Taxes

Stat scam; shopping center switcheroo; what a pain; and other highlights of recent tax cases. Houston: Jonathan Adam Van Pelt, former owner of a local staffing company, has admitted he willfully failed to account for and pay federal employment taxes. Van Pelt withheld federal income taxes and Social Security and Medicare taxes from the wages

On May 4th, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed legislation creating a 7 percent capital gains tax, to take effect next year. On November 2nd, Washington lawmakers will learn what voters think about it. Although the ballot measure asking voters to recommend on retaining or repealing the new tax is purely advisory, this gauge of voter

Pre-season checklist; whether carbon taxes; best Twitter bets; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers. In with the new Tax Foundation (https://taxfoundation.org/blog): Our favorite opening of the week: “Champagne will flow, ‘Auld Lang Syne’ will be sung, resolutions will be made (and soon forgot, and never brought to mind), and, in a handful of

The 2021 version of the International Tax Competitiveness Index is the eighth edition of that report. Over the years, many different researchers at the Tax Foundation have worked on the report, several new members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have been added, and various methodological changes have taken place. One thing

Refuge of a scoundrel; elder care and hockey tickets; on the flyer; and other highlights of recent tax cases. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Preparer Faheem Olugbodi, a.k.a. Faheem Abdul Nichols and James Moore, 48, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to preparing fraudulent returns from 2011 through 2013. Olugbodi admitted collecting

Under the House Build Back Better Act, the average top tax rate on personal income would reach 52.3 percent, tying Sweden as the 9th  highest rate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The House Build Back Better Act would raise the top federal marginal tax rate on ordinary income from 37 percent to 39.6

On November 2, in addition to electing various city council and school board members, Colorado voters will decide two important questions of state tax policy. Proposition 120 would reduce property tax assessment rates for two subclasses of property and require the state to spend up to $25 million a year, for up to five years,

Phishing and the season’s latest scams; FBAR whistleblowing returns; best sales-tax questions; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers. The fun’s back in ‘refund’ Don’t Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): The good word on processing returns — and the even better news about refunds — from the Office of Management and Budget, leaked first by

President Biden and congressional Democrats have justified their plan to raise taxes on the rich to fund much of their $3.5 trillion spending by claiming that the tax code is not progressive enough. Yet a recent Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) analysis of the House Ways and Means tax plan undermines that thesis by showing

Elections in Louisiana are always different than in other states due to the two-round majority vote system and, in odd-numbered years, holding the first round of elections on a Saturday in October. This year there is an additional twist, with Hurricane Ida prompting a postponement of Election Day to November 13th. Also notable this year

Condo bunco; life goes on; heavy metals; and other highlights of recent tax cases. Honolulu: Businessman Wagdy Guirguis and CPA Michael Higa have been convicted of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. Guirguis was also convicted of three counts of filing false corporate income tax returns, one count of failure to file a corporate income

The Biden administration’s proposal to require financial institutions to report inflows and outflows of more than $600 from bank accounts has attracted significant attention. The Treasury Department believes it could generate $463 billion in revenue over 10 years by giving the IRS more insight into certain types of income that members of the public often