earnings tax, a city gives businesses and residents an incentive to locate production outside the city. People go where they will obtain the highest after-tax return on their labor or investments. In order to raise the return, people locate more productive capacity outside the city limits in order to avoid the tax burden. This incentive effect can account for why the city share of per capita income is smaller in cities with earnings taxes than without." http://showmeinstitute.org/publication/id.34/pub_detail.asp Saint Louis Can't Afford an Earnings Tax"How can a city that has so much going for it turn in such a depressing | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Maryland's County Income Taxes | | 2008-07-15 23:00:00 | | Our recent report on local income and wage taxes notes that all 23 Maryland counties impose an income tax on residents, but does not break them out. Based on a few requests, we do so here. A side note: Nonresidents are not subject to the county income tax, but must pay to the state an amount equivalent to the lowest county tax rate (currently 1.25% - Maryland residents should thank Worcester County for keeping this low!). Here are the local income taxes by county: Table 1Maryland County Income TaxesCountyCounty Income Tax Rate(for Residents) Allegany2.93% Anne Arundel 2.56% Baltimore County2.83%Baltimore City3.05% Calvert2.80% Caroline2.63% Carroll3.05% Cecil2.80% Charles2.90% Dorchester2.62% Frederick2.96% Garrett2.65% Harford3.06% Howard3.20% Kent2.85% Montgomery3.20% Prince George's3.10% Queen Anne's2.85% St. Mary's 3.00% Somerset3.15% Talbot2.25% Washington2.80% Wicomico3.10% Worcester1.25%Source: Tax Foundation, CCH, Maryland Comptroller office.More on Maryland taxes here. | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | New Tax Foundation Report Looks at County and City Income Taxes | | 2008-07-13 23:00:00 | | Beginning July 1, 2008, workers in Philadelphia will see a little bit more in their paychecks. That day marks the second reduction within a year in that city's wage tax imposed on both residential and nonresidential workers in Philadelphia, although it remains the highest in the nation. The new rates are 3.98% for residents (down from 4.219% in early 2008 and 4.26% in 2007) and (precise to the ten-thousandth digit) 3.5392% for nonresidents (down from 3.7242% in early 2008 and 3.7557% in 2007). Thus, a resident who earns $1,000 a week will keep $124 more per year; a nonresident earning that much will keep an additional $96. Local income or wage taxes can be a part of a sound tax system, particularly if revenue is used to reduce other taxes that may do more economic harm. Using local income tax revenue to reduce corporate income taxes or property taxes can still produce a friendly tax climate. However, local-level taxes on wages and income are clustering in areas with poor busin | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | State Taxes a ChildrenÂs Game | | 2008-07-10 23:00:00 | | Like children squabbling over a toy, state policymakers attempt to take tax dollars from residents of other states. Tax Foundation Tax Counsel Joe Henchman's BATSA brief sheds some light on the situation:State officials [...] have every incentive to pursue beggar-thy-neighbor tax policies designed to shift tax burdens from voting in-state residents to out-of-state residents and businesses unable to resort to the ballot box. Not only does democracy not prevent harmful tax exporting from occurring, it actually worsens it, since services can be provided to a majority of voters, paid for by non-voters.Interestingly, taxing nonresidents often encourages other states to inflict the same poor policies in a legal "Oh, yeah? Well, we'll show you!" counter. The Ohio tax code's list of exemptions provides an illustration:22. Sales of Motor vehicles to nonresidents (Sec. 5739.02 (B) (23), Ohio R. C.). Effective August 1, 2007, Ohio motor vehicle dealers must collect Ohi | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | McCain Fails to Pay Property Taxes for 4 Years on Californian Home | | 2008-06-28 23:13:38 | | John and Cindy McCain on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. (Photo by Flickr) John McCain hates taxes so much he just doesn’t pay them. When you’re John and Cindy McCain rich you have so many houses that you “forget to pay” your taxes on one of them. According to Newsweek, John McCain has not paid taxes on his La Jolla, California beach front home for the last 4 years. Newsweek pursued the matter which prompted McCain to finally pay his back taxes. John and Cindy McCain paid $6,744.42 that they owed in back taxes but still owe the county $1,742. The home will go into default on July 1 if the remainder of the taxes are not paid. An aide for the McCain campaign was asked about the outstanding amount owed and said, “The trust has paid all bills shown owing as of today and will pay all other bills due.” Being as rich as John and Cindy McCain are, you would think that they would have someone manage their bills so that they get paid on time. Either wa | | By: The Mersman Political Blog | | |
