MySBS Team Found the following Articles - EEDA debates JFK feasibility

Timberjay Newspapers - from the remaining JFK tenants would provide roughly $84,600 per year to help They built it with tax dollars from all of the townships in the surrounding area In preparation for next Tuesday’s city council meeting, Novak encouraged the EEDA Read the Full Article:

MySBS Team Found the following Articles - Chicago Passes Bottled Water Tax

The Chicago City Council passed Mayor Daley's budget yesterday, which included a five-cent tax per unit of bottled water sold in the city, in addition to a fairly large property tax hike. From the Chicago Tribune:

Brushing off a rare show of opposition, Mayor Richard Daley won easy City Council approval Tuesday of a spending and tax plan that will tap into the wallets of just about everyone who lives, works or plays in Chicago.

The package, which takes effect Jan. 1, includes the biggest property tax hike of Daley's 18-year tenure as well as higher taxes on beer, wine and liquor, a new 5-cent tax on bottled water and increased water and sewer fees.

The most controversial item was the $86 million property tax increase, which passed on a vote of 29-21.

So why did the council enact a five-cent tax on bottled water? Is it defensible under any principle of sound tax policy? Is it defensible as a Pigouvian tax? It may or may not be, but the mayor didn't really care about that either. There was no study shown supporting such an optimal Pigouvian tax. He just wanted to raise revenue via an arbitrary tax source that has no justification to be used as a general revenue source. And if you can believe this, another reason that was actually cited in a previous article when this issue was first being debated was that the city was upset that people were buying bottled water and not purchasing the water via the city's monopoly on tap water. Unbelievable.

Also, you Bleacher Bums at Wrigley Field will be paying more for the beer you drink next summer as this new plan also raises taxes on alcoholic products. Maybe a tax on Baby Back Ribs is next.

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There are many stories of bad fiscal policy proposals that we often read about and comment here. But there are some stories that just write themselves. From the Associated Press:

Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford is getting lots of questions from the Birmingham City Council about his proposed tax hikes and revitalization plans.

His proposals include doubling the business license fees and a one percent increase in the sales tax. Langford said the money would help fund a domed stadium, transit system, scholarship programs and police department among other things. Yesterday, the new mayor met with council members to answer questions about his plan.

The city council today is expected to set up a series of public hearings before it takes a vote.

A taxpayer-funded domed stadium for Birmingham, Alabama? Is Birmingham going to try to lure professional sports teams besides arena football and minor league baseball to an area that has fewer people than Richmond, Virginia? And even if it were successful at luring a team, would this produce any net economic benefit, considering the opportunity cost-that is, considering the other things that money could have been spent on, especially given that it is partially funded by taxes on business licenses? Not likely, despite what "economic impact" the mayor may claim.

Or will the city try to get the annual Auburn-Alabama football game to come back to Birmingham? The revenue impact of that single game per year would not even come close to paying for a new domed stadium. And how willing would the two schools be to give up their biggest home game every other year to play in a dome? Plus, how many football stadiums does one area need? Currently, Birmingham has Legion Field, which is where UAB plays. It holds about 71,000 people. And there is a newly refurbished 92,000+ seat football stadium located about 50 miles from Birmingham in Tuscaloosa.

Raising taxes on businesses and consumers to pay for sports stadiums is quite possibly the worst fiscal policy decision local governments can make. Unfortunately, they keep giving handouts in the name of sports, despite the fact that public finance experts who are both conservatives and liberals despise such corporate welfare.

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Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning (R), who is also a member of the Senate Finance Committee, has called for a repeal of the alternative minimum tax (AMT), arguing that it hurts too many "ordinary Americans." From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning said Tuesday he has introduced legislation to repeal a tax originally targeted at the wealthy but that now affects millions of middle-income people.

Bunning, R-Ky., said he's co-sponsoring a bill that would do away with the alternative minimum tax.

"It's really hurting the every day, ordinary American severely," Bunning told Kentucky reporters during his weekly conference call.

The article closes with this statement from Sen. Bunning:

"There are a lot of us that think we should repeal it and charge it off, not pay for it. In other words, not increase taxes on other people, or taxes on businessess...to pay for a tax that was never intended to affect the taxpayers it is affecting right now."

Despite what Sen. Bunning or other politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, are saying, AMT is not currently "hurting the every day, ordinary American severely." In five-to-ten years if nothing is done, that might be true. But even with the 23 million taxpayers who are set to pay AMT this year if nothing is done, virtually all of them are in the upper half of the income spectrum, and most of them are in the top 25 percent. That doesn't mean nothing should be done to prevent a scheduled increase in taxes from 2006 to 2007 on these people, but politicians should be honest in who they claim to be helping.

