Today in let's-make-asinine-statements-in-regards-to-tax-policy-news, Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe recently told a large crowd that, “[a]nyone standing in the way of [the wind] industry, frankly, they’re unAmerican.” Right. Because anyone that opposes federal tax dollars being redistributed into the hands of specific corporations and industries are clearly communists. [The Cabin via David Brunori]
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Ex-KPMG Senior Manager Convicted of Selling Tax Shelters Is 50% Less Poorer Today
- Caleb Newquist
- August 28, 2010
A win is a win and the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals handed one to John Larson, one of three defendants sentenced last year for selling illegal tax shelters. The Court “found Larson’s [$6 million] fine too high, citing a lack of jury findings to support a fine above $3 million. It returned that part of the case to the lower court to recalculate any fine.”
That’s more or less where the good news ends. The court did uphold the convictions of Larson and his two co-defendants – ex-KPMG Partner Robert Pfaff and ex-Brown & Wood partner Raymond Ruble. Larson was sentenced to a 10 year prison term last year. Pfaff received 8 years and Ruble 6-1/2 years.
Appeals court upholds KPMG tax shelter convictions [Reuters]
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State Governments, Seeking to Be Less Popular, Delay Tax Refunds
- Caleb Newquist
- June 4, 2010
Taxpayers in Hawaii, Iowa, North Carolina, New York, and Rhode Island expecting a refund may have to exercise some patience, as these states have already declared their intentions to delay cutting those checks to its citizens. And don’t get to excited about receiving any interest on your already interest-free loan you gave them; many states have to withhold refunds for at least 60 days before interest has to be paid.
Pulling this type of a stunt will get you nowhere in a popularity contest but hell, they don’t really have much of a choice:
Scott D. Pattison, the executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, said that it was “exceptionally unusual” for so many states to delay refunds, as they have throughout the current economic downturn.
“I think it’s just an indicator of how bad things have been,” Mr. Pattison said in an interview. “It’s politically, obviously, a problem. Also, I think from a policy standpoint, it’s a little hard to justify — this is the taxpayers’ overpayment that is due them.”
Obviously this is going to cause some tea-baggish belly aching but it is pointed out later in the article, if taxpayers really want to do something about this problem, they have the ability to make some changes themselves to avoid this in the future:
Verenda Smith, a spokeswoman for the Federation of Tax Administrators…said she hoped the troubles would prompt more taxpayers to file earlier; file electronically, which allows for much quicker processing time; and change their withholding status with their employers so they would not overpay so much. “You really shouldn’t give it to your state government as a no-interest loan, and then have to cool your heels while you wait to get it back,” she said.
We’ve mentioned this before but it bears repeating – adjusting your withholding to get a big refund is stupid. We’d say that the states keeping it out of your hands was probably a good thing but then again, the state can waste the money just as well.
Half a Dozen States Delay Tax Refunds [NYT]
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You Guys! Corporations Actually Pay Taxes!
- Caleb Newquist
- September 3, 2009
At least Schering-Plough appears to be on the hook for some. A tax court ruled that the drug dealer maker doesn’t get a refund of $473 million after it tried to avoid taxes altogether on $690 million it made through offshore subsidiaries.
We could get into the specifics but then we’d have mass suicides to explain.
What is interesting that Schering’s auditor, Deloitte, even called shenanigans, “stating that the transactions were used as a means of repatriating money from Europe without having it taxed as a dividend.”
Not sure when Deloitte first brought that up but Schering obviously wears the pants because these transactions took place in 1991 and 1992 and the ruling came down this week. So at least the law firm representing Schering made out okay on this one.
Court Rejects Schering-Plough $473M Tax Refund [Web CPA]