| | | Thursday Video: Spending for the Axis or Saving for Taxes | | 2008-06-25 23:00:00 | | This Donald Duck cartoon from 1943 ("The Spirit of '43") has a message: work hard for the war effort, and use your money for income taxes and not for personal consumption. Takeaway line: "[E]very American should pay his or her income tax, gladly and proudly. This year, thanks to Hitler and Hirohito, taxes are higher than ever before." Check out the history of federal income tax rates here, including 1943 when rates ranged from 19 percent to 88 percent (they would increase to 23 to 94 percent in 1944). More on income taxes here. | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Virginia Holds Legislative Special Session on Transportation Taxes | | 2008-06-22 23:00:00 | | Back in February, the Virginia Supreme Court invalidated seven regional taxes levied by the unelected Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA). Government officials reacted predictably-they proposed re-imposing the taxes statewide, and threatened to cancel most transportation projects unless it happens. It's not quite as bad as when Michigan threatened to stop burying people unless voters hiked taxes, but still a more palpable threat than the famous warning that the Washington Monument would have to be shut down if the Park Service budget was cut.Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) has a list of ideas for $1.1 billion in new taxes, which will be debated beginning today at a week-long legislative special session. Kaine's plan includes a 1 percent increase in the state sales tax in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads (to 6 percent), a new 1 percent tax on the sale of automobiles, a $10 increase in annual vehicle registration fees, as well as a 25 cent increase in grantor's tax (to | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | U.S. May Soon be Number 1 as Japan Looks to Cut Corporate Taxes | | 2008-06-22 23:00:00 | | Bloomberg is reporting that the U.S.'s status as the country with the second-highest overall corporate tax rate among industrialized nations could be coming to an end as the Japanese government has announced that it will consider cutting its top-ranked corporate tax in order to attract foreign investment and spur economic growth. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a0c9fhwz8QBU&refer=homeWhile the OECD average corporate tax rate is 27.6 percent, Japan's combined federal and regional corporate tax rate is 39.5 percent, slightly above the combined U.S. rate of 39.3 percent. Both countries are looking more and more as outliers as 27 countries cut their corporate taxes last year -- including the U.K., Germany, China, and Spain -- while Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have announced plans to cut their corporate taxes this year. Bloomberg cites a new study by the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute, which estimates that a "5 percentage-point cut in Japa | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Local Governments Imposing Punitive Taxes on Car Sharing | | 2008-06-22 23:00:00 | | With governments at all levels exhorting citizens to be more efficient in their gasoline usage, it seems surprising that local governments are slapping car sharing services (such as Zipcar) with punitive taxes.An article in last week's Wall Street Journal looks at the trend, which usually takes the form of imposing a fixed tax on both rental car companies and car sharing services if a car is rented for any part of a day. In Pittsburgh, for instance, users pay a flat $2 tax whether they rent from Enterprise for a day, or from Zipcar for an hour. Since Zipcar's rates average $9 an hour, it's a hefty tax burden. Rental car companies probably don't mind seeing their newest competition squirm a bit. And legislators are in no hurry to change things: The county executive's office says it is drafting an amendment that would exempt car sharing from the tax, but doesn't believe it will come up for a vote in the county council "anytime soon."[...]"Our position has been this is wron | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Thursday Video: Mondale's Pledge to Raise Taxes | | 2008-06-18 23:00:00 | | Earlier this week we linked to George H.W. Bush's 1988 video pledging "no new taxes" (see Read My Lips). Today we go four years before that, to 1984 Democratic Presidential Nominee Walter Mondale's convention acceptance speech, where he promised to raise taxes: In 1984, Tax Freedom Day stood at April 17, the lowest in ten years. Not until 2003 was it again so early in the year. (Tax Freedom Day 2008 was April 23.) It's beyond my knowledge whether Mondale was right or wrong, or if this moment was a brave gesture of honesty, or campaign suicide. But it's an interesting tax moment in American politics. | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Our Pain Their Gain: Expect MORE Fuel Taxes | | 2008-06-09 10:16:00 | | Well, at least most of us should expect to see even higher fuel costs. Like us in California, many other states fuel taxes are tied, through amazingly complex formulas which rise as the cost of fuel rises. And with the National Average for fuel now exceeding $4 a gallon, (actually $4.02, but who's counting right?), it's really starting to put the pinch on the average Joe's pocketbook.Personally, I won't be even the least bit surprised if gas reaches an average $6 a gallon Nationwide by next summer. If not earlier. I'm actually betting on it.But with fuel prices continuing to climb daily, most (not all) State Governments have devised a spectacularly amazing idea (in their minds only) to help "ease our pain" at the pump. Their plan? To add MORE taxes! Yeah! That's the answer! Erm, wait. That sounds more like a spectacular failure in motion, by none other than Big Government.How exactly, is raising taxes supposed to help us, the consumer, at the gas pump? How is this considered an even re | | By: Hoopy Frood Dude | | |