Now if taxpayers are rationally forecasting their expected future tax bills and thereby reducing their consumption today, then maybe Sen. Bunning's statement that this is currently hurting the "every day, ordinary American" would apply. But under that circumstance of rational forecasts, these people may not be helped by Sen. Bunning's solution, which is to just "charge it off" and let the deficit pay for it. If people are rational and are forward-looking, any deficit financing of a tax cut today is going to be paid largely by those same people down the road or their descendants, whom they supposedly care about, depending upon their expectation of what the future tax distribution would be along with their future individual circumstances. So in other words, they would bear the burden today. This is the famous Ricardian or Barro Equivalence.

Now if the individual does not care (in his utility function) about the tax burden of his descendants, then he would not bear the burden of the deficit. However, that would still make Sen. Bunning's statement of "not increasing taxes on other people" incorrect, because individuals born 20 years from now are still "other people."

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It seems like every day now we are hearing that the real estate bubble has burst, lenders have tightened up and that thousands of people are having their properties foreclosed... Continue Reading:

In April, residents of Doña Ana County, New Mexico (home of Las Cruces) voted 50.7%-49.3% to approve a 1/4-cent sales tax increase to part fund construction of a $198 million space vehicle launchpad. (Additionally, one-quarter of the tax revenue goes to "spaceport-related education in local schools.") Local boosters hope the spaceport will attract the space industry to the area. Tax collection is scheduled to begin January 1, 2008.

Or maybe not. Under the state law providing additional funding, three counties were required to enact taxes and contribute funds. The other two counties, Otera and Sierra, have yet to even schedule election dates. Because it is doubtful that a tax would even pass, some Doña Ana County residents are reluctant to begin paying a tax that cannot, and may never, be spent.

Doña Ana County Manager Brian Haines told commissioners last month he wouldn't feel comfortable collecting the tax if there was no way to spend it. If the district never forms, the county would be stuck with a pool of money that it wouldn't know what to do with, he said.

However, officials aren't sure whether they can unilaterally delay the tax's collection. Sounds like Doña Ana County put the cart before the horse without a backup plan. Careful thinking can sometimes go out the window when local and state governments seek to use tax money to attract industry, such as by building stadiums, office parks, or even credit card call centers. Taxpayers could end up with the worst of both worlds-paying taxes that can't be spent on a project that, even if built, might not live up to all the stratospheric expectations people have for it.

As we put it in our 2008 State Business Tax Climate Index summary:

Lawmakers create these deals under the banner of job creation and economic develop­ment, but the truth is that if a state needs to offer such packages, it is most likely covering for a woeful business climate plagued by bad tax policy. A far more effective approach is to systematically improve the business tax cli­mate for the long term.

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MySBS Team Found the following Articles - Questions for TonightÂ’s Republican Debate

If we were doing this right, we should be asking these on video and posting them on YouTube. But after careful consideration we decided Anderson Cooper was just plain prettier than us and thus better suited to be on camera. So we hope he'll ask these questions while the GOP candidates are hangin' with Mr. Cooper this evening.

• The US corporate tax rate is the second-highest among OECD countries.  While most of our major trading partners have lowered their corporate rates over the past 10 years, the U.S. has not. Is this a problem? If so, what corporate rate do you think would make America more competitive with our major trading partners?
• Polls show that most Americans think our income tax system is too complicated and nearly 60% of taxpayers pay someone else to fill out their tax forms. Should we overhaul the individual tax system or is it fine the way it is? If it should be overhauled, what should a new system look like?
• Nearly 44 million Americans pay no income taxes after taking advantage of their credits and deductions. That amounts to one-third of all "taxpayers" with no tax liability. Should everyone be required to pay some income tax? If not, what is the right number of Americans who should pay no income taxes?
• The top 1% of taxpayers now pays a larger share of the income tax burden than the bottom 90% combined - that is, more than the share of income taxes paid by every American earning under $100,000 combined. Is there a danger in having so few Americans shouldering the cost of government? Is it possible that the majority will demand more from government because they bear so little of the cost?  Does this constitute a Madisonian "tyranny of the majority?"

 

Here are some of the tax-related questions other YouTubers are asking:

 

On taxing foreign oil imports: http://www.youtube.com/contests_layout?name=RepublicanDebate&v=lqacZt-JNnQ&goto=4696

 

On taxpayer's rights:

http://www.youtube.com/contests_layout?name=RepublicanDebate&v=stVKcqsCY6U&goto=3727

 

To Mike Huckabee on the FairTax:

http://www.youtube.com/contests_layout?name=RepublicanDebate&v=KvPsagJbh0M&goto=3170

 

On tax reform:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wTA_VIZQ20

 

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In April, residents of Doña Ana County, New Mexico (home of Las Cruces) voted 50.7%-49.3% to approve a 1/4-cent sales tax increase to part fund construction of a $198 million space vehicle launchpad. (Additionally, one-quarter of the tax revenue goes to "spaceport-related education in local schools.") Local boosters hope the spaceport will attract the space industry to the area. Tax collection is scheduled to begin January 1, 2008.

