Don't Mess With Taxes

Last week was totally crazy. I was traveling and simultaneously trying to stay on top of tax developments. And there was this thing called a presidential election that kept distracting me.

But I was able to post a couple of items last week at my other tax blog, although I'm a bit later than usual in noting those posts here!

Hurricane Sandy continued to get attention almost a week after she made landfall and after being redubbed Superstorm Sandy.

Whatever you want to call her, she was nasty. And the Internal Revenue Service acknowledged Sandy's effects by issuing some special tax treatment for victims of the storm.

While people in the Northeast were trying to work around Sandy so they could vote last week, out west a couple of California cities were asking their residents to decide whether to institute soda taxes.

The proposed tax on soft drinks fizzled in both locales, one in the San Francisco area and the other in suburban Los Angeles.

You can always check out my other tax posts over at Bankrate Taxes Blog, usually each Tuesday and Thursday, although last week's second item was a day late. So maybe today's tardy acknowledgement of my other posts is fitting.

And if you happen to miss the original posts, check here -- usually on the weekend; I'll try to meet that deadline this coming Saturday or Sunday -- for a summary.

You also might find these items of interest:

• 30 tax-related ballot initiatives
• Lawmakers sweet on soda taxes
• Super PACs: the good, the bad and the snarky