| | Film Tax Credits: Lower Taxes for Celebrities, Higher Taxes for You | | 2008-05-29 23:00:00 | | Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) this week signed H.B. 2482, which extends that state's film tax credit for another year. The credit was first established in 2003, and boosters say it has brought more film production to the state. Some thirty states have similar film tax credits, which (depending on the state) reimburse sales and even income and payroll taxes paid on production and editing costs. No doubt, since it's corporate welfare. The recipients of such welfare aren't who you talk to if you want a genuine evaluation of the costs and benefits (incidentally, costs and benefits before and after are almost never studied with film credits; it's just assumed that the new jobs are worth the cost). There was a bit of insight from producer John Bosher, when he told Daily Tax Report that the credit "gives us the ability to assuage investor concern by providing a guaranteed 15 to 20% return on their investment." Guaranteed 15 to 20% return? This is not a struggling industry.It | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | | Capital Gains, Dividends, and Taxes | | 2008-05-25 10:24:00 | | I've come across these questions several times in the last few days, so I thought I'd answer them to dispel some intuitions novice investors have.1. If I reinvest my dividends, do I have to pay taxes on them?Whether you reinvest your dividends or not, this decision will never (unless tax laws are changed) affect your taxes. Whether your dividends are taxed depends on what dividends you're talking about and in what kind of account you're receiving them.Let's start with regular stocks--like the ones traded on NYSE, NASDAQ, and Pink Sheets. In a regular, taxable brokerage account, or if you buy directly from the company in a taxable account (e.g., not as part of a 401(k), etc) you have to pay taxes on all your dividends. It does not matter if you reinvest your dividends or not. There are two ways in which regular stock dividends are taxed: ordinary income and qualified dividends.The ordinary income tax rate on dividends, or the ordinary dividend tax rate, is based on whatever tax bracket | | By: Slacker Wealth | | |
| | More Taxes for Chicago? | | 2008-05-22 23:00:00 | | There's a new chapter in the Chicago tax saga. As if the Chicago sales tax were not high enough already, now online buyers of tickets to city events might face an amusement tax as well. From the Chicago Tribune:Buyers who purchase tickets to Chicago sporting and cultural events online through eBay and StubHub could end up paying an extra 8 percent tax if a lawsuit filed Monday by the city is successful.The city argues in the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court that the two firms—eBay bought StubHub last year—are "reseller's agents" and are therefore required under Chicago's ordinance to pay an amusement tax. The lawsuit seeks a court order allowing the city to audit the companies and award fines for failing to collect and pay the tax.Both companies say they will fight the lawsuit."We do not believe that the City's Amusement Tax applies to either eBay's or StubHub's business models nor do we believe that the Amusement Tax can properly be assessed | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | How to Increase Teacher Pay - Raise Cigarette Taxes Of Course | | 2008-05-12 23:00:00 | | North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley wants to raise the pay of teachers in North Carolina and improve government-provided mental health programs in the state. So who should pay for that? The general public who would theoretically benefit from the higher quality teachers that higher salaries would bring into the state and would also benefit from the greater spending on mental health care?Not a chance. Easley doesn't have the guts to do that. So he acts like a coward and decides that he will go after only a select few products and tax them. Is this in line with sound tax policy? No. Is it even consistent with a free society? No.If the taxes on these products are too low based upon their external costs imposed on society, then that is a justification. But merely raising the taxes on hand-picked products to increase teacher pay with no concern for those external costs is pathetic.And listen to this quote from one nanny who says the proposed increase isn't enough:Cigarette taxes h | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Sharpton owes $1.5 million in back taxes | | 2008-05-09 23:45:00 | | Oh man it doesn't get much better than this: Al Sharpton, the self-professed minister and so-called champion of civil rights, owes the federal government $1.5 million in back taxes, the AP reports after an extensive investigation into his records. You have to read this one if you're a fan of Sharpton as I am. Click here for the story. | | By: The Hudson Line Blog | | |
| | Cut Your Property Taxes | | 2008-05-09 08:00:18 | | REDUCING REAL ESTATE PROPERTY TAXE IS FREE!
