Halloween is a big deal for a lot of folks. I like the holiday, but don't go as crazy as some of my neighbors. Houses are decorated and adults dress up more elaborately than their trick or treating kids. I'm not sure I'd go to this house seeking treats! The hubby and I simply sit on our porch and hand out candy, particularly enjoying the youngest ghouls and goblins for whom this is the first Oct. 31 where they realize they're getting way more candy than they've ever seen before. Candy calculations: I try to estimate the optimal amount of... Read more →
October 2016
Welcome to Part 5 of the ol' blog's series on 2017 inflation adjustments. We're halfway through the series, and you can find links to all 2017 inflation posts in the first item: Income Tax Brackets and Rates. Today we look at changes to some medical tax provisions. Note: The 2017 figures apply to 2017 returns that are due in 2018. For comparison purposes, you'll also find 2016 amounts to be used in filing 2016 returns due next April. How are you feeling? If not so well, then by all means get to the doctor. And be sure to use some... Read more →
Alec Baldwin has been having a field day portraying Donald Trump, the presidential candidate with, among other things, some tax issues. Click image to watch the Saturday Night Live skit from which this Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump GIF is taken. Now from the life imitates art files, Baldwin is facing his own allegations of tax avoidance. New York City art dealer Mary Boone filed a motion in New York State Supreme Court last week accusing the actor of "failing to pay sales tax." She alleges that in order to avoid New York taxes, Baldwin had the painting shipped to... Read more →
I helped my mom vote today. She's 82 and has some vision issues that make voting in person difficult, so we filled out her ballot and dropped it in the mail. One of the local issues my mother had to vote on in this year's election. Yay civic participation! I am, however, a bit disappointed that we had to pay the postage for the over-sized envelope. Yes, two stamps instead of one is not big deal in the grand scheme of being a cog in the wheel of democracy. But really, shouldn't governments do things to make voting easier, like... Read more →
Welcome to Part 4 of the ol' blog's series on 2017 inflation adjustments. You can find links to all 2017 inflation posts in the first item: Income Tax Brackets and Rates. Today we look at changes to some popular credits and deductions. Note: The 2017 figures apply to 2017 returns that are due in 2018. For comparison purposes, you'll also find 2016 amounts to be used in filing 2016 returns due next April. You can jump for joy like these youngsters if you can claim some of these popular inflation-adjusted credits and deductions. The key to paying the least tax... Read more →
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton isn't the only person facing email questions. Republicans who head Congress' tax-writing committees want answers from IRS Commissioner John Koskinen over reports that Uncle Sam's tax enforcement and collection agency spent $12 million on an unusable email service. The IRS' email is not as rudimentary as options for backpackers, but apparently a recent, and costly, system upgrade didn't work out as the tax agency had hoped. (Photo by mattwi1s0n via Flickr CC) Upgrade failure: Concerns about the IRS email system came to light in a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report, dated Sept. 30... Read more →
Welcome to Part 3 of the ol' blog's series on 2017 inflation adjustments. You can find links to all 2017 inflation posts in the first item: Income Tax Brackets and Rates. Today we look at changes to retirement and pension plans. Note: The 2017 figures apply to 2017 returns that are due in 2018. For comparison purposes, you'll also find 2016 amounts to be used in filing 2016 returns due next April. Save early, save often to create an overflowing nest egg. Even in a contentious election year, there's one thing everyone in all political parties can agree on: retirement... Read more →
It's been a good week in fighting con artists who pose as Internal Revenue Service agents to steal taxpayers' money. First, the Better Business Bureau reported a dramatic reduction in the number of the tax scam calls in which crooks pretend to be IRS agents and demand immediate payment for nonexistent tax debts. If the scam victims refuse, the scammers threaten them with arrest, legal action or deportation. The BBB's scam tracker noted that the fake IRS agent calls slowed after Indian law enforcement agents earlier this month raided call centers hosting the scam. At the time of the raids,... Read more →
Welcome to Part 2 of the ol' blog's series on 2017 inflation adjustments, which kicked off yesterday with the tweaked income tax brackets and rates. Today we look at standard and itemized deductions, personal exemptions and limitations on these tax situations that apply to some wealthier taxpayers. Note: The 2017 figures apply to 2017 returns that are due in 2018. For comparison purposes, you'll also find 2016 amounts to be used in filing 2016 returns due next April. Standard deduction amounts go up: Itemized deductions get a lot of attention. There are several of them and they require more attention... Read more →
It's that special tax time of year, when the Internal Revenue Service releases its annual inflation adjustments for more than 50 tax provisions. This is the first in a series on the 2017 tax year inflation adjustments. Links to the other posts are at this end of this article. For 2017, the total is 55 amounts changes, ranging from the widely used tax rate tables and income brackets and standard deduction and exemption amounts to the more arcane treatment of dues paid to agricultural or horticultural groups and the tax on arrow shafts. As much fun as it would be... Read more →
