Tax Bill

[LadySkinsFan]

51 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I didn't get the $600 payment either, but filed it on my taxes and it was built in as a rebate, that took us from owing to getting a little bit of a return back.

 

Since my SS benefit is below the taxable requirements, I should get the whole thing. 

[Corcaigh]

That’s a first for me … the IRS paid interest on the overpayment  for our 2020 return at a 3% rate for the period from the regular Tax Day until when it was deposited.

 

And now I have to remember this and declare the interest income next year

Edited June 5, 2021 by Corcaigh

[LadySkinsFan]

14 minutes ago, Corcaigh said:

That’s a first for me … the IRS paid interest on my rebate at a 3% rate for the period from the regular Tax Day until when it was deposited.

And now I have to remember this and declare the interest income next year

 

Still nothing in my account yet.

[Corcaigh]

28 minutes ago, LadySkinsFan said:

 

Still nothing in my account yet.

The longer they make you wait, the more interest you will get. I’d take 3% savings rate.

[Larry]

2 hours ago, Corcaigh said:

That’s a first for me … the IRS paid interest on the overpayment  for our 2020 return at a 3% rate for the period from the regular Tax Day until when it was deposited.

 

And now I have to remember this and declare the interest income next year

 

Recall a scene from one of Greggory MacDonald's Fletch books.  

 

Fletch, the intrepid reporter, is trying to tail a woman.  Who emerges from her building and hails a cab.  

 

Fletch jumps into a nearby cab, and says "Follow that woman!"  

 

Callie:  "What are you, some kind of pervert?"  

 

Fletch:  "No.  IRS."  

 

"Better you were a pervert".  But the cabbie puts the car in gear, and follows.  

 

As the car they're following appears to be reaching it's destination, the cabbie speaks.  

 

"I bet you IRS guys ton;t tip, either."  

 

Fletch:  "Actually, we always tip exactly 14.37%.  And we keep a record of the tip.  So that we can make sure that you declare every one of your tips on your taxes."  

 

Cabbie throws Fletch's change out the window and speeds off:  "Keep your *$#$@@(*&* tip!!!"

 

 

[Corcaigh]

2 hours ago, Larry said:

 

:  "Keep your *$#$@@(*&* tip!!!"

 

 

3% per annum pro rated for 6 weeks. Even though I had a sizable refund the interest will cover part of tonight’s takeout. 🤓

 

Wondering if people will get audited or have their returns rejected because of this uncommon source of income.

[China]

Hit by a ransomware attack? Your payment may be deductible

 

As ransomware attacks surge, the FBI is doubling down on its guidance to affected businesses: Don't pay the cybercriminals. But the U.S. government also offers a little-noticed incentive for those who do pay: The ransoms may be tax deductible.

 

The IRS offers no formal guidance on ransomware payments, but multiple tax experts interviewed by The Associated Press said deductions are usually allowed under law and established guidance. It’s a “silver lining” to ransomware victims, as some tax lawyers and accountants put it.

 

But those looking to discourage payments are less sanguine. They fear the deduction is a potentially problematic incentive that could entice businesses to pay ransoms against the advice of law enforcement. At a minimum, they say, the deductibility sends a discordant message to businesses under duress.

 

“It seems a little incongruous to me,” said New York Rep. John Katko, the top Republican on the House Committee on Homeland Security.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[LadySkinsFan]

The second stimulus hit my account today plus $3. Very pleased to have it because I wasn't sure if I would get it. Yay!

[China]

Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Tax Cut”

 

In November 2017, with the administration of President Donald Trump rushing to get a massive tax overhaul through Congress, Sen. Ron Johnson stunned his colleagues by announcing he would vote “no.”

 

Making the rounds on cable TV, the Wisconsin Republican became the first GOP senator to declare his opposition, spooking Senate leaders who were pushing to quickly pass the tax bill with their thin majority. “If they can pass it without me, let them,” Johnson declared.

