Free Republic

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California wage earners will soon notice a little less money in their paychecks. Starting Monday, employers in the cash-strapped state are required to withhold 10 percent more in state income taxes to help ease the budget problems. It's part of a plan to artificially inflate state revenue by $1.7 billion through next June. Brenda Voet, a spokeswoman for the state Franchise Tax Board, says it's technically not a tax increase since workers will get their money back after April 15.

Federal income tax rates would have to be nearly tripled across the income spectrum if Congress were to close the deficit in fiscal year 2010, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Instead of taxing joint filers with rates ranging from 10 percent to 35 percent, tax rates would have to start at 27.2 percent and reach up to 95.2 percent. "Federal government spending levels are so high that even if policymakers were willing to stop debt-financing government services, the federal tax system in its current form wouldn't be able to raise that much," said Tax Foundation...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- President Obama has been steadfast in his pledge that he won't raise taxes on those making less than $250,000. But that doesn't mean only high-income households will be subject to higher taxes. An increasing number of influential Democrats and fiscal policy experts have signaled publicly that lawmakers will have to get a handle on the deficit sooner rather than later. And they recommend policymakers seriously consider the creation of adding a value-added tax (VAT) on top of the federal income tax. That could mean more money out of everyone's pockets when buying virtually anything - sweaters,...

David Walker sounds like a modern-day Paul Revere as he warns about the country's perilous future. "We suffer from a fiscal cancer," he tells a meeting of the National Taxpayers Union, the nation's oldest anti-tax lobby. "Our off balance sheet obligations associated with Social Security and Medicare put us in a $56 trillion financial hole—and that's before the recession was officially declared last year. America now owes more than Americans are worth—and the gap is growing!" His audience sits in rapt attention. A few years ago these antitax activists would have been polite but a tad restless listening to the...

The actual economic costs of the proposed health care surtax and the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts will be twice the amount of revenue the government intends to collect. According to a new analysis from the Tax Foundation, the higher tax rates are estimated to raise $88 billion in 2011, but the economy will incur an additional burden of $76 billion—or "deadweight loss"—as a result, which raises the total cost of the tax increases to $164 billion, roughly double what lawmakers intend to raise. Tax Foundation Special Report No. 170, "The Excess Burden of Taxes and the...

With the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and the implementation of a proposed health care surtax, in 2011 the top federal individual income tax rate will rise to more than 46% and over 50% for those living in many states. This sharp increase in tax rates can be expected to reduce the size of the tax base and may raise substantially less revenue than the casual observer might think—perhaps only 60 cents on the dollar. In Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 182, "The Economic Cost of High Tax Rates," Senior Fellow Robert Carroll explains that for every 1% decrease...

The images below turned up in my email box this morning. While they MIGHT be fancy cattle cars (the Nazis were fond of those if you’ll recall), they are described here as “prison cars.” They brought with them my 1997 memory of what happened to one of our folks who dared challenge the powers-that-be. It’s a long and sad story but one we should all read from the standpoint that when – not if – but WHEN the excrement makes contact with the rotating, oscillating motorized air handling device, one of those railcar cells probably has your name on it....

I was asked this past Thursday morning on Fox News about the impact of President Obama spending the day in New Jersey campaigning for the immensely unpopular sitting governor Jon Corzine. I was asked if it was a good use of the President's time. I was asked if there were bigger things he should be focused on. I was asked if it might not even backfire against Corzine or other candidates in the immediate electoral future. Obama dedicated not just a speech, but the entire day to the Corzine cause. My response is simple, "It's what he has to do."...

A sweeping overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system to be announced on Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives will include a surtax on millionaires of 5.4 percent, congressional sources said. The tax rate is higher than the 3 percent surtax lawmakers had been discussing earlier and would be imposed on those making more than $1 million a year,

HARRISBURG — As powerful politicians clash over Pennsylvania’s lengthening state budget impasse, members of a small band of largely backbench conservative Democrats are exercising a little muscle of their own. The so-called “Blue Dog” Democrats in the House have openly defied a call by Gov. Ed Rendell and leaders of the House Democratic majority to support an increase in the personal income tax. And they did so in a building in which rank-and-file legislators generally fear the punishment that might result from thumbing their noses at their caucus leaders. Many of the 25 or so Blue Dogs are from western...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The poor are more likely to leave California than the rich, despite concerns that the state's relatively high income tax rate is driving away the wealthy, a new study shows. The report released Friday by the Public Policy Institute of California determined the poorest 20 percent California residents are twice as likely to leave the state as the richest 20 percent. Factors such as cheaper rent and home prices outside the Golden State seem to edge out income taxes when people of all incomes decide whether to stay or go, said institute researcher Jed Kolko, who authored...

