As if there’s not enough stress around tax time, cybersecurity experts are calling attention to a growing problem: Identity thieves are using this event to snag unsuspecting taxpayers’ personal information, and they’re constantly …
Taxes
Is This Stock Market Rally for Real?
Despite all the problems facing the global economy, the average U.S. stock has doubled from its 2009 lows. So this seems like the time to ask whether share prices have run up too far, too fast.
Obama’s Job Creation Tax Credit: Cool Idea, Bad Policy
A tax credit? For small businesses? To create jobs? And raise wages? Wow! What a great idea! What’s not to like?
Quite a bit, in fact. In his fiscal 2013 budget proposal, President Obama has suggested a temporary 10% tax …
Why Lower Corporate Taxes Won’t Create More Jobs
Yesterday, President Obama announced a long-awaited proposal to cut corporate taxes in America, which U.S. businesses complain are much too high by international standards. The proposed reform is intended to prevent companies …
Post Office Wants to Raise Prices 11%, to 50¢ per Stamp
By 2015, the U.S. Postal Service says it could be losing $18.2 billion annually. To stop the bleeding, it has proposed several money-saving strategies, including closing hundreds of post offices and processing facilities, …
‘Pole’ Tax: A $5-per-Customer Fee Proposed for Strip Clubs
Taxes are widely tacked onto spending related to alcohol, casino gambling, cigarettes and other “sins.” Should customers also have to pay a tax each time they enter a “gentleman’s club”?
Can a Website Help Reduce Your Property Taxes?
A company called ValueAppeal has been blanketing homeowners in Connecticut, Ohio, and New Jersey, among other places, with claims that it can help them appeal their home revaluations and reduce their property taxes—for a fee of …
IRS Experiencing Problems With ‘Where’s My Refund’ Tool
If you already filed your taxes with the Internal Revenue Service and tried using its handy “Where’s My Refund?” tool, you may have found that the IRS doesn’t seem to know where your refund is, either.
Buffett Rule Shares Flaw with Tax it Would Replace
Say goodbye to the much-loathed Alternative Minimum Tax and hello to the Buffett Rule. Sweet relief. The AMT has perplexed taxpayers and agonized accountants for decades. But wait: Are the AMT and the Buffett Rule really so different?
Percentage of Americans Who Say It’s OK to Cheat ‘As Much as Possible’ on Taxes Has Doubled
The vast majority of citizens feel that it’s never OK under any circumstances to cheat on your income taxes. But, in a survey conducted last year by the IRS, the percentage of people thought it was acceptable to cheat “as much as …
A ‘Refundable’ Tax Credit That Many Overlook
Americans will miss out on millions of refund dollars this tax season, as they do every year, simply because they fail to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit. This credit has been around since 1975, when it was installed to help families of low and moderate wage earners offset the burden of Social Security taxes. Over the years, it has …
Tax Tips for the Unemployed
Being unemployed is rough enough, but it makes the annual ordeal of paying taxes even more challenging. The biggest problem is that many people who were unemployed in the previous year simply neglect their taxes. “Many taxpayers …