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Beyoncé is going up against the Internal Revenue Service in a recent petition filed in United States Tax Court contesting the nearly $2.7 million taxes and penalties the agency alleged she owes. Earlier this month, the "Break My Soul" singer, 41, petitioned for the court to reconsider a January Notice of Deficiency assessed by the IRS. The notice claimed Beyoncé owes over $1.4 million in additional tax and over $288,000 in penalty for 2019. For 2018, it alleged the singer owes about $805,000 in additional tax and $161,000 in penalty, according to Forbes. In her 20-page petition, Beyoncé argues that...

The IRS has announced inflation adjustments to the standard deduction and other tax provisions for the 2023 tax year. The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly for tax year 2023 will rise to $27,700, up $1,800 from tax year 2022. The standard deduction is the amount taxpayers can subtract from their income, before they owe taxes on the rest. (You cannot take the standard deduction if you itemize your deductions.) For single taxpayers and married people filing separately, the standard deduction will rise to $13,850, up $900; for heads of households, it will rise to $20,800, up $1,400. People...

For a nation accustomed to instant gratification, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is a winner.Before President Donald Trump even signed the bill, companies were announcing employee pay raises, bonuses, and increased investments to grow their businesses and bring operations back from overseas.Among the first out of the gate was AT&T, which said it would give $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 nonmanagement employees and make an additional $1 billion investment in the United States. Boeing put $100 million toward training, education, and other workforce development. Walmart expanded paid parental leave and boosted starting wages to $11 an hour.Then in...

Maryland will sue the Trump administration for capping state and local tax (SALT) deductions in its new federal tax law, the state’s attorney general said Thursday. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed by President Trump last year contains a provision capping SALT deductions at $10,000, and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said residents across the heavily-taxed state stand to take a hit as a result. “By eliminating the SALT deductions, Trump’s tax bill will jack up taxes for more than half a million Marylanders,” Mr. Frosh, a Democrat, said in a statement announcing his intent to sue the Trump...

Some leading proponents of centralized federal power have caught that ole-time states’-rights religion.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, for example, has been a fervid defender of ObamaCare and other congressional programs invading traditional areas of state control. But, he says, Congress violated the rules of federalism when its new tax law capped income tax deductions for state and local taxes paid (SALT deductions).Are Cuomo and his allies correct? Does the Constitution require Congress to include SALT deductions in its income tax laws? ADVERTISEMENT The Constitution’s actual language does not say so. Some cite a 1985 speech by the late Senator Daniel...

Their outrage at the slap from Washington is understandable; it seems hardly coincidental that congressional Republicans would target a deduction that matters most to blue states. But rather than respond with real tax reforms of their own, they’re resorting to tax-dodge gimmickry. A case in point is the proposal Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) unveiled Jan. 3 in California. De León would enable residents to contribute money to a new “California Excellence Fund” in exchange for an equal amount of tax credits — for example, a family that owed $4,000 in state taxes could contribute $4,000...

New Jersey is potentially holding off hiking its income tax due to the possibility of the state and local tax deduction being eliminated in the GOP tax plan, according to the president of the New Jersey Senate. “I’m actually very concerned for the people of this state if this Trump tax happens, and I think we’re going to have to re-evaluate everything once that happens,” Senate President Steve Sweeney said Nov. 15 in reference to hiking the state’s tax rate on the highest earners from 8.97 percent to 10.75 percent. The Senate tax plan, which was voted out of the...

The percentage of federal individual income tax filers claiming a deduction for state and local taxes paid in 2015, ranked by state: 1. Maryland: 45.7 percent 2. Connecticut: 41.3 percent 3. New Jersey: 41.2 percent 4. Virginia: 37.3 percent 5. Massachusetts: 36.9 percent 6. Oregon: 36.0 percent 7. Utah: 35.3 percent 8. Minnesota: 34.7 percent 9. New York: 34.5 percent 10. California: 34.4 percent 11. Georgia: 32.8 percent 12. Rhode Island: 32.8 percent 13. Colorado: 32.5 percent 14. Delaware: 31.6 percent 15. Illinois: 31.3 percent 16. Wisconsin: 31.0 percent 17. New Hampshire: 30.9 percent 18. Washington: 29.9 percent 19. Iowa:...

Washington, DC – Today, Club for Growth President David McIntosh issued the following statement as the House Ways and Means Committee continues to mark up the “Tax Cuts and Jobs” bill:“While the corporate tax cut will lead to some increase in our nation’s GDP, the rest of the provisions on individual taxpayers fails the pro-growth test,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh stated.“Republicans must correct at least four serious shortcomings of the House bill to follow through on campaign promises and to bring our nation closer to a tax reform proposal that is truly pro-growth.“1: millionaires’ tax rate: House Republicans...

