This week’s story is mostly ridiculous, unless you’re a five-year-old boy just starting to learn dirty words. But it illustrates just how far some countries will go to find new sources of revenue. It also illustrates how precisely lawmakers can target taxes to influence their citizens’ behavior. Fortunately, we’re on your side, using our opposable thumbs every day to help you pay less!
tax savings
Taxing “Climate Criminals”
Last week, we discussed how the 2017 tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025—and how the election results make it likelier that Washington will extend them. Here’s the problem: it won’t be cheap. The Congressional Budget Office estimates extending the current rules will blow a $4 billion hole in the budget over the next 10 years, along with an unknown amount of higher interest payments on the new debt. That’s making life difficult for a new administration that also wants to eliminate tax on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits, along with other giveaways.
Gaze Into Our Crystal Ball
As President Donald Trump’s first year in office drew to a close, Washington gave us the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. That legislation reformed the system in conventional Republican fashion by broadening the base (subjecting more income to tax) and lowering rates. On the corporate side, they did this mainly by closing avenues to avoid tax on international income. On the individual side, they did it by raising standard deductions and eliminating or limiting personal deductions such as mortgage interest and state and local taxes.
Good News Bad News
Dying without a will is a great way for a celebrity to waste money on unnecessary taxes. It also means their assets can wind up with someone they never would have chosen. When Doors frontman Jim Morrison died at age 27, his estate passed to his wife, Pamela Courson. Just a few weeks after a court finalized her inheritance, she OD’d, with no will—and Morrison’s estate passed to her parents. Morrison’s mom and dad had to spend six years fighting in court for 50% of the Lizard King’s royalties.
Boring Is as Boring Does
The U.S. Constitution begins with some of the most ambitious words in the history of governance: “We the People of the United States of America, in Order to form a more perfect Union…” For over 200 years now, the Supreme Court of the United States has helped shape that effort like a river’s banks shape its flow. The Court has weighed in on some of the thorniest, most contentious issues in American life. Is “separate but equal” really equal? Does the Constitution protect a right to privacy? Where do the limits of free speech apply?
Are You Ready for Some Football?
“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.” ~ Tom Landry “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.” ~ U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell […]