Don't Mess With Taxes

Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash The single Republican bill the White House wants passed as soon as possible to implement its tax and immigration policies is definitely big, running in its latest iteration to 1,116 pages. And it has at least one provision, starting on page 806, that some parents might find beautiful. Under a tax provision in the officially named One, Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB), Uncle Sam would give parents $1,000 when a baby born between 2004 and 2008 joins their families. Parents of children age eight or younger also could open a special savings account for those... Read more →

Most Americans believe that the wealthy, who have disposable income for things like pet accoutrements, should pay taxes at a higher rate. ( Photo by Pet foto) There’s word out of Washington that the White House might consider raising taxes on the wealthiest taxpayers in order to offset a Donald J. Trump campaign promise to end taxes on tip income. Nothing is finalized. And talk is particularly cheap on Capitol Hill. gratuities. But if Republicans in Congress do go along with that tax tradeoff as they work on expanding the 2017 tax cuts that expire at the end of this... Read more →

Photo by cottonbro studio All of us with older cars, but not enough to buy a newer one right now, are watching Donald J. Trump's latest tariff move. What he sees at Liberation Day on April 3, could mean we drivers are stuck dealing with aging autos for a bit longer. Trump's convinced that his latest trade war volley, a 25 percent tariff on foreign-made vehicles and parts, will lead to a fundamental transformation of the U.S. economy. A lot of people, both economic experts and U.S. consumers agree, but not in the same positive reconfiguration that the 47th president... Read more →

Photo by RDNE Stock project The Republican party has long opposed the federal estate tax, or as its members call it, the Death Tax. Bills are regularly introduced to kill the tax. Eliminating it even made it into the GOP-led House Budget Committee working paper on extending the tax cuts enacted the last time Donald J. Trump was president. Now, however, that committee’s chairman has decided that a, dare we say, more conservative approach would be better. Rather than eliminate the tax, he’s introduced a bill that would cut the current 40 percent estate tax rate in half. Short-lived tax... Read more →

U.S. Capitol, Wikipedia Commons photo The Republican-led Congress is struggling to find a way to enact Donald J. Trump’s agenda. Even Trump seems to be waffling. After originally saying he supported the House’s plan for "one big, beautiful bill," Trump said during a radio interview Friday the GOP’s tax, border security, and energy legislative efforts may need to be broken up into smaller bills. So, where do we go from here? That’s what GOP Congressional leaders wany to know. Senates acts first: In the meantime, the Senate last week went with its two-part approach, and passed a $340 billion budget... Read more →

We're still not sure what will happen with the tax code as we start the second Trump term, but here are some possibilities. Last weekend, one of my posts was on the long list of ways the Republicans might pay for extending this year’s expiring Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 provisions and other Donald J. Trump tax proposals. So, this weekend, it seems fitting to look at what those proposals might pay for. I’m giving Saturday Shout Outs to some articles on possible revived, tweaked, and/or new tax laws in 2025. The first is a slide show from... Read more →

Working from home is a convenience employees don't want to surrender, according to recent poll. Conducting business from your home is still an option is you're self-employed, and you also might be able to claim the home office tax deduction. Working from home has its own unique distractions, but almost half of employees who do their job from their homes say they would quit rather than return to a full 40 hours a week in their offices. (Photo by Ketut Subiyanto) Among the slew of presidential actions taken by Donald J. Trump since his return this week to the Oval... Read more →

Photo by Scrumshus - Own work, Public Domain Work is about to begin in earnest on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 provisions set to expire at the end of 2025. With Donald J. Trump returning to the Oval Office, Republicans will have, as they did when the tax reform bill passed eight years ago, control of the House, Senate, and White House. The only thing that appears to be standing in the GOP’s way is dollars. Tax cuts’ ongoing costs: Extending the expiring provisions of the Trump tax cuts could cost as much as $4 trillion... Read more →

Saying "I do" also means saying hello to some tax changes in your new wedded life. (Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash) The end of each year is a good time to reflect on what happened the previous 12 months. For most of us, that includes some good events, some sad ones, and some still shaking out as we’re about to enter a brand new year. Many of these changes also could affect our taxes. So, as a bit of year-end preplanning, here are six ways that the Internal Revenue Code shows up when we encounter personal and lifestyle changes.... Read more →

Photo by Tatyana Mazepova It’s the holiday season, so many of us have travel on our minds. That includes the Internal Revenue Service. AAA expects 2.5 million more people will be on the roads for the year-end holiday period, which is classifies as Saturday, Dec. 21 to Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. That comes to a total of 107 million people making a road trip of 50 miles or more, just shy of the record 108 million drivers in 2019. But Uncle Sam’s tax collector isn’t narrowly focused on who is hitting the highways over the next few days. The IRS,... Read more →

