- 8 years ago Sticky: Welcome to t/tax! Come and introduce yourself.
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+21 +1
Watch John Oliver's Hellfire Sermon on American Televangelists
John is brilliant as ever
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Current Event+1 +1
IRS: Computer breach bigger than first thought; 334K victims
WASHINGTON (AP) — A computer breach at the IRS in which thieves stole tax information from thousands of taxpayers is much bigger than the agency originally disclosed. An additional 220,000 potential victims had information…
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+14 +1
NRA sues Seattle over $25 gun tax
The NRA and two other advocacy groups have sued Seattle over its new gun tax. The National Rifle Association filed the lawsuit in conjunction with the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry group based in Newtown, Connecticut, and the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun rights group in Bellevue near Seattle. Two Seattle gun shops and two individual gun purchasers also joined in the suit, which was filed Monday.
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+24 +1
Estimating the Return on Investment of Corporate Lobbying
In an earlier post we discussed the lumpy difference between the nominal (40%) and effective (average 16%) corporate tax rates in the US. That effective tax rate is driven by many things, including subsidies, deductions, offshore accounts, and other drivers. A reader suggested we look into how much money that 24% gap is worth and how that might incentivize corporations in their lobbying efforts in Washington.
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+24 +1
H&R Block lobbied to make tax forms even harder for poor people to fill out
Tax preparers stand to benefit from the change the company promoted. By Hannah Levintova.
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+30 +1
Finland to raise taxes on the wealthy to cover refugee costs
Finland's government on Thursday proposed increasing capital gains tax and income tax on high earners to help pay for a 10-fold increase in refugees expected to arrive this year, its finance minister said. The EU migrant crisis proposes a political as well as a financial challenge for the coalition, whose foreign minister, Timo Soini, heads the Eurosceptic party, The Finns, which campaigned for tighter controls on immigration.
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+32 +1
Iran earns more from tax than oil for first time in almost 50 years
The Iranian government is earning more from tax than oil for the first time in almost half a century as the country shifts its traditional reliance on crude to taxation revenues in the face of plummeting oil prices. President Hassan Rouhani’s economic strategy is to significantly reduce the government’s dependency on oil and instead collect tax more systematically, according to Ali Kardor, the deputy managing director of the national Iranian oil company.
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+12 +1
Big U.S. firms hold $2.1 trillion overseas to avoid taxes: study
The 500 largest American companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid U.S. taxes and would collectively owe an estimated $620 billion in U.S. taxes if they repatriated the funds, according to a study released on Tuesday.
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+27 +1
How 24 Economists Debunk Myth of “Uncompetitive” Corporate Tax Code
A letter to Congress counters the argument that corporations are being harmed by the current corporate tax code and that the remedy is a change to a "territorial" tax regime.
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+20 +1
Spain's Princess Cristina to stand trial on tax fraud charges
Spain’s Princess Cristina is to stand trial on charges of tax fraud in January, in an unprecedented court appearance that will see her become the first member of the royal family in the dock. Cristina, the 50-year-old sister of King Felipe VI, was formally charged late last year, following a four-year investigation into the affairs of her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, who faces charges for fraud, falsifying documents and embezzlement.
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+32 +1
Big U.S. firms hold $2.1 trillion overseas to avoid taxes
The 500 largest American companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid U.S. taxes and would collectively owe an estimated $620 billion in U.S. taxes if they repatriated the funds, according to a study released on Tuesday. The study, by two left-leaning non-profit groups, found that nearly three-quarters of the firms on the Fortune 500 list of biggest American companies by gross revenue operate...
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+41 +1
Facebook paid less tax than you did last year
Facebook’s UK operations paid only £4,327 in taxes last year, less than the average worker. The small bill was despite the company being able to pay its 362 UK-based employees an average of £210,000 in pay and bonuses. It gave its London staff Facebook shares worth £35.4 million, according to the report, pushing its losses to £28.5 million and so hugely reducing its tax bill.
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+32 +1
Putting Numbers to a Tax Increase for the Rich
**Submitter's note: to avoid paywall restrictions, always browse this site in privacy/incognito mode.** What could a tax-the-rich plan actually achieve? As it turns out, quite a lot, experts say. Given the gains that have flowed to those at the tip of the income pyramid in recent decades, several economists have been making the case that the government could raise large amounts of revenue exclusively from this small group, while still allowing them to take home a majority of their income.
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+29 +1
A Looming Tax On High-End Health Plans Draws Fire From Many Sides
A plan to tax high-value health insurance plans is meeting stiff resistance from both sides of the aisle in Congress
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+41 +1
DoJ closes IRS investigation with no charges
The Justice Department notified members of Congress on Friday that it is closing its two-year investigation into whether the IRS improperly targeted the tea party and other conservative groups.
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+27 +1
Inside the Secretive World of Elite Wealth Management
Shakespeare said that all the world’s a stage, but the sociologist Erving Goffman added that most of the interesting stuff lies behind the scenes, in what he called the “backstage” areas of everyday life. Having spent the past eight years doing research on the international wealth-management profession, I have to agree with Goffman: The most revealing information comes from the moments when people stop performing and go off-script.
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+20 +1
Reform tax credits with a Negative Income Tax, says new report
The government should replace tax credits, Jobseeker’s Allowance, the Universal Credit, and most other major welfare payments with a single Negative Income Tax, according to a new report from the Adam Smith Institute, Free Market Welfare: The case for a Negative Income Tax. This Negative Income Tax (NIT) would act as a minimum income guarantee for all British citizens and be tapered away as people’s earnings rise through work.
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+35 +1
Battle over 'Cadillac tax' heats up
Every major presidential candidate has pledged to repeal the tax.
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+23 +1
Marijuana tax to pay for college scholarships
Starting in 2017, high school graduates in one Colorado county will be able to turn to a college scholarship funded by marijuana tax. On Tuesday, 60% of voters in Pueblo County approved a measure that will phase in an increase in taxes — 5% by 2020 — on marijuana growers to fund college scholarships and other community projects. The county is expected to raise $3.5 million with this tax increase, and at least half the revenue will go toward funding...
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+29 +1
The tax debate needs numbers, not just percentages
If the rich get $200,000 and the poor get $2,000, that's not progressive.