Beyoncé on the Renaissance World Tour at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on June 1, 2023, (Photo by Raph_PH - BeyonceSpurs010623) I love music. I just ordered two CDs last week. That last retail admission should tip you off that my prime concert-going days are behind me. In one way, I'm glad. The cost to see my favorite musicians perform back in my day was reasonable, even then. Today's more youthful fans, however, are shelling out big bucks to attend concerts. Marketplace economics are part of the calculation. And emotion is part of the market. So scalpers, whose targets are... Read more →
Shout Out
Photo by Max Burchill on Unsplash To paraphrase a gazillion social media posts, exploitative people are why we can't have needed tax breaks. OK, Congress plays a big part. And the Internal Revenue Service too often steps on its own tax toes. But in many cases, unscrupulous people mess things up for the rest of us who are just trying to comply with tax laws and get a little bit of legitimate tax relief along the way. That's what happened with the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). This refundable tax credit was created by lawmakers to help businesses that were struggling... Read more →
Source: IRS The Earned Income Tax Credit was one of the many tax matters mentioned in the Internal Revenue Service's Sept. 8 announcement that, thanks to Inflation Reduction Act funds, it is revising its enforcement efforts. The tax agency's primary goal, per it's news release, is to restore fairness to the tax system. To do that, IRS personnel will focus more on high-earning taxpayers, both individuals and businesses, that have seen sharp drops in audit rates over the last decade. EITC audit reforms on the way: Change also are planned in how the IRS deals with the millions of taxpayers... Read more →
Students settling in at the top of Kyle Field stadium in College Station in advance of a Texas A&M vs. University of Texas-Austin game. The Lone Star State rivalry looks to resume, since Texas will join A&M in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) next year. (Photo by Zabdiel Gonzalez on Unsplash) Yes, college football technically kicked off last weekend, but today was when most fans got the games they've been waiting months to see. Like the TCU-Colorado match-up in the yet again rejiggered Big 12 conference. That game was wild! You know Big 12 football is back when there’s no defense... Read more →
Eight Republican presidential hopefuls stood behind podiums last week at the GOP's first debate of the 2024 election cycle. They all have the same goal: replace President Joe Biden at this one. (Photo: White House Facebook page) So, so much went on in the Republican Party last week. The biggie, of course, was the official booking of Donald J. Trump. That was immediately followed by announcements from Republicans in the Georgia legislature and U.S. House that they intended to take steps to remove the prosecuting District Attorney Fani Wilis from her job, effectively (they hope) ending the case against Trump.... Read more →
NOAA NHC CPHC It's that time of the blog year when I become an ersatz meteorologist. A hurricane is heading toward the United States. This time, though, it's Hurricane Hilary's path to and across Southern California and into Nevada. A hurricane is never good news. That's particularly true in the Golden State, where most of the residents are still dealing with winter storm flooding. Now they are awaiting Hilary, forecast by weather officials to be the wettest tropical cyclone in state history. The storm also has prompted the first-ever Tropical Storm Watch issued for California. As California mobilizes to meet... Read more →
A student checks his notes before the next class. (Photo by Brice Cooper on Unsplash) The 2023 school year has started, or will soon, for kindergarten through college students. Learning can be expensive, even for public school attendees. But it is higher education that poses the highest costs. Uncle Sam can help cover some educational expenses, but the school-related tax benefits noted in my post last week are limited. That means that students and/or their families must come up with the bulk of the school payments. That's usually done through traditional financial assistance, such as scholarships, loans, or other forms... Read more →
If you're the parent of this rambunctious duo, you definitely have a challenging job. However, this roughhousing duo also might help you claim a valuable federal tax credit. The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is one of the most popular federal tax breaks around. This family-friendly tax break has been in the Internal Revenue Code in some form since 1997. Parents like it because it's relatively easy to claim. It's also a tax credit, which means it will reduce your tax liability dollar-for-dollar. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CTC benefits were expanded. To counter the economic problems created... Read more →
Stereotypes, or traditions if you prefer, tend to be true when it comes to older couples and tax return filing. When the hubby and I married many (many) years ago, I (we) decided that I would keep my name. I was a writer, and my byline was already known, so it seemed logical. Also, as a young single woman of the 1970s, it was no big deal. What's that saying? The more things change, the more they stay the same. That also applies in many instances to taxes. Welcome to the 21st century, where Internal Revenue Service return filing data... Read more →
Margot Robbie as the title character in the Barbie movie based on the iconic doll. (Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment) I haven't seen the Barbie movie yet, but as fan of filmmaking and owner as a child of a couple of Barbie dolls, I have been following the stories about the script, production, costumes, sets, and stars. But what really caught my attention were the tax remarks by the character portraying Barbie's creator. Barbie arrived in American stores in 1959 thanks to Ruth Handler, who along with her husband had founded the doll's corporate manufacturer Mattel a decade earlier. Many... Read more →