Greetings all: Here are my ideas for tax reform: Two brackets: 15% and 28% (instead of 12% and 25%), with said 15% bracket covering an amount of income equal to that taxed for Social Security (2X that for married couples and 1.5X that for head of household). There would be no higher 3rd, 4th or 5th brackets. Standard deduction of $12,000 ($24,000 for married couples, $18,000 for head of household), but keeping the personal and dependent exemptions (currently $4,050 apiece), with dependents including all dependents, not just children. Get rid of ALL deductions and credits, except for charitable giving and...

Policymakers want to unleash economic growth in America by fixing our broken tax system. Or so they say. Now that the conversation has moved beyond just lowering tax rates, pro-growth tax reform is in danger of losing the stuff that actually makes it pro-growth. That’s because policymakers are caving to big-government advocates and other special interests. Here are the top five worst ideas that would surely dampen pro-growth tax reform. 1. Failing to enact full expensing. Full expensing—allowing businesses to deduct the full cost of their investments when they incur those costs, instead of spreading them out over many years—is...

Bold tax reform got a big boost on Wednesday. Leaders in the House, the Senate, and the White House have all agreed on a tax outline, meaning a true update to our broken tax system could be imminent. First, the GOP tax plan framework would lower taxes for individual Americans. It would double the standard deduction for individuals and thereby expand the zero-percent bracket, and it would create three income tax brackets (down from seven): 12, 25, and 35 percent, respectively. Most simply, this will allow all Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets. Importantly, the...

Many Californians face a big financial hit under the Republican tax plan, which would eliminate a major tax break that benefits state residents more than those anywhere else in the U.S. The federal deduction for state and local taxes allowed Californians to reduce their taxable income by $101 billion in 2014, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. The tax outline released Wednesday by President Trump and top congressional Republicans would ax the break, which largely benefits residents in states that are Democratic strongholds.

Bush wants to cancel the deduction for state and local taxes. As the presidential candidates roll out tax reforms, one test of seriousness is which tax deductions they’ll cut. One of the better ideas is Jeb Bush’s proposal to end the deduction for state taxes. While liberals decry tax cuts for the rich, they adore this particular subsidy for the rich, and especially for rich states and the political class in Sacramento, Albany and Trenton. Since the creation of the federal income tax in 1913, taxpayers who itemize have been allowed to deduct the income and property taxes paid to...

What's a more valuable tax deduction, a deadbeat boyfriend or a vicious guard dog? It depends on how big a deadbeat the boyfriend is. No, this isn't a bad joke. It's among the things taxpayers ask each year as they try to squeeze out whatever deductions they can. And tax experts say they've heard it all. Among the zaniest: How do I value a taxidermy I donated to charity? (It can involve estimating stuffing and mounting costs.) I'm putting a swimming pool in this year, I'm going to use it for exercise, can I deduct it as a medical expense?...

“Conservatives believe in the classical American definition of fairness – that every American be treated equally under the law… “Governor Romney’s tax proposal violates that principle by giving politicians the power to carve out exceptions in the law for people of certain incomes. Furthermore, it sets the stage for future tax increases, as politicians will continually try to decrease the income threshold where citizens will no longer be able to avail themselves of the deductions.”

For the fourth time, the President has proposed limiting charitable deductions. The clearly intended result would be a massive transfer of money from the voluntary sector of society into government. Tocqueville warns, "our quarrel is not about the value of freedom per se, but stems from our opinion of our fellow men … a man’s admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him"

There are three "keystone deductions" in the IRS code that matter more than all others to Americans who itemize deductions. They are keystone deductions because they help the middle and upper middle class and they promote extraordinarily important social policies which have long been at the center of the traditional values held by most Americans. The first is the deduction for contributions to qualified charities, such as hospitals, high schools and colleges, charities serving everyone from children to the homless to the old and infirm, and of course churches of every denomination. The second keystone deduction allows homeowners with mortgages...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A GOP plan to raise taxes by $290 billion over the next decade would limit deductions for mortgage interest, charitable donations and state and local taxes as part of a deficit-reduction deal. Some workers could also see their employer-provided health benefits taxed for the first time, though aides cautioned that the plan is still fluid...

Three Senate Democrats angry about the high price of gasoline propose to raise taxes on the firms that produce it. No, it does not make any sense to us, either. For Democrats, expensive gas is just the price of scoring a moral victory over Big Oil, and American consumers will be expected to pay any price and bear any burden that Harry Reid & Co. inflict upon them. The “Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act” is a minotaur’s labyrinth of economic illiteracy, with Democratic senators Robert Menendez (N.J.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) lurking at the center of...