Taxpayer victories are rare these days, so let's cheer the good news in Illinois, where earlier this week the state House in Springfield voted 74-42 against a plan to raise the income tax rate on individuals and businesses by 50%. When Governor Pat Quinn succeeded Rod Blagojevich in January, he immediately proposed raising the personal income tax to 4.5% from 3%, the business tax rate to 7.2% from 4.8%, and expanding the sales tax to services ranging from dry cleaners to Internet hookup. The Democrat says the income tax hike is "based on a principle as old as the Bible....

After several courtroom battles, Marrita Murphy lost. Her case attracted widespread interest because it involved an important question -- and also because she initially won a major round in court. The issue: Should Ms. Murphy have to pay federal income tax on a $70,000 award she received from a former employer for emotional distress and loss of reputation? She argued the award wasn't taxable. She paid the tax -- more than $20,000 -- and later sought a refund. In 2006, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in her favor. The...

Despite a veto from Governor Linda Lingle (R) last week, the Hawaii Legislature forced through several tax increases on Monday, including the addition of three income tax brackets on top of the current nine: 9 percent on income over $150,000 ($300,000 for joint filers), 10 percent on income over $175,000 ($350,000 for joint filers), and 11 percent on income over $200,000 ($400,000 for joint filers). By adding the 11% bracket, Hawaii will move from eighth to first in the ranking of top state income tax rates, passing Maine, New Jersey, Iowa, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island and California. In Tax Foundation...

... Governor Corzine Limits Property Tax Rebate Program, Spends Down Rainy Day Fund, and Looks Again to High-Income Earners Due to unfunded mandates imposed by the state on several byzantine layers of local government, New Jersey property taxes are among the highest in the country. Their unpopularity has led to calls for action, and the state's response has not been to address the underlying mandates or redundancy. Instead, the state chose to shift tax revenue from local property taxes to state sales and income taxes, by offering state-level tax rebates and income tax deductions for the payment of local property...

... Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year, so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy. Politicians in Annapolis created a millionaire tax bracket, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. And because cities such as Baltimore and Bethesda also impose income taxes, the state-local tax rate can go as high as 9.45%. Governor Martin O'Malley, a dedicated class warrior, declared that these richest 0.3% of filers were "willing and able to pay their fair share." The Baltimore Sun predicted the rich would "grin and bear it." One year later, nobody's grinning. One-third of the...

If ever a state were ripe for bold economic reform, it would be New Jersey, which is shedding jobs and is in perennial budget crisis despite one of the highest tax burdens in the land. So why is Chris Christie, the GOP front-runner in the state's 2009 gubernatorial race, taking cheap shots at the flat tax? Mr. Christie is a former U.S. attorney who did yeoman work putting away the state's many political thieves. But he seems to be running scared in next month's Republican primary, when he faces former Mayor of Bogota Steve Lonegan, who is proposing to scrap...

The Obama administration provided more details on the scope of its tax proposals, showing the impact of rate increases on higher earners would hit couples with about $235,000 of "taxable income," or income after deductions and exemptions. The administration also revealed new details of its initiatives to shut down offshore tax shelters used by some investors and businesses, and to raise taxes on the overseas earnings of many U.S. multinationals. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama said he wouldn't raise taxes on couples earning less than $250,000 but didn't give a precise definition of the term. On Monday, the administration...

California collected just $7.34 billion in personal income tax payments in April, putting further stress on the state's budget. The state controller's office said the collections in April were down from $13 billion a year earlier. About a quarter of all income tax revenue is collected in April, the agency said. In addition, the dismal April means the state is falling behind the revenue forecasts incorporated into the budget deal adopted by the Legislature in February.

President Barack Obama's move to curb overseas tax havens and job outsourcing was his first major proposal in what promises to be a broad overhaul of the U.S. tax system. Obama chose a relatively populist initial step. Daniel Griswold, an expert at the Cato Institute think tank, said locating affiliates in foreign markets is now the chief way that U.S. companies reach new customers outside the United States. "This demagogic grab for more revenue will only cripple the ability of U.S. companies to expand their sales in global markets, putting in jeopardy the U.S.-based jobs that support their foreign affiliates,"...