 

Johnson’s demand was simple: In exchange for his vote, the bill must sweeten the tax break for a class of companies that are known as pass-throughs, since profits pass through to their owners. Johnson praised such companies as “engines of innovation.” Behind the scenes, the senator pressed top Treasury Department officials on the issue, emails and the officials’ calendars show.

 

Within two weeks, Johnson’s ultimatum produced results. Trump personally called the senator to beg for his support, and the bill’s authors fattened the tax cut for these businesses. Johnson flipped to a “yes” and claimed credit for the change. The bill passed.

 

The Trump administration championed the pass-through provision as tax relief for “small businesses.”

 

Confidential tax records, however, reveal that Johnson’s last-minute maneuver benefited two families more than almost any others in the country — both worth billions and both among the senator’s biggest donors.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

The Case for a Robust Attack on the Tax Gap

 

By Natasha Sarin, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy

 

A well-functioning tax system requires that everyone pays the taxes they owe. Today, the “tax gap”—the difference between taxes that are owed and collected—totals around $600 billion annually and will mean approximately $7 trillion of lost tax revenue over the next decade. The sheer magnitude of lost revenue is striking: it is equal to 3 percent of GDP, or all the income taxes paid by the lowest earning 90 percent of taxpayers.

 

The tax gap can be a major source of inequity. Today’s tax code contains two sets of rules: one for regular wage and salary workers who report virtually all the income they earn; and another for wealthy taxpayers, who are often able to avoid a large share of the taxes they owe. As Table 1 demonstrates, estimates from academic researchers suggest that more than $160 billion lost annually is from taxes that top 1 percent choose not to pay^.1

 

¹These estimates for the distribution of unpaid taxes are based on DeBacker, Jason et al., 2020. “Tax Noncompliance and Measures of Income Inequality,” Tax Notes Federal, 17 February. Estimated unpaid taxes are calculated by applying these percentages to TY 2019 tax gap estimates. The distribution of the tax gap across the income spectrum is difficult to estimate, especially at very top incomes. Ongoing work by IRS researchers and outside academics suggest the concentration of the tax gap is even more skewed toward the top of the income distribution. Guyton, John, et al., 2021. “Tax Evasion at the Top of the Income Distribution: Theory and Evidence,” NBER Working Paper No. 28542 These estimates are based on imputations of undetected evasion using multipliers developed from earlier audit data. The advisability of so-called “detection-controlled estimation” (DCE) adjustments are debated in the literature, especially with respect to understanding the distribution of noncompliance.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

US Economy: Biden Introduces New Tax Plan To Pay For Ambitious Agenda

 

President Joe Biden spoke Thursday about his plan to raise taxes on the wealthy earners and big corporations to "level the playing field" for middle-class Americans as part of his Build Back Better agenda, while also adding that "we still have a long way to go to get the economy where it needs to be."

 

Biden repeated calls for fairly taxing big corporations and the wealthy “long overdue.” 

 

“Let me ask you this, where is it written in that all the tax breaks in the American tax code go to corporations and the very top? I think it’s enough, I’m tired of it,” he said from the White House. 

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Millionaires to Congress: Tax us!

 

A nonpartisan group of high-net-worth Americans has issued an open letter to Congress urging a tax increase on themselves and those even wealthier in order to pay for the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill making its way through the House. The group, called the Patriotic Millionaires, is urging Congress to change the tax code so that the rich pay a higher tax rate than the poor and middle class.

 

Specifically, the Patriotic Millionaires are asking Congress to enact three changes in legislation proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee. Those changes include:

- Ending the 20% capital gains tax rate for people with income over $1 million. The average income is taxed up to 37%.

- Ending the ability for billionaires to pay no capital gains taxes on inherited assets.

- Ending the Carried Interest Loophole that hedge fund managers use to characterize their income as capital gains, thus paying a lower tax rate.