Have you gotten one of those fake Internal Revenue Service agent collection calls lately? If not, you can thank Indian law enforcement agents. Does that "IRS agent" demanding money sound fishy? He's probably a tax scammer. Hang up! (Photo by rocketace via Flickr) Since Indian officials on Oct. 4 raided call centers in Mumbai where many of these scam calls originated, the number of attempts to get folks to make fake tax bill payments has dropped dramatically. BBB sees fewer scam reports: The Better Business Bureau (BBB) says that the IRS imposter scam had accounted for around a quarter of... Read more →
Attention Alabama online shoppers. If you're planning to buy from Amazon, you'd better hit the shopping cart enter button soon. On Nov. 1, an 8 percent tax will be added to your purchases from the digital retail giant. Online sales tax collection is the Holy Grail for state revenue offices. As e-commerce transactions have increased every year, states have struggled with ways to collect the billions they say they've lost to untaxed purchases that their residents make online. Nexus via legislation, courts: Some state lawmakers have chosen to redefine nexus, the legal standard of physical presence that determines when an... Read more →
Would a tax break be enough to change your shopping habits? One Scandinavian country is hoping to test that theory, and possibly permanently reshape consumers' attitudes, when it comes to many common household goods. Brian Beatty of Zen Cog Bicycle Company in Jacksonville, Florida, repairs a bike. (Photo by Jax REcycle via Flickr) It's not a new idea. Taxes have been used for, well, forever to try to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. That's why we have sin taxes on things most of us agree are not good, like smoking. And that's why we get tax benefits for actions perceived... Read more →
While the two major party presidential candidates have focused on corporations' overseas tax strategies, the Internal Revenue Service has been keeping an eye on individual taxpayers and their offshore accounts. Regardless of whether you call them tax havens, tax shelters or offshore accounts, they all mean $$$ for the IRS. And the IRS likes what it sees. Uncle Sam's tax agency announced last week that since it began its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, or OVDP, in 2009, it has collected $10 billion in taxes and had 100,000 taxpayers return to full federal tax compliance. The latest $10 billion in formerly... Read more →
For the last five years, I've been regularly grocery shopping with my mother. She's a retiree on a fixed income, so much of our time is spent examining shelf prices, determining which size offers the best per-unit value and debating whether it's worth a few more pennies to get something she knows she likes or save cents by buying a cheaper, but untried store brand. Source: TastefullyOffensive.com from YouTube Now I guess we need to start double checking the register receipts to make sure our savings aren't negated by improper tax charges. That's what some Garden State shoppers say they... Read more →
And we're done. With the 2016 presidential debates, not the election. The debates were supposed to help us voters make an informed decision as to whether we want Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump as our president for the next four years. Good luck with that. Click image to watch Fox News' "nasty woman" clip. Things got nasty last night (Oct. 19) in Las Vegas, and not in the fun Janet Jackson choreographed way. However, "Miss Jackson, if you're nasty," was a big beneficiary of the debate's ad lib. Trump called Clinton "such a nasty woman" during her closing... Read more →
The third and final presidential debate is tonight in Las Vegas, and it's a sure bet that most Americans will be delighted when this portion of the 2016 campaign is over. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will face off Oct. 19 on a stage at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with Fox News' Chris Wallace moderating. The previous face-to-face encounters between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican hopeful Donald J. Trump have been awkward, frustrating and annoying, and I'm just talking about the reactions of viewers! The debates also have been woefully short on policy specifics, especially taxes. But... Read more →
Forget all those disparate and confusing presidential election polls, online and more scientific. The Washington Redskins have decided who will be moving into the White House next year and the team has chosen Hillary Clinton. Washington Redskins defensive Chris Baker leads fans at FedExField in celebrating the home team's 27-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Oct. 16. Click image to watch the full NFL game highlights package on YouTube. (And yes, I selected this screenshot because it promos the Dallas Cowboys game!) Players and coaches of the National Capital Area's National Football League team didn't actually vote. But... Read more →
With the Oct. 17 filing extension colliding with Hurricane Matthew's aftermath, the Internal Revenue Service today announced additional counties in which taxpayers affected by the storm will have more time to file. Federal Emergency Management Agency Urban Search and Rescue team members rescue a dog stranded by Hurricane Matthew flooding in North Carolina. (Photo courtesy FEMA) The IRS has officially added parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to the Hurricane Matthew areas that will get additional tax relief. It also included more counties in North Carolina counties, which it had previously announced as eligible for special storm-related tax relief.... Read more →
Eighty-five years ago today -- Oct. 17, 1931 -- a federal jury in Chicago convicted gangster Al "Scarface" Capone of tax evasion. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison, ultimately ending up in fabled Alcatraz. Al Capone's U.S. Department of Justice mug shot, taken four months before his tax eviction conviction on Oct. 17, 1931. Keep that in mind if you're thinking of blowing off today's extended filing deadline for getting your 2015 tax return to the Internal Revenue Service. All these years later, the IRS and Treasury still proudly point to Capone's conviction. It was T-men who put... Read more →