Gov. David A. Paterson called on Saturday for the Legislature to vote early this week on a financial rescue plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority despite being unsure if there were enough votes to pass the measure in the Senate. ... The authority rescue plan centers on a payroll tax to be paid by employers in the 12 counties served by the transportation authority. The tax would generate about $1.5 billion a year. But four suburban Democratic senators have blocked the plan, saying the tax would burden school districts, nonprofit groups and businesses. Every Democratic vote is needed to pass...

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown says the state Senate will not move ahead this legislative session with plans to put an income tax for the wealthy on the ballot. "Many members of the Senate Democratic caucus ... still believe that changing our tax system is the right thing to do. However, we've concluded it's not the right time to do it. So we will not be moving forward with any proposals this session," Brown said. The Spokane Democrat had been talking about proposing an income tax on people who make at lest $250,000 a year.

Mending America’s broken tax code Published: April 13 2009 19:16 | Last updated: April 13 2009 19:16 The approach of tax-filing day on April 15 invariably lowers spirits in the United States. Many taxpayers expect a refund when they have finished their calculations, but even this does little to improve the mood. The system’s surreal complexity is enough to defeat candidates for senior positions in the Treasury, let alone Joe the Plumber. Struggling with it arouses the suspicion that the income tax code is chiefly an instrument of political repression – a reminder of who is in charge. Ceaseless meddling...

It's bad for our democracy to exempt half the country.If you thought Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme was bad, wait until you hear about the inverted pyramid scheme the federal government is working on. While Mr. Madoff preyed on people who trusted him with their money, the federal government has everyone's money, and the implications of its actions are worse. Picture an upside-down pyramid with its narrow tip at the bottom and its base on top. The only way the pyramid can stand is by spinning fast enough or by having a wide enough tip so it won't fall down. The...

Gov. David A. Paterson and leaders of the Legislature have reached a deal to temporarily raise taxes on New York’s highest earners in order to close the state’s yawning budget deficit, lawmakers and officials involved in the talks said on Saturday. The new plan, which would expire after three years, would represent the largest state income tax increase in recent history, significantly larger than the surcharges imposed from 2003 to 2005, when the state last faced a major recession. The plan would raise $4 billion a year by creating two new tax brackets, the highest one affecting those who earn...

We are told that most of the money earned here by illegal aliens is sent back to Mexico (primarily), and is the source of billions of dollars of the Mexican economy. Much, much less goes to other south American and central American countries, but 80+ percent is to Mexico. If the money now sent to Mexico via money orders was taxed at 20%, and each transaction had a SSN attached for the sender to claim when "he" filed his taxes, then the "cash economy" now supporting illegals would be discouraged. The "cash" paid to illegals might still be laundered and...

A Madison biotech company is offering what it is calling a mental stimulus package to government officials who forget to pay their taxes. Quincy Bioscience will provide free bottles of its flagship brain-enhancing supplement, Prevagen, to any member of Congress or the Obama administration who has forgotten to pay taxes during the last 10 years, the company said Tuesday. "We're confident that after 30 to 60 days of taking the supplement, most legislators and government officials will recall, without being reminded by aides or reporters, all tax periods for which they have forgotten to pay state or federal income taxes,"...

The $787 billion stimulus includes temporary tax breaks for workers, college students and car and home buyers, but all are denied to higher-income folks. That's because of what's known as phaseouts--the long tradition of curtailing tax breaks as income rises. Democrats had an excuse for denying the temporary tax cuts to rich folks: They're less likely to spend the extra cash and, anyway, President Barack Obama campaigned on tax cuts for couples earning up to $150,000. But phaseouts aren't just a Democratic game. For years, points out Clint Stretch, managing principal of tax policy at Deloitte Tax, politicians from both...

Much has been made by the new administration of the idea of national service and volunteerism. While service to one’s community is certainly admirable, it is not the federal government’s place to “encourage” or promote volunteerism. Moreover, there are troubling signs that national service could transition from voluntary to mandatory, or de facto mandatory, such as the requirement of service in order to be granted a diploma, or something along those lines. Involuntary servitude was supposed to be abolished by the 13th Amendment, but things like Selective Service and the income tax make me wonder how serious we really are...

TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas is suspending income tax refunds and may not be able to pay its employees on time. The state is strapped for cash in its main bank account. Republican legislative leaders blocked an effort by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to transfer funds into the account.