If the Patriotic Millionaires sounds familiar to you, that’s because the organization has been on a roll since the pandemic began urging the U.S. to tax millionaires and billionaires more for the good of the country. In August, the Patriotic Millionaires was one of four groups that urged governments to issue a one-time 99% tax on the wealth the rich accumulated during the pandemic in order to pay for fully vaccinating every person on earth and also giving every unemployed person $20,000 in cash.

 

The Patriotic Millionaires warn that if their latest advice isn’t heeded inequality and social unrest will only accelerate in America, making the country even more unstable.

 

Click on the link for the rest

[Ball Security]

 

 

[China]

Michigan will allow tax deduction for gambling losses

 

Michigan will start allowing people to claim a state income tax deduction for gambling losses they claim on their federal tax return.

 

The law, enacted by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last week, is effective for the 2021 tax year and beyond.

 

It is expected to reduce state tax revenue by $12 million to $17 million a year.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Ball Security]

36 minutes ago, China said:

Michigan will allow tax deduction for gambling losses

 

Michigan will start allowing people to claim a state income tax deduction for gambling losses they claim on their federal tax return.

 

The law, enacted by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last week, is effective for the 2021 tax year and beyond.

 

It is expected to reduce state tax revenue by $12 million to $17 million a year.

 

Click on the link for the full article

I was unaware you could lose money gambling.  🤷‍♂️

[China]

100+ ultra-rich people warn fellow elites in open letter: "It's taxes or pitchforks"

 

Agroup of more than 100 millionaires and billionaires on Wednesday presented fellow members of the global economic elite with a stark choice: "It's taxes or pitchforks."

 

In an open letter published amid the corporate-dominated virtual Davos summit, 102 rich individuals—including such prominent figures as Disney heiress Abigail Disney and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer—warned that "history paints a pretty bleak picture of what the endgame of extremely unequal societies looks like."

 

"For all our well-being—rich and poor alike—it's time to confront inequality and choose to tax the rich," the letter reads. "Show the people of the world that you deserve their trust."

 

The letter was released hours after an analysis conducted by the Fight Inequality Alliance, the Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam, and Patriotic Millionaires showed that a modest annual wealth tax targeting the world's millionaires and billionaires would raise $2.52 trillion dollars a year, enough to lift billions of people out of poverty and vaccinate the world against Covid-19.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[PleaseBlitz]

The other 1000 rich MFers at Davos are pretty sure they can hire people that can outgun a mob with pitchforks. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

As someone who works in consumer/commercial finance, I'm looking at tax returns and business financials every single day.  I can't count how many times folks with everything under the sun + some want to argue with me that they should qualify for a loan because "your underwriters don't understand that businesses write everything off to reduce tax liability".  No, we absolutely understand that but there's a fine line between writing everything down to avoid paying any taxes and having enough reported income to qualify for financing.

 

I guess my point in all this is that it's not just 'the rich' evading taxes, it's your neighbor down the street who runs a small business as well.  The same neighbor you'll hear griping about how heavily taxed they are and so on and so forth.  Meanwhile, they hire accountants to exploit the tax code and reduce their liability down to nothing while owning every toy under the sun.  I don't blame anyone for doing this - why wouldn't they?  The tax code in general is written in a way that makes W2 earners the suckers.  Of course the more wealth you accumulate, the easier it is to play the game and hoard wealth without paying your fair share to keep society going.

 

[Fresh8686]

12 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

As someone who works in consumer/commercial finance, I'm looking at tax returns and business financials every single day.  I can't count how many times folks with everything under the sun + some want to argue with me that they should qualify for a loan because "your underwriters don't understand that businesses write everything off to reduce tax liability".  No, we absolutely understand that but there's a fine line between writing everything down to avoid paying any taxes and having enough reported income to qualify for financing.

