Don't Mess With Taxes

Today is the debut of a new feature here on the ol' blog: Tax Twitter Tuesday.

Or, as my tax Twitter pal Robert D Flach, aka @rdftaxpro on the social media site, dubbed it, T3. Actually, Robert, it's going to be T4, as Tax Twitter Tuesday will appear on the third Tuesday of each month. (That wasn't planned; this first appearance just happened to fall that way and I decided it was blogging/Twittering fate.)

"So," as RDF asked, "@taxtweet (that's me!) what's the story with T3?"

The story is I spend a lot (some days too much) time on Twitter. And while I like to gab about things beyond taxes (really!), there are a lot of tax folks on the micro blogging site. And they frequently offer up in the required 140-or-less characters some interesting, informative, unusual and just plan fun tax tidbits.

If you do tweet, you know that stuff often gets lost in all the postings, especially if you follow a lot of folks. So I hope to gather a representative sample of those overlooked tax twitterings on this and future Tax Twitter Tuesdays and share them here on Don't Mess With Taxes.

So without further ado, here's our first batch, starting off with an up close and personal observation from an Ohio twtitterer for me and my fellow Austin residents.

@gyrfalcon2138 I'm still amazed that Austin has no state income tax, and a lower sales tax than Cleveland, and yet it costs less to live here.

@WestPan -- Federal #Tax Revenues as a Percentage of GDP: Total Tax Burden Is Rising to Highest Level in History http://ow.ly/pmgL (via @Bconsdr8)

@BonnieEugene -- "Tax evaders rush to beat amnesty deadline" http://tw0.us/1Un #tax #amnesty #wealthy

@TaxDebtBlog -- : #Tax It\'s Now or Never for First-Time Home Buyers Hoping to Capitalize ... - RealEstateRama http://bit.ly/qDeY5

@GFI_Tweets -- Dow Jones: Health Bill Eyed As Vehicle For Legislation To Fight Tax Havens http://ow.ly/pjDv #tax #offshore #hcr #hc09 #banking
about 8 hours ago from HootSuite

@taxblog -- A #tax on #coke is 'outrageous' says CEO of soft drink giant. http://bit.ly/W2Iay

@AICPANews -- AICPA's Tom Ochsenschlager speaks to the Wall Street Journal about the potential for rising #tax rated http://ow.ly/pg04 #CPA

@CPA_Trendlines #CPA link: IRS launches online Tax Benefits for Education information center: In support of the Ad.. http://bit.ly/1kq8aQ

@tessatalks -- Would you buy a US Savings Bond with your tax refund? Vote in our poll! http://tiny.cc/mbBZe #tax #savings #irs

@gcwright -- Costs of Prostitutes and Pornographic Magazines Not Medical Expenses http://bit.ly/LMLmV

@rwohlner -- Are the beneficiary designations on your IRAs, insurance policies, and retirement plans correct? If no it's critical to update

@joebwan -- It can't hurt to ask, can it?: The lottery ads say "you can't win if you don't play." A recently-released federal... http://bit.ly/14EwMu 

And we close this inaugural Tax Twitter Tuesday with @solmc's re-Tweet of some good advice for lawmakers thinking abour raising alcohol taxes:

For non-Twitter folks, the # are a way to tag and track topics.

And for you on-Twitter folks, be sure to follow me, @taxtweet, and other personal finance and tax Tweeple every day, not just on third Tuesdays!