Every homeowner in Sacramento County, Placer County, El Dorado County and Yolo County need to be aware of the latest scam.
I can’ t believe all the people who stoop so low to take advantage of people.
Listen up, this is really going on and just in case you missed this [...] | | By: Sacramento Real Estate Voice | | |
| | Returns that beat inflation and taxes | | 2008-05-06 09:33:00 | | I was going through an interesting statistic in Times of India today- 6th may 2008. The article saysIf you has invested Rs 10,000 a year ago in any of the following today it will be worth1) Nifty -12595 ( ideasmoney comments--- this is roughly 26%. It manages to beat current inflation rate . effective return 26%-7.5%= 18.5%, no tax as long term capital gains rate for equity is 0%. , dividends that you would have got are a bonus!!)2) Sensex -12502 ( ideasmoney comments--- this is roughly 25%. | | By: Personal Finance | | |
| | GAO Studies Compliance and Transition Issues of Value-Added Taxes (VATs) | | 2008-05-05 23:00:00 | | The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report examining Value-Added Taxes (VATs) in Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to look at compliance costs, how VATs work with subnational taxes, and what issues arose during transition to a VAT. About 130 countries have a VAT, including all of the OECD countries except the United States. A VAT is similar to a sales tax, except that it is paid at all levels of production, on only the value added at each level, to prevent pyramiding and eliminating the need to separate business inputs from retail sales. For instance, take a wooden table sold at retail and a 10 percent VAT rate. The lumber company sells the wood to the furniture maker for $50, paying $5 (10% of $50) to the government. The furniture maker sells the table to the retailer for $120, sending $7 ($120 - $50 = $70 X 10% = $7) to the government. The retailer sells the finished table to a customer for $150, sending $3 to the government ($ | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Jose Canseco Victim of Personal Stupidity, High Taxes, Not Economy | | 2008-05-02 22:20:56 | | MALKIN BLOWS THIS ONE!"..."Let's say it's $35 million ... you're paying the government 41 percent. That leaves you with about $17 or $18 million...."Jose Canseco blames much of his financial failure on the high costs of taxes and coughing up something like 41% of his income to the government! Our anti-McCain, anti-Bush conservatives have blown it this time. Jose Canseco should be the picture boy for lowering taxes, not the economy. Instead Malkin is treating us to one of her dumbest commentaries ever. She is using Jose Canseco’s defaulting on his mortgage as proof the economy is so ... | | By: The Pink Flamingo | | |
| | Record Taxes Paid before Record Oil Profits | | 2008-05-01 23:00:00 | | ExxonMobil's recent announcement of first quarter profits of $10.9 billion has prompted the predictable political demagoguery about "obscene" profits and the need for a new windfall profits tax. Exxon does not need our help to defend itself against such charges but I remain amazed that none of the major news outlets have highlighted the fact that these are net profits, meaning profits after taxes. If reporters were to dig just a bit deeper into the company's earnings statement they would find that Exxon—like all the major domestic oil companies—directly pays or remits a staggering amount of taxes to governments both here and abroad. Before taxes, Exxon had income of $20 billion on total world-wide revenue of $116 billion. Its earnings statement shows that the company paid $9.3 billion in income taxes to governments here and abroad. This amounts to an effective tax rate of more than 46 percent, 10 percentage points higher than the U.S. statutory rate of 35 pe | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | New Hampshire Governor Approves More Sin Taxes | | 2008-05-01 21:07:00 | | Cross posted on Grizzly Groundswell
