TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
Pro Publica and Unrealized Taxes
We have a certain tax rate that exists today because we have to raise a certain amount of revenue. Remember, the only reason we have taxes is to pay for things that the government needs to do under the provisions of the Constitution. The revenue from the income tax is derived from applying a certain tax rate to the net profit of what people are making. The higher the rate, the more it will stifle economic activity and disincentivize earning more in order to avoid paying a high tax...
Unfit Fauci
Though I try to stick with taxes, politics, and economics, the recklessness and stupidity with which Anthony Fauci is directing Covid health policy can’t be ignored. One of the most incompetent and sad actions ever taken by this country has been to put Fauci in charge of messaging during this pandemic. The person in charge should have been a public health expert, someone who weighed pros and cons of pandemic decisions and made informed recommendations.Fauci showed himself worthless for the job...
Rahm Emanuel: Deceitful as Always – this Time On Taxes
In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “Why the GOP Has Gone Quiet Over Tax Hikes,” Rahm Emmanuel suggests that the GOP has gone quiet over tax hikes because Biden’s new tax plan is popular. For someone who is supposed to know about economics, however, his ignorance is overwhelming. Rahm claims that nearly 60% of Americans are bothered by rich people and corporations who don’t “pay their fair share.” But this very concept of “fair share” is just the repetition of a media sound byte...
Biden’s Unclean, Unseen Energy
Mark Mill’s had an excellent piece recently in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “Biden’s Not-So-Clean Energy Transition.” In it, he lays out the hidden costs and pitfalls of Biden’s energy plans, a sentiment shared by the International Energy Agency (IEA) 287 page report on clean minerals.The green and clean energy movement is a perfect example of Bastiat’s “seen and unseen.” Everyone says that clean energy, such as wind and solar, is clean and the cost of energy is zero, so how can you have...
The Seriousness of IRS Confidentiality
The recent exposé from Pro Publica which published sensitive tax information from wealthy Americans has caused quite a stir. Their justification to disclose “the tax details of the richest Americans” was based on the belief that “the public interest in an informed debate outweighs privacy considerations.” This is simply outrageous. Keeping individual taxpayer data private is the fundamental pillar under which the IRS can even ask individual’s for their personal information. The assertion...
The Egregious Elimination of Important Personal Tax Deductions by TCJA
The Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017 was an important law that made some positive changes to the tax code. It reformed and reduced many regulations, thereby spurring economic growth, and got people to understand the importance of reducing marginal rates. On the corporate side, the large rate reduction (from 35% to 21%), move to territorial taxation, and expensing of equipment were terrific. However, on the individual side, Congress allowed politics to get in the way of real reform, and that is...
What Makes Good (Tax) Law
A good tax system is built on four principles: simplicity, transparency, neutrality, and stability. Serious minded professionals and statesmen have known and pushed for these principles for generations. These principles should be the basis for tax policies created by lawmakers so that our tax system is organized and understandable. The first principle is simplicity. By this concept, both taxpayers and the IRS deserve to have policies and a system that makes tax compliance and tax enforcement...
More on Capital Gains
The concept of an American President (Biden) going after people making a lot of money displays an absolute lack of familiarity with how people get wealthy. As a CPA, I can attest to the fact that the most common way people accumulate massive wealth is either by a huge amount of hard work (creating a successful business) or selling an asset (an invention, real estate, etc). Many people who file tax returns with large amounts of income, such as selling a business for $10 million, will have a...
Biden’s Ignorance About Capital Gains
When Biden was a candidate, one of his proposals was to raise the capital gains tax (which also applies to dividends) to 39.6%. When I wrote about it at the time, it sounded completely outrageous that any serious candidate for President of the United States would willfully consider implementing such a devastating levy. We had already experienced the negative effects of Obama’s 23.8% tax on capital gains which contributed to the sluggish economic recovery during the Obama administration, and...
Bad Votes on Stimulus Amendments
There were several dozen proposed amendments to the huge stimulus bill that recently passed Congress. Many of them failed by a slim margin, but the votes were absolutely outrageous. It is worthwhile to remember these votes for 2022, as many of the Senators voted against their own constituents. Here are some of the most notable ones: The Cassidy Amendment, 1161: This would have “given some emergency assistance to non-public schools”, but it failed, so all of the $135 billion will go to public...
TAX
Tips
IRS Tax Tip 2016-33: Facts About Capital Gains and Losses
Capital Gains and Losses – 10 Helpful Facts to Know When you sell a capital asset, the sale normally results in a capital gain or loss. A capital asset includes most property you own for personal use or own as an investment. Here are 10 facts that...
IRS Tax Tip 2016-35: Free Help Preparing Tax Returns
Free Help Preparing Tax Returns Available Nationwide IRS YouTube Videos: Free Help Preparing your Tax Return: English | Spanish | ASL WASHINGTON –– The Internal Revenue Service reminded taxpayers today that they may be eligible to receive free tax...
Bernie Sander’s Tax Plan: Reduces Income and Hikes Taxes
With Bernie Sanders doing well against Hillary Clinton for the Democrat nomination, it's a great time to look at some of the specifics of his tax plan. The Tax Foundation studied the affects of the major changes (listed below). Their analysis found...
PSA: IRS Suffers Hardware Failure
The IRS announced this morning that a hardware failure occurred sometime yesterday afternoon; because of this, tax processing systems are not currently not functioning correctly. As a result of the failure, the IRS is unable to accept tax returns...