It's official. House Democrats have formally requested copies of the last six years of Donald J. Trump's personal and business federal tax returns. Trump has steadfastly refused to make public his taxes, breaking a modern-day tradition set by presidential candidates — and in-office presidents (and vice presidents) — of letting the public have a glimpse of White House 1040s. The main reason Trump has given for keeping his taxes private is that his personal and business filings are under audit. Tax experts throughout the media agree that no sane person would give their tax returns during an audit. After the... Read more →
Investing Capital Gains
April 1 could be costly for older retirement account owners. No fooling. That's the deadline for taking a required minimum distribution, or RMD, if you turned 70½ last year and did not take the specified amount from your tax-deferred retirement funds by Dec. 31. RMDs are, as the name says, required amounts that you must withdraw from a retirement plan that's been earning money over the years without you having to pay tax on it. The tax law has been letting these accounts ride for years, decades in many cases. But when you get halfway through your 70th year, the... Read more →
The tax filing season every year starts with a rush of flings. Last year, the Internal Revenue Service received more than 18 million returns (that's almost 12 percent of all the returns filed in 2018) during the first week the filings were accepted. This year appears to be on a similar track. Through mid-day Monday, Jan. 28, the opening day of the 2019 filing season, the IRS says it received several million tax returns. Those early filers obviously are expecting a tax refund. They also had all the documentation they needed to file their returns. Some of us, however, no... Read more →
Welcome to Part 6 of the ol' blog's 2019 series on tax inflation adjustments. Today we look at changes to estate, gift, capital gains and kiddie tax provisions. You can find links to all 2019 inflation posts in the series' first item: income tax brackets and rates. Note: The 2019 figures apply to 2019 returns that are due in April 2020. For comparison purposes, you'll also find 2018 amounts to be used in filing this year's 2018 tax return due April 15, 2019. The rich, per the apparently apocryphal F. Scott Fitzgerald characterization, really are different from the rest of... Read more →
Don't let tax turkeys gobble up your money. Make these tax moves, a couple of which are related to recent tax reform, this November and for sure by the end of 2018. South Park turkeys via Giphy It's November! The start of the holiday season. Time to get into the festive spirit with some year-end tax moves. "Whoa! Wait! What the what are you thinking?" you say. "I'm still adjusting to Standard Time and already have a huge to-do list to make sure my family has the perfect Thanksgiving. Then as soon as that's over, I've got to start with... Read more →
Some of my retirement money is in stock funds. They've been going gangbusters. Until this week. I'm fighting the urge to look at what's happened with these plans' value. Did they tank along with the broader market a few days ago? Or are they edging back up with today's sort-of recovery? I'm curious, but I don't need that money right now. And I believe my investment choices are sound. So I'm going to ignore the current market gyrations and just let things ride. That's the advice most financial gurus are offering now. This week's downward trend is just an overdue... Read more →
Americans have always been mobile, as evidenced by this vintage photo from Flatbush Moving in Linden, New Jersey. Now some folks say they're relocating because of new tax law limits on deductions. Now that the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service have made it clear that they will restrict state efforts to work around the new $10,000 cap on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT), some folks are looking at other options. Among them, according to a New York Times story, is to move. (Unfortunately for them, the new law also, for the most part, ended the tax... Read more →
Summer is winding down, but someone needs to tell the thermometers. Across much of country, it feels like the mercury is about to burst and everyone is doing everything they can to stay cool. Sorry, I can't help you beat the heat. But I do have eight tax moves you can make in this eighth month of 2018 — which, with all those 8s, makes that this week's By the Numbers figure — that might be able to help lower the heat you're feeling when it comes to taxes. 1. Adjust your withholding. I know. I nag remind y'all of... Read more →
A week ago, the idea of indexing capital gains was just that, an idea. To move forward, the best bet was for the proposal to make it into Tax Reform 2.0. It didn't. So now it's looking more likely that the U.S. Treasury might act unilaterally. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had previously (all the way back in late June) said that he would prefer Congress take the lead on indexing capital gains. He did add, however, that "If we're not able to complete Tax Reform 2.0, then we'll go back to the drawing board and decide whether we want to... Read more →
Long-term investors already get a tax break. They pay lower capitals gains tax rates when they sell assets held for more than a year. That tax benefit survived the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Now some Republican lawmakers want to protect even more unearned money from taxes. Tax and political considerations: Rep. Devin Nunes (R-California) has introduced a bill that would index capital gains to inflation. The Ways and Means Committee member says his Capital Gains Inflation Relief Act (H.R. 6444) "is a common-sense reform that will remove an unjust tax, contribute to economic growth, and help both large... Read more →