Will this higher cost across the country be enough to convince lawmakers to revise the $10,000 state and local tax (SALT) federal tax deduction cap? Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 was enacted, I’d spend this time of year deciding whether to pay our home’s annual property tax bill by Dec. 31 or wait until its due date of Jan. 31 the following year got closer. It wasn’t just a cashflow decision. It also affected our tax filing. Or did, as I noted, before the Republican tax reform bill limited the amount of state and local... Read more →

Last month, the Internal Revenue Service issued its annual inflation adjustments for myriad tax provisions. The new numbers were released before the Nov. 5, so there was a bit of concern that these figures could dramatically change after 2025. The trepidation was based on the expiration at the end of next year of mostly individual tax breaks in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, the signature tax law in Donald J. Trump’s first term. Now, with Trump returning to the Oval Office in January, along with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, there’s a bit more... Read more →

Streaming fans in Louisiana soon could be paying more to watch their favorite shows and movies. This time, though, they can’t blame the services providing the programming. Their ire over more costly entertainment is due to Pelican State lawmakers who now are meeting in a special session to focus on Gov. Jeff Landry has proposed a reworking of Louisiana’s tax structure. More subject to sales tax: Part of the tax overhaul is an expansion of s part of targets subject to Louisiana’s 4.45 percent state sales tax. It would be levied on several digital products and services, including online news... Read more →

Before law changes, the now inflation-indexed Alternative Minimum Tax, known as the AMT, seemed to work like an ATM for the U.S. Treasury. When the AMT was created in 1969 to ensure wealthy individuals paid at least some tax, it wasn't indexed for inflation. Until that changed with the 2017 tax reform law, the AMT adversely affected a lot of less-wealthy taxpayers. (Photo by Ali Mkumbwa on Unsplash) What's worse than figuring your tax bill? Having to figure a second, higher, parallel amount you might owe. That's a situation that taxpayers who owe the Alternative Minimum Tax, or AMT, end... Read more →

Plus, a look at what next year’s inflation bumps mean to estate planning, gifts you give before you go, youngsters' investment earnings, and more. Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Great Gatsby," the 2018 movie version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. (Warner Brothers Pictures promotional photo) “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” F. Scott Fitzgerald didn’t add taxes in his elaboration of those differences in his 1925 short story “The Rich Boy,” but he could have. While most of us middle-income taxpayers get our money working for wages, wealthier individuals tend to let... Read more →

“Oh, yeah. That’s the spot,” seems to be what this Chow Chow is thinking as he’s getting a neck rub from his owner. (Photo by Omid Armin on Unsplash) Happy National Dog Day! Or, for canine lovers, the 239th day of Dog Year 2024. Personally, I’m a cat fan. But many of my relatives are pooch parents. And let’s be honest, whatever creature you choose to welcome into your home, the animals are part of your family. So, we should be able to claim them as dependents, right? Sorry, but wrong. The Internal Revenue Service probably is full of pet... Read more →

The Nov. 5 election results will help put the fate of the Republican tax reform law into sharper focus. Provisions that affect individual taxpayers will end on Dec. 31, 2025. The next Congress and president will decide which ones will stay or go. Regardless of who wins the U.S. presidency this November, the next occupant's first year in (or return to) the Oval Office will be during a potentially tumultuous year for taxes. That’s because 2025 is when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s (TCJA) individual provisions expire. So, Congress will be working to save or ax, depending on party... Read more →

The outcome of November’s elections could determine the fate of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act bill. Key provisions of that Republican tax code overhaul are set to expire Dec. 31, 2025. Potentially expiring tax laws include the individual income tax rates, estate taxes, the cap on deducting state and local taxes (SALT), the section 199A deduction for passthrough income, and bonus depreciation. In anticipation of the impeding end of some popular tax provisions (and what that might mean to voters this year), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) and Tax Subcommittee Chairman Mike (R-Pennsylvania) set up teams... Read more →

Photo: President Joe Biden/White House Facebook page In his State of the Union address on March 7, President Joe Biden touched on how he wants to spend our money in the coming 2025 fiscal year. The Biden Administration followed up the next week with its formal budget proposal in the Treasury Department's General Explanations of the Administration's Fiscal Year 2025 Revenue Proposals. The Green Book, as it's popularly known, describes the tax proposals in the budget, along with associated revenue estimates. While a president is required by law to present a budget, what it includes — both in Biden's remarks... Read more →

President Joe Biden has targeted capital gains tax laws in his fiscal year 2025 budget. But don't freak out if you have some money in the markets. For the most part, Biden's looking to get more from really wealthy market mavens who typically pay lower capital gains tax rates on the long-term assets they sell. Collecting billionaires' unrealized capital gains: When you sell an asset for more than your paid for it, that profit is a capital gain. The tax rate for these gains typically is less than ordinary tax rates that apply to earnings like wages. In most cases,... Read more →