 

I guess my point in all this is that it's not just 'the rich' evading taxes, it's your neighbor down the street who runs a small business as well.  The same neighbor you'll hear griping about how heavily taxed they are and so on and so forth.  Meanwhile, they hire accountants to exploit the tax code and reduce their liability down to nothing while owning every toy under the sun.  I don't blame anyone for doing this - why wouldn't they?  The tax code in general is written in a way that makes W2 earners the suckers.  Of course the more wealth you accumulate, the easier it is to play the game and hoard wealth without paying your fair share to keep society going.

 

Why don’t you blame anyone for doing this? It’s revolting for people to be so disconnected from any semblance of community and shared responsibility. To have so little honor and character. I’m not expecting people to be a saint, but it’s striking how sick our society has gotten that such behavior is so widespread, accepted, and expected. 
 

I don’t get why people choose to be such abusive parasites. 

[Larry]

50 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

The other 1000 rich MFers at Davos are pretty sure they can hire people that can outgun a mob with pitchforks. 

 

A CEO, a union guy, and a tea partier are in a conference room.  On the table is a plate with a dozen cookies.  

 

The CEO takes 11 cookies, and turns to the Tea Partier.  

 

"Watch that union guy.  He wants half your cookie."  

[Fresh8686]

52 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

The other 1000 rich MFers at Davos are pretty sure they can hire people that can outgun a mob with pitchforks. 

Yup, most people aren’t paying attention to it. But, class warfare is in a race between technology allowing for better organization for the masses to gain equality and technology allowing better leverage for the elites to control and escape repercussions from exploiting and enslaving the masses. 
 

Not sure who reaches their goals first. It’s not looking good for team humanity.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

1 minute ago, Fresh8686 said:

Why don’t you blame anyone for doing this? It’s revolting for people to be so disconnected from any semblance of community and shared responsibility. To have so little honor and character. I’m not expecting people to be a saint, but it’s striking how sick our society has gotten that such behavior is so widespread, accepted, and expected. 
 

I don’t get why people choose to be such abusive parasites. 

Because the tax code is written in a way that makes it legal.  I don't know anyone, of any political affiliation, that would choose to pay more in taxes if given a choice not to.

[PleaseBlitz]

19 minutes ago, Fresh8686 said:

Yup, most people aren’t paying attention to it. But, class warfare is in a race between technology allowing for better organization for the masses to gain equality and technology allowing better leverage for the elites to control and escape repercussions from exploiting and enslaving the masses. 
 

Not sure who reaches their goals first. It’s not looking good for team humanity.

 

LOL, the masses aren't using technology to gain equality, they are using it to build information bubbles so they think can think they are always right about everything regardless of the actual facts, so they can be happy even while being exploited. 

[Fresh8686]

49 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

Because the tax code is written in a way that makes it legal.  I don't know anyone, of any political affiliation, that would choose to pay more in taxes if given a choice not to.

Thats a followers mindset and ignores the letter just quoted above in that salon article. There are people who do pay more in taxes than they need to or at least eschew taking advantage of loop holes to pay what they believe is their fair share. Yea it’s rare, but they show people are capable of wanting to contribute to the common good moreso than taking everything they can get. 

 

33 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

LOL, the masses aren't using technology to gain equality, they are using it to build information bubbles so they think can think they are always right about everything regardless of the actual facts, so they can be happy even while being exploited. 

You’re being myopic and treating the masses as a monolith. Yes, a large portion of the masses are how you described, but for the portion of the spectrum that contains people genuinely pushing for equality they depend on technology allowing for greater mobilization and coordination of the masses in order to counter balance the continued over-reach of the parasitical elites. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

4 minutes ago, Fresh8686 said:

Thats a followers mindset and ignores the letter just quoted above in that salon article. There are people who do pay more in taxes than they need to or at least eschew taking advantage of loop holes to pay what they believe is their fair share. Yea it’s rare, but they show people are capable of wanting to contribute to the common good moreso than taking everything they can get. 

I never said those people don't exist, they are just clearly the exception to the rule.