The Republican's new tax law is expected to be the focus of the coming midterm elections. GOP candidates are telling taxpayers that they — or most of them, anyway — will owe the U.S. Treasury less in 2018 thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Democrats running for office, however, argue that any individual tax cuts under the new law are relatively small and, unless their colleagues across the aisle can change things in the next few months, are temporary. That ending date is Dec. 31, 2025. So who's telling the truth? It depends — wait for it... Read more →
Actress Meghan Markle may give up her U.S. citizenship after marrying Prince Harry this weekend, but other American expatriations so far this year have slowed. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle join the rest of the British royal family at Sandringham Christmas Day Services last December. (Photo by Mark Jones via Flickr) Great Britain's Prince Harry and American Meghan Markle will tie the knot this Saturday, May 19, (note the international time change if you, like I, plan to watch) at St George's Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle. After Markle answers the wedding vow questions about having and holding... Read more →
Bitcoin fans contend that their currency is just as valid as any other money. But they've not had a lot of luck in convincing most people of that. Cryptocurrency aficionados thought they had taken a major step toward wider acceptance in February when the Arizona Senate approved a bill that would have allowed for, beginning in 2020, the payment of state income taxes in bitcoin or other digital currency approved by the Arizona Department of Revenue (ADoR). Four months later, that's no longer a possibility. Crypto pay stripped from bill: When Senate Bill 1091 went to the Arizona House for... Read more →
Lawmakers in Arizona and Georgia think their residents don't have enough ways to pay their state taxes. To remedy that, they've introduced bills that would cryptocurrency payments. While fans of bitcoin and the myriad other digital assets may applaud the idea, they also need to note the downside. Paying state taxes — or for anything else — with cryptocurrency could mean more federal taxes. Grand Canyon state takes first leap: Arizona is the first state to jump at cryptocurrency tax payments. A bill by state Sen. Warren Petersen, a Republican representing Gilbert, would allow income taxes to be paid in... Read more →
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, meets with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. Did this July 18, 2011, conversation lead to Obama's proposed Buffett Rule, a surtax on millionaires? (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) If you were wise or lucky enough to get a piece of Berkshire Hathaway, company chairman Warren Buffett has some good news for you. Berkshire's gain in net worth last year was $65.3 billion. And while the Oracle of Omaha deserves kudos for many things, Buffett says the real thanks regarding Berkshire Hathaway's recent financial uptick should go to the Republicans. Specifically,... Read more →
While most investors have been closely following the recent gyrations of the stock market, fans of cryptocurrency also have been on their own frenzied financial journey. One bitcoin, as of this morning, was worth almost $8,433. I'd be happy with that value, but that's less than half what the cryptocurrency was worth in mid-December. On Dec. 16, 2017, the digital currency topped out at more $19,000. The cryptocurrency can be spent like real money — don't email me bitcoin et al fans; it will always be just one step above Monopoly money to me — but many tax collectors worldwide... Read more →
I don't like roller coasters. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, not Space Mountain, is my Disney World speed. Plus, as an investor, I get enough virtual and financial whiplash from following my portfolio. This week especially. From watching CNBC the last two days I've learned: The Dow is having its worst month in almost eight years. The market's fall of 1,179 points on Monday, Feb. 5, was the Dow's biggest drop ever. The 4.6 percent fall to close at just over 24,300 yesterday was, on a percentage basis, the biggest one-day drop for the blue-chip average since August 2011. We are... Read more →
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) got testy when GOP leaders demanded Senators vote on the huge tax bill without giving them time to go through the almost 500 pages. But they did. And it passed. And the final conference deal and supporting material is even larger! (Click image to watch Tester's complaint via his Twitter account.) After the House and Senate conferees signed off Dec. 15 on the "mixed" Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, I posted a look at some of the highlights (or, depending on your political persuasion and personal tax situation) lowlights in the measure. But that one post... Read more →
The tax dueling has officially begun. The Senate on Thursday, Nov. 9, released its answer to the House's H.R. 1, officially title the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. UPDATE, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017: The House passed H.R. 1. Prospects for the Senate's tax reform bill, however, are muddier. While resolving difference in the two doesn't demand quite as many steps as in the 10 Duel Commandments outlined in the still incredibly popular Broadway (and touring company) musical Hamilton, it's still going to be one of the biggest face-offs in recent Washington, D.C., legislative history. Here's a look at some of... Read more →
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) get serious in discussing what Republicans say are the middle-class benefits in their latest proposal to rewrite the tax code. The most detailed plan yet was released Thursday, Nov. 2. (Screenshot of C-SPAN video; click image to watch clip.) Remember that Capitol Hill adage that all politics is local? It can be easily shifted to tax reform. Whether you're for or against a tax law change will depend in large part on how much it helps or hurt you. When it comes to the men and women who propose and/or make those changes, their votes... Read more →