ALBANY — A plan to raise income taxes on wealthy New Yorkers is gaining momentum in the State Legislature as lawmakers continue to grapple with the state’s gaping budget deficit. A group of Senate Democrats plans to introduce a bill on Tuesday that would impose an income tax of 10.3 percent on the highest-earning New Yorkers, a rise of 3.45 percentage points, and increase taxes on all households that earn more than $250,000 a year. The plan, which supporters estimated could bring in up to $6 billion annually to the depleted state treasury, is one of several options Albany lawmakers...

One thing the Republicans can attempt to do is try to start impeachment proceedings on "Little Tommie Daschle". The new RNC Chairman Michael Steele should take this football and run with it. If the new Democratic Congress and Administration is going to hoodwink the American public out of almost a trillion dollars towards "recovery", the Republicans should come out fighting. One gift handed the Republicans is the Tax Fraud by "Little Tommie Daschle". Could be a point of Freeper Activism -- just bringing up mention of the Daschle Tax Fraud during Tax filing season. Bringing the word "Impeachment" to the...

THIS MAN IS A U.S. SENATOR... In fact he is the Majority Leader THIS HAS GOT TO SEEN AND HEARD TO BE BELIEVED! This interview with Senator Harry Reid on the subject of taxes is incredible...and worth watching for the 4 minutes it takes... How do we elect people this stupid? Because we the people are more stupid and uneducated than people like Reid.

You drink diet soda, so you must be healthier. Right? That's what New York Gov. David Paterson is talking about with his proposal for an "obesity tax" — a 15 percent slap on non-diet sugary soft drinks. Think $1 for a Diet Coke, $1.15 for a Coke. There's just one problem: Studies have found links between drinking diet sodas and obesity and diabetes. A 2005 study at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, and separate studies released in 2007 at the University of Alberta in Canada and the University of Massachusetts found that diet soda drinkers were...

This photo bugs us! Here's why. The federal government has forced American manufacturers to compete in the global marketplace with one arm tied behind their backs. When they fail, the hypocrites in Washington shout that they need a management change because, in their greed, they price their stuff out of the market. We are told that there are only two options: Bail them out or say goodbye to ANOTHER industry in the same way we waved goodbye to televisions, steel, shoes, clothing, electronics, etc., etc. While not the ONLY factor, the MAJOR factor is our INSANE FEDERAL INCOME TAX POLICY,...

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday he wants the state's corporate income tax eliminated and would pay for that by eliminating some of the breaks companies get for moving to the state or expanding their operations here.

A state commission appointed by Gov. David A. Paterson is expected next week to propose a rescue package for the financially imperiled Metropolitan Transportation Authority that includes a new tax on corporate payrolls and tolls on the East River and Harlem River bridges, several people informed of the plan said on Wednesday. The commission, led by Richard Ravitch, a former chairman of the authority, will also recommend an increase next year in fares on subways, buses and commuter railroads, as well as in tolls on the bridges and tunnels it currently controls. But those increases would be much smaller than...

For the rich, the party is over - as promised. Despite speculation to the contrary, President-elect Barack Obama will act on his campaign promise and roll back the Bush administration's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, an Obama senior adviser told The Daily News. The Obama camp rejected the overnight analysis by some pundits who speculated the language at his first news conference Friday suggested the President-elect was backing away from his tax plans. "No change to the tax plan - at all," the aide said. Obama plans to raise taxes on the wealthy by asking the Democratic-controlled Congress to...

If Death and Taxes are avoidable in this life, then I’m a Democrat who voted for King Showbama. I think my record on this subject is pretty clear. Oh, I’m gonna die, of that I have no doubt…unless my wife wants to pay for cryogenic freezing, but first I’d have to move to Freakifornia. And I refuse to even step foot in Freakifornia. When I go, it’s the dirt nap for me, or with the fishes, depending on who gets to me first. So that leaves taxes. Do I have to pay? The 16th Amendment says so…or does it?

BOSTON (AP) ― Massachusetts voters have rejected a call to eliminate the state's income tax. The measure would have cut the 5.3 percent tax rate in half in January, and then killed it completely in January 2010. Supporters argued the best way to cut government waste and overspending was to cut tax revenues by 40 percent or about $12.5 billion. They said it would have saved the average taxpayer about $3,700. But critics, including virtually every elected officials in the state, said the cuts would cripple state services, drive up property taxes, harm the state's credit rating and scare away...