I am not even going to bore you again here with the details of New Hampshire’s budget woes other than to say that liberal Governor John Lynch vastly outspent the state’s incoming revenue by a projected $200 million plus. If you are so inclined you can read more about New Hampshire’s [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | Cigarette Taxes and Smuggling in Massachusetts | | 2008-04-27 23:00:00 | | Tax Foundation Chief Economist Patrick Fleenor has written an op-ed in the Boston Globe on cigarette taxes and smuggling:Massachusetts is awash in bootleg cigarettes.High state cigarette taxes have turned packs of cigarettes into pots of gold for criminals, spawning a massive black market supplied by both smugglers and thieves who can quickly unload stolen cigarettes for cash.[...]Backers of the current hike argue that it will raise needed revenue while discouraging smoking. The first claim is myopic, since the tax imposes costs on society in terms of lawlessness. The widespread availability of cheap cigarettes via the black market also undermines the second.Read the entire op-ed here. Read more about cigarette taxes here and here. | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Windfall Profits Taxes Won't Lower Price at the Pump | | 2008-04-27 23:00:00 | | Presidential candidate Barack Obama is using the high price of gasoline to try to get voters to support a windfall profits tax on oil companies based on the price of oil. The issue has not been explored too heavily in the economics literature, but here's some thoughts:A windfall profits tax on oil companies would not lower the price at the pump.A windfall profits tax initially would be borne by shareholders of the companies, whose net worth would fall. The economic profits (i.e. super-normal profits) that the oil companies are earning would be reduced, thereby leading to a decline in the net present value of those future rents. That in turn, reduces the current value of their stock. A question of equity is likely in store here given that the initial stockholders who profited from the windfall profits may be long gone.If the oil companies are truly earning rents on a long-term basis due to some restriction on entry into the market (say for example from ever-increasing returns to scale, | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | In Argentina’s Grain Belt, Farmers Revolt Over Taxes | | 2008-04-26 21:13:19 | | By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
WENCESLAO ESCALANTE, Argentina — When the government decided in March to raise taxes on farmers’ profits, it set off a rural revolt in Argentina. For three weeks enraged farmers blocked roads nationwide, paralyzing grain and meat sales and causing food shortages. Since then, the government has been trying to quell Argentina’s restive farmers [...] | | By: ArticlesModern | | |
| | Snipes Convicted for Failure to File Income Taxes | | 2008-04-24 23:00:00 | | In addition paying $5 million in back taxes, Wesley Snipes has been sentenced to three years in jail for failing to file tax returns as required by law. In his plea for leniency, Snipes asserted that the tax protestor cheats who convinced him that he had no obligation to pay taxes were "wolves and jackals," but to no avail.We dissected the "§ 861 Argument" that Snipes fell for here:Snipes has relied on the "§ 861" argument, which asserts that only items listed in Section 861 of the Internal Revenue Code are taxable, and therefore, the domestic income of U.S. citizens is not taxable.If only. All income, earned inside and outside the country, of U.S. citizens is taxable under Sections 1, 61, 63, and others. Section 861, and accompanying regulation 26 C.F.R. § 1.861-8, list what income is earned "inside" the country, and that's relevant only to non-residents and foreign corporations because they only pay tax on domestic income. The l | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Pay your taxes | | 2008-04-24 17:47:11 | | A federal judge has sentenced action star Wesley Snipes to the maximum three-year sentence on tax charges. Article Tools Submit to Digg Bookmark to del.icio.us Give it to Reddit
| | By: The Ugly Cow | | |
| | Feds May Act on Stealth, Burdensome Taxes on Cell Phones | | 2008-04-22 23:00:00 | | A recent Wall Street Journal editorial discussed the rise of heavy cell phone taxes:A recent analysis by economist Scott Mackey in the journal State Tax Notes shows that the average monthly tax burden on wireless customers is more than 15% – double the average sales tax burden. In some states, such as New York (big surprise), the total tax bite is more than 20%.The topic is in the news because presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D.-CA) and Chris Cannon (R.