Or maybe not. Under the state law providing additional funding, three counties were required to enact taxes and contribute funds. The other two counties, Otera and Sierra, have yet to even schedule election dates. Because it is doubtful that a tax would even pass, some Doña Ana County residents are reluctant to begin paying a tax that cannot, and may never, be spent.

Doña Ana County Manager Brian Haines told commissioners last month he wouldn't feel comfortable collecting the tax if there was no way to spend it. If the district never forms, the county would be stuck with a pool of money that it wouldn't know what to do with, he said.

However, officials aren't sure whether they can unilaterally delay the tax's collection. Sounds like Doña Ana County put the cart before the horse without a backup plan. Careful thinking can sometimes go out the window when local and state governments seek to use tax money to attract industry, such as by building stadiums, office parks, or even credit card call centers. Taxpayers could end up with the worst of both worlds-paying taxes that can't be spent on a project that, even if built, might not live up to all the stratospheric expectations people have for it.

As we put it in our 2008 State Business Tax Climate Index summary:

Lawmakers create these deals under the banner of job creation and economic develop­ment, but the truth is that if a state needs to offer such packages, it is most likely covering for a woeful business climate plagued by bad tax policy. A far more effective approach is to systematically improve the business tax cli­mate for the long term.

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House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) is proposing sweeping tax legislation that he calls the "mother of all tax reforms". The bill makes some pretty heavy changes for both... Continue Reading:

Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas are separated by a river, and a good number of people cross that river daily to live in one state and work in the other. Many end up filing tax returns in both states, and to minimize economic distortions, both states allowed the other's residents to take the same property tax deduction when itemizing.

Earlier this year, Missouri repealed the deduction for nonresident taxpayers, seeking to grab a few million dollars even if it hindered interstate travel and commerce.

Rep. Kenny Wilk of Kansas demands that Missouri rescind the tax increase on out-of-staters or else his state will retaliate:

Said Wilk: "You recognize our laws and we recognize yours. If you disagree we will tax your people."

Wilk, according to a recent Associated Press story, is planning to fast-track tax legislation, once drafted, through the House in January. The idea is that if Missouri fails to revoke its legislation in January, Wilk will proceed with the bill.

Time and again, we see states eager to shift tax burdens to out-of-state residents. But since all of us are an out-of-state resident in 49 states, the higher taxes can quickly get out of control. The Supreme Court has restricted such taxes in limited contexts, such as with charging sales tax on mail-order purchases in the Quill case, but otherwise there's little stopping states except common sense, even in the face of threatened retaliations.

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MySBS Team Found the following Articles - Deductibility of Disability Insurance

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MySBS Team Found the following Articles - This Guide will help you to: Determine if

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MySBS Team Found the following Articles - The Tax Consequences of Foreclosure

It seems like every day now we are hearing that the real estate bubble has burst, lenders have tightened up and that thousands of people are having their properties foreclosed... Continue Reading:

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MySBS Team Found the following Articles - Fill would take farm

Winston-Salem Journal - But now you pay taxes on everthing when you buy it on money you make on your pay check then at the end of the year you pay taxes again,on the same darn barns, dog kennel, and other buildings Ty Pennington may apply. Surry County commissioners prepare Read the Full Article:

Anchorage Daily News - Don't forget to add the hefty international taxes to the fare, though. So get your calendar out, plan your trips in advance and purchase your tickets by Nov. 20. After that, you can prepare for your holiday travel. If you're traveling during Read the Full Article:

Carroll County Times - With that in mind, there are some steps you can take now to prepare for the coming n Insulate and save on taxes. There should be insulation in the attic, of course n Show your furnace some love. Have your furnace inspected. Issues such as carbon Read the Full Article:

Coloradoan - people," she said, stressing the education component before filing and how to prepare Your relationships, not what you buy them." But those who've experienced bankruptcy I have paid very much in taxes in my lifetime. My last year of employment I paid Read the Full Article:

Morning Journal - So pinch your nose, open your mouth and prepare to take your medicine. The good doctor is coming right at you with a big I don¹t want to talk right now about the importance of Head Start or more police or Planned Parenthood or more taxes Read the Full Article:

MySBS Team Found the following Articles - ... return!) and even better service for individual

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MySBS Team Found the following Articles - Prepare and file your 2006 1040A tax return for free with my1040A.com

Prepare and file your free federal income tax 1040A form online with my1040A.com and receive your income tax refund in as little as 10 days. Read More .

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The Child Care Financial Aid website helps you easily find out what state and federal benefits you may be eligible to receive. Continue

We offer complete tax preparation and/or electronic filing of 1040/1040A/1040EZ. Our highly knowledgeable staff is ready to help you with your tax preparation needs. Continue

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