When accounting goes unaccounted for
President Obama and his liberal allies are calling for a ‘balanced approach’ and a revenue piece to deficit reduction. We hear this from the press all the time: ‘New revenues need to be a part of any deal to reduce the deficit.’ These are simply code words for a tax hike.
It is clear that the professional left is insisting that President Obama include tax increases in any negotiated agreement to raise the debt ceiling. [ATR]
Key Senate lawmakers have reached a deal to end two ethanol subsidies by the end of the month, sooner than expected and a sign of how tax policy can change as attention focuses on the deficit.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D, Calif.) said in a statement that she had reached an agreement with Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D, Minn.) and John Thune (R, S.D.) under which a 45-cent-a-gallon tax credit for blending ethanol into gasoline would expire on July 31. A 54-cent-a-gallon tax on imported ethanol would also expire at the end of the month. [WSJ]
“We’ve got an uncompetitive rate,” Clinton told a crowd at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Saturday.
“We tax at 35 percent of income, although we only take about 23 percent. So we should cut the rate to 25 percent, or whatever’s competitive, and eliminate a lot of the deductions so that we still get a fair amount, and there’s not so much variance in what the corporations pay.” [HP]
From the press conference that is still going, “I don’t think it’s real radical” to ask corporate jet owners and millionaires to pay higher taxes, Obama said. “No-one wants to see the U.S default.”
And then:
You can’t reduce debt levels without… increasing revenue in some way,” Obama said. “That revenue is coming out of folks who are doing extraordinarily well, and enjoying the lowest tax rates since before I was born. If you are a wealthy CEO or hedge fund manager in America right now, your taxes are lower than they have ever been.”
You think I’m kidding, don’t you?
Earlier:
You’d Be Wrong If You Thought Americans for Tax Reform Were a Bunch of Humorless Killjoys
A true man of the people:
The Internal Revenue Service has filed a lien against Miami Springs Mayor Zavier Garcia for nearly $200,000 in unpaid taxes. The lien, filed June 8, means the IRS would get paid before Garcia and his wife if they attempt to sell their home or other real estate. Garcia said the IRS issued the liens after his new accountant detected errors in previous years’ tax returns. Garcia said he voluntarily brought the errors to the agency’s attention, and plans to pay the money as soon as his finances permit.
Hours before a meeting with President Obama at the White House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that any debt-ceiling deals that included tax hikes would be “politically impossible” in the current Congress because most Republicans and many Democrats oppose them.
“Those who are calling for tax hikes as a part of these debt discussions either have amnesia about the fate of similar votes just six months ago — when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress as well as the White House — or they’re acting in bad faith, since we all know that including massive, job-killing tax hikes would be a poison pill,” said McConnell on Monday from the Senate floor. [The Hill]
In the Bronx, no less.
According to an indictment unsealed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, Charles prepared tax returns at a tax preparation business called “420 Multiservices” in Bronx, N.Y., in 2006. Between 2006 and 2007, Charles, 34, Patterson, 29, Nekiya Edwards, 32, and Akmell Edwards, 33, engaged in a scheme to use stolen and other identification information, including names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, to file fraudulent tax returns.
[…]
According to the indictment, in March 2008, Patterson was approached by agents of the IRS-CID. During that encounter, Patterson threatened the agents, stating, among other things, “I know you guys got guns, so what,” and “That’s why I kill guys like you.”
Bronx Group Charged in Tax Refund Scheme and Threatening IRS Agents [AT]
The deficit talks led by Vice President Biden faced a dispute over whether to include the Pentagon in any spending caps or deficit triggers, but the office of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Friday that taxes were the only reason the talks collapsed Thursday.
“There were some disagreements on defense, but the issue is being greatly overblown to distract from Democrats’ push to raise taxes,” spokesman Brad Dayspring said. “The tax issue was the sole reason the talks reached an impasse, but it’s important to recognize that the group made great progress in identifying trillions of dollars in spending cuts that can serve as a blueprint for a potential compromise,” he said. [The Hill]
In a political move akin to etching your name in to the conservative, low government Book of Life, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has signed the Grover Norquist’s sacred Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
It’s not a terribly surprising move, as this play will cater to the tax-hating Tea Party crowd as well as the tax-hating-rich-people-not-so-unlike-Mitt Romney crowd.
“By signing the Pledge, Governor Romney keeps the faith of the American taxpayer by taking tax hikes off the table as President,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “Politicians in Washington should be focused on reducing government spending.”
Of course what this move also does is protect Romney from any sternly worded letters or other communication from Americans for Tax Reform that would place him the squarely in the camp of that taxpayer Judas, Tom Coburn. Regardless of some people having the audacity to deem the Pledge meaningless.
[via ATR]
There’s no shame in asking for help, IRS employees, if that’s what this is about. Don’t forget that the Commish isn’t too proud to ask for help.
In 2008, the year for which most recent data was available, IRS computer programs flagged compliance issues for more than 8,000 of its 109,469 employees and ultimately determined that almost 2.8% had not complied with the law. But those monitoring systems missed 133 additional employees who were potentially not compliant with tax law over a two-year period, according to the audit. The employees were flagged for potentially filing their tax returns late, paying their taxes late, not reporting all of their income and at least one example of a criminal investigation with an additional tax assessment.
Treasury Report: IRS Must Beef Up Oversight Of Its Own Employees [Dow Jones]
The Post reports that Anthony Weiner’s “2010 tax return shows he took $40,521 in unspecified itemized deductions on an income of $156,117.”
It quotes “Manhattan CPA” Jonathan Medows as saying “It’s definitely a very large deduction,” and “[they] appeared to include more than the standard writeoffs for state and local taxes and Weiner’s mortgage.” If you were to guess to where the “unspecified itemized deductions” of $40k were located, they are probably included on line 28 of Schedule A for “Other Miscellaneous Deductions.” Of course what exactly the deductions are, is a mystery. But if you’ve got some ideas, we’d love to hear them. [NYP]