-UT) have called for a moratorium on new cell phone taxes.We scrutinized cell phone taxes in this piece, concluding:Making cell phone calls nationally may be getting easier, but paying cell phone taxes is not. State and local governments should not single out one product for stealth tax increases, as they are doing with cell phones. Such actions distort market decisions, violating the sound-tax-policy principle of neutrality. Cell phone users are often overtaxed relative to consumers of other g | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Study Suggests People Spend Less When Taxes are Hidden | | 2008-04-22 23:00:00 | | One of the ten principles of sound tax policy is transparency: tax decisions should be made openly, and it should be clear who and what is being taxed. This is to ensure that the benefits and costs of our tax system are understood by those who have the power to change it. Currently, many taxes are not transparent; instead some are embedded in prices. For example, many state sales taxes are applied not only to final retail sales but also to business inputs, so the final purchase price reflects not only tax on the sale, but taxes paid during production which are being passed on. Consumers think they pay fewer taxes than they actually do, because the receipt does not total up these embedded taxes. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) recently studied how consumers respond when taxes become embedded in the price: For taxable items, like cosmetics and other non-food products, stores customarily do not include the sales tax in the price tags on the shelves. Instead, the t | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | | Higher gas taxes | | 2008-04-22 02:14:27 | | John McCain gas tax | Salon News The U.S. is just now starting to get on board with the idea that we need to fight climate change, and this is just reversing that fight. Basically we're going to reduce the price of gasoline, which means consumers are going to respond by either driving more in the short term or changing how they make vehicle purchases and buying less fuel-efficient cars, because fuel efficiency won't be as important.My regular readers out there will know that I'm in favor of higher gas prices. I often discuss this with my friends, and occasionally at social occasions. Mostly the subject gets changed, or people simply refuse to engage me on this topic. That often surprises me based on the company I keep, which is obviously largely made up of American expats.One would think they would be more open minded to such a topic. Realistically higher gas prices follow along a path where Americans buy more fuel efficient cars, use more public transportation, and search for alt | | By: Markism Explored | | |
| | Honor of Tax Day My Blog a Post About that Taxes | | 2008-04-18 11:55:59 | | The honor of tax day I will blog a post about that. Taxes are going to the government (for some or most) so they can sit on their asses for another year. Walking around in expensive suites and millionaire homes that we are paying for. I think taxes are a bunch of bull crap the tax system in the United States.It is so screwed up the tax money is going for so many wasteful programs in Washington. That are not useful or helpful to the American people. Although some tax money does do some good but | | By: My Outlook on Everything Blog | | |
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| | 62 Million "Tax Payers" DO NOT PAY TAXES!!!!!!!!! | | 2008-04-16 10:46:06 | | The chart illustrates the distribution of taxpayers by marginal federal income tax rate. It shows that 62 million "taxpayers", roughly 37%, will have no tax liability in 2008 and will have marginal tax rate at or near zero.
But the tax system is so unfair and favors the rich. . . .
Click the Headline Link to Visit Copious Dissent and Read the Full Story.
| | By: Copious Dissent - Your Daily Dose of Liberty | | |
| | Tax Foundation Urges a Stop to South Dakota's Discriminatory Insurance Taxes | | 2008-04-15 23:00:00 | | The Tax Foundation, in a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the South Dakota Supreme Court, urges that state to stop its discriminatory insurance tax system that taxes out-of-state companies at twice the rate of in-state companies. The case, Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Kinsman, is currently before the court on a petition for rehearing. Since explicit discrimination in rates was struck down as violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1985, South Dakota is one of 8 remaining states that seek to protect their domestic insurance companies by imposing heavier taxes on out-of-state companies doing business in the state. While on paper all companies pay the same 2.5% rate, in-state companies automatically receive rate reductions, lowering their tax bill to 0.75% to 1.25%. The result is effective discrimination against out-of-state companies which violates the Equal Protection Clause, as the trial judge concluded.While the trial judg | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
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