Tag Archives: Money/Economy/Taxes

Obamacare by the numbers

Americans for Tax Reform today released the following “By the Numbers” breakdown of ObamaCare:

The number of new tax increases in the healthcare bill: 19

The number of tax increases that unquestionably violate President Obama’s “firm pledge” not to raise “any form” of taxes on families making less than $250,000: 7

The tax increase over the first decade if the healthcare bill becomes law: $497 billion

The top federal tax rate on wages and self-employment earnings under this bill: 43.4%

The annual tax hike for every man, woman, and child in America: $165

The top federal tax rate on early distributions from HSAs under this bill: 59.6%

The most parents of special-needs kids can save tax-free for tuition in FSAs (currently, the amount is unlimited): $2500 (Read more from atr.org)

IRS to enforce new Healthcare Legislation

Trojan Healthcare

16,500 more IRS agents needed to enforce Obamacare

J.P. Freire
Washington Examiner
March 21, 2010

New tax mandates and penalties included in Obamacare will cause the greatest expansion of the Internal Revenue Service since World War II, according to a release from Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas.

A new analysis by the Joint Economic Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee minority staff estimates up to 16,500 new IRS personnel will be needed to collect, examine and audit new tax information mandated on families and small businesses in the ‘reconciliation’ bill being taken up by the U.S. House of Representatives this weekend. …

Scores of new federal mandates and fifteen different tax increases totaling $400 billion are imposed under the Democratic House bill. In addition to more complicated tax returns, families and small businesses will be forced to reveal further tax information to the IRS, provide proof of ‘government approved’ health care and submit detailed sales information to comply with new excise taxes.

Americans for Tax Reform has a good breakdown of the bill by the numbers. (Read more from prisonplanet.com)

St. Louis Fed president: Recovery is on Track

The U.S. economic recovery is on track and labor data should look better in March and beyond, but more bank failures will occur this year than in 2009, said James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

“The situation is improving,” Mr. Bullard said in an interview Monday, adding that “the recovery is on track.” Household spending is looking better, and business investment is picking up, he added.

IRS visits Sacramento carwash in pursuit of 4 cents

Arriving at Harv’s Metro Car Wash in midtown Wednesday afternoon were two dark-suited IRS agents demanding payment of delinquent taxes. “They were deadly serious, very aggressive, very condescending,” says Harv’s owner, Aaron Zeff.

The really odd part of this: The letter that was hand-delivered to Zeff’s on-site manager showed the amount of money owed to the feds was … 4 cents.

Inexplicably, penalties and taxes accruing on the debt – stemming from the 2006 tax year – were listed as $202.31, leaving Harv’s with an obligation of $202.35. (Read more from sacbee.com)

Greece asks US to help crackdown on speculators

As is nearly always the case, government is attempting to deflect attention from its own incompetence & corruption by vilifying the private sector.

The Greek prime minister has called on the US to help crack down on the financial speculators he blames for exacerbating his country’s debt woes.

George Papandreou said he wanted to see the US impose stricter regulations on hedge funds and currency traders. (Read more from news.bbc.co.uk)

IRS to Track Online Sellers’ Payment Transactions Beginning Next Year

Internet sellers who don’t report their sales will no longer be under the radar. Starting next year, any bank or other payment settlement company that processes credit cards, debit cards, and electronic payments such as PayPal will have to issue information returns telling the IRS what merchants receive. The new returns are Form 1099-K, Merchant Card and Third-Party Payments. (Read more from auctionbytes.com)

33 States Have Raised Taxes by $32 Billion/Year

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has published State Tax Changes in Response to the Recession:

The national recession has had such a devastating effect on state finances that states took in $87 billion less in tax revenue from October 2008 through September 2009 than they collected in the previous 12 months. This 11 percent decline, the steepest on record, resulted from the impact on tax collections of lost jobs, reduced wages, and lowered economic activity.

To recoup lost revenue, states have taken such actions as eliminating tax exemptions, broadening tax bases, and in some cases increasing rates as well as raising a number of fees.

(Read more from taxprof.typepad.com)

Tim “doesn’t pay taxes” Geithner says:

Mr. Geithner is quoted as saying, “Some on the left have fallen into a trap set by the Republicans, allowing voters to mistakenly think that the biggest part of the bank bailout had come under Obama rather Bush.” Mr. Geithner should know – as he spearheaded the saving of banks and other financial institutions under both Bush and Obama. In fact, it’s the continuation of George Bush’s policies by other means that really has erstwhile Obama supporters upset.

Geithner also suggests that his critics compare government spending on different kinds of programs under President Obama: “By any measure, the Main Street stuff dwarfs the Wall Street stuff.” This insults our intelligence. Wall Street created a massive crisis and we consequently lost 8 million jobs; any responsible government would have tried hard to offset this level of damage with all available means. This includes fiscal measures that will end up increasing out privately held government debt, as a percent of GDP, by around 40 percentage points. It’s not the fiscal stimulus, broadly defined, that is Mr. Geithner’s problem – it’s the lack of accountability for the bankers and politicians who got us into this mess.

and, most notably:

“we saved the economy but kind of lost the public doing it” No, Tim. They Saved the Big Banks But Kind Of Lost The Economy Doing It.

(Read more from baselinescenario.com)