Many taxpayers already are unhappy with the assistance they get from the IRS during filing season. Will that frustration be compounded if/when the tax agency implements its own direct tax preparation and e-filing system? My guess is yes. (Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images) It's the middle of July, so most of us aren't thinking about how we'll file our tax return next year. But A U.S. senator and intern at a Washington, D.C.-based tax policy think tank are. And both oppose the Internal Revenue Service getting more directly involved in our filing lives. Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo cuts... Read more →
Photo by Alesia Kozik Cryptocurrencies have changed not only individuals' views of assets and wealth development, but also countries' tax systems. Those are among the issues explored in a just-released International Monetary Fund (IMF) paper. As for the tax challenges, the IMF paper notes that the capital gains tax revenue at stake worldwide, either because it's not imposed or not collected, may reach well into the tens of billions of dollars. But the more profound risks, say the paper's authors, may ultimately be for value added tax (VAT) and sales taxes. The paper also cites research monitoring crypto transactions. These... Read more →
Photo via Unsplash+ License The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) wrapped its latest term on Friday with a couple of education-related rulings — affirmative action in college admissions and student loan forgiveness; the high court said nope to both — that will be dissected for a while. But we're still talking about a year-old decision by the justices. On June 24, 2022, SCOTUS overturned 1973's Roe v. Wade, sending abortion decisions back to the 50 states. That's effectively limited the availability of the medical procedure in more than half of the country. Last year's Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s... Read more →
If you were rich, what would you buy with all your money? (Photo by Leon Kohle on Unsplash) During the 1992 presidential election, then-candidate Bill Clinton's mantra was "It's the economy, stupid." It worked. Clinton was elected and served two terms. Now a group of wealthy individuals worldwide are hoping a tweaking of Clinton strategist James Carville's iconic phrase will help them convince governments to increase taxes on the rich and simultaneously raise the minimum wage. "It's the inequality, stupid," say those who are part of the nonprofit Patriotic Millionaires. The group points to the astounding escalation of economic inequality... Read more →
The United States avoided defaulting on its debt, thanks to last-minute deal reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and grudgingly agreed to earlier this month by Congress. Park of the package was a $21.4 billion cut to money the Internal Revenue Service was supposed to use for tax enforcement. The agreement called for an immediate $1.4 billion reduction, plus the loss of $20 billion over the next two years, most of that coming from the nearly $80 billion in extra funding the IRS was given as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Critics of the hit... Read more →
We made it through the debt limit's renewal, so of course the focus now is on tax cuts. Or at least the House Republican majority's focus. That's understandable, at least if you're familiar with how Capitol Hill works. The GOP wants to show that even with its slim House majority, it takes its position as the originator of federal tax laws seriously. And it wants to lay down some policy and political markers for, respectively, upcoming budget talks and the 2024 elections. To that end, the House Ways and Means Committee will consider next week a package of tax breaks... Read more →
After legislative and court fights, Washington State's capital gains tax took effect on Jan. 1, 2022. The Evergreen State's 7 percent tax applies to the sale of stocks, bonds, and other financial assets exceeding $250,000. And its collection, with the tax's first payments due this past April, has been a boon for the state's treasury. Initial estimates predicted the capital gains tax might provide Washington State around $248 million in this fiscal year, which ends on July 1. The actual amount the state has collected as of May 9 was more than three times that: $849 million. Education boost: Washington... Read more →
Photo by Anastasiia Chepinska on Unsplash Among the many lessons we've learned, or not, from the COVID-19 pandemic is that we'll likely never be rid of it. And as the transition to endemic status progresses, we'll continue to deal with flare-ups like, irony alert, the one that erupted following the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention's recent first in-person Epidemic Intelligence Service conference in four years. The same persistence seems to apply to taxes, too. As the severity of COVID-19 became clearer, most of the United States went into lockdown to help slow its spread. While that saved lives,... Read more →
The Internal Revenue Service announced last week that during filing season 2024 it will run a pilot program in which some taxpayers will be able to file their returns directly with the tax agency for free. Such no-cost, direct filing has been the tax holy grail. There would be no private software middleman, as is now the case for Free File. All of us could just go to the IRS website and file our taxes. There would be no cost, regardless of our income or filing situation complexity. And unlike the IRS' current Free Fillable Forms, there would be computer... Read more →
The outlook remains a bit cloudy for reaching an agreement to prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt. (Photo by Harold Mendoza on Unsplash) Many think the debt ceiling debate is just political posturing in Washington, D.C. However, the head of the nation's top consumer watchdog agency says we all should be worried. "It's a big worry. Every family should be concerned,” Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, told CNN in an interview last week. So, as we await Congressional action to keep the United States and its residents out of financial freefall, this weekend's... Read more →