At a rally in Sarasota, FL,Barack Obama said that John McCain and Sarah Palin "wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness." Speaking of selfish, why doesn’t Obama open his luxurious and spacious Chicago home (click here to see photos) to all those Kenyan relatives of his who are living in abject poverty on two continents? He can certainly afford to feed and clothe them – their entire villages, too - and make sure they have decent health care.

So, what do "the rich" pay in federal income taxes? Nothing, right? That, at least, is what most people think. And Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wants to raise the top marginal rate for "the rich" -- known in some quarters as "job creators." A recent poll commissioned by Investor's Business Daily asked, in effect, "What share do you think the rich pay?" Their findings? Most people are completely clueless about the amount the rich actually do pay. First, the data. The top 5 percent (those making more than $153,542 -- the group whose taxes Obama seeks to raise) pay...

Given the opportunity to get out of paying state income tax, who wouldn’t jump at the chance? Certainly Ruth Gregoire would. Ms. Gregoire, 71, a retired employee of a fire sprinkler company, dipped into chocolate ice cream at Swirls and Scoops and pronounced the no-tax idea “very nice.” Lakis Theoharis, 56, the owner of the nearby Pepperoni Express, said: “I’m for the repeal of the tax. To me, the smaller the government, the better for the citizens.” And Rich Masterson, 39, a trucking company supervisor, said, “I would love to see that!” That view is exactly what most state and...

The financial-market implosion and the coming transformation of the securities industry pose a risk to the national economy. But they especially imperil New York State, which for decades has built its budgets on the expectation of raising ever-greater revenues from a Wall Street that now no longer exists. New York was once a great industrial state. But for the past quarter of a century, with occasional bear-market interruptions, the state's dependence on Wall Street has grown as manufacturing has shriveled. Last year, nearly 18% of private wages in New York State came from the securities industry. That was up from...

For 36 years, Ohioans have been sending a portion of their paychecks to the state -- an act that cost the median filer $619 in 2005. Some Ohio lawmakers say it's time to let Ohioans keep that money. "To me, it just seems pretty logical," said Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney. His House Bill 534 calls for phasing out the state income tax over 10 years. "I'm going to keep pushing it because I don't foresee the economy getting better in Ohio. I only foresee it getting worse." While some see little logic in trying to wipe out state government's largest...

BATON ROUGE - Income tax bracket changes under the Stelly Plan approved by voters in 2002 would go away in 2009 under a bill pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal and some state lawmakers. Today, Jindal was joined by Senate President Joel Chaisson, Speaker of the House Jim Tucker, Rep. Hunter Greene and Sens. Rob Marionneaux and Buddy Shaw in calling for the elimination of the bracket changes, a move they said will give taxpayers savings in their paychecks at the first of next year.

Together, you and we cleared the first 4 hurdles to putting the END the Income Tax Initiative on the November 4th Ballot. First, we wrote the legal language for the Initiative - and got it legally certified by the Attorney General's Office. Second, we collected 76,085 certified petition signatures to qualify our END the Income Tax Initiative for legislative action - and move it toward the ballot. Third, we survived an under-the-radar, stealth campaign run by the Massachusetts Teachers Union to disqualify our ballot initiative. Fourth, although the Massachusetts Constitution requires the state legislature to take testimony on and vote...

The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, N.Y., against the men targeted in a five-state investigation into harboring illegal aliens spells out a detailed plan alleging skimmed money and forced labor. Last Wednesday, Jorge Delarco, who federal officials say is really Simon Banda, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, as were 10 of his associates. Delarco owns or operates restaurants in New York state, Ohio and West Virginia, as well as La Herradura in Bradford. Raids on restaurants and homes netted 45 illegal aliens last week, according to federal officials. Officials in Georgia were involved...

<p>OCALA, Fla. -- Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison on tax charges Thursday, a victory for prosecutors who sought to make an example of the action star by aggressively pursuing the maximum penalty.</p>

Can you imagine a public school founded by two Christian ministers, and housed in the same building as a church? Add to that -- in the same building -- a prominent chapel. And let’s say the students are required to fast during Lent, and attend Bible studies right after school. All with your tax dollars. Inconceivable? Sure. If such a place existed, the ACLU lawyers would descend on it like locusts. It would be shut down before you could say “separation of church and state,” to the accompaniment of New York Times and Washington Post editorials full of indignant foreboding,...