Tax Question May Determine Supreme Court’s Position on Same-Sex Marriage [Tax Trials/Asbury]
Local accountant hits $1 mil jackpotWhen [Randy] Latham won, he told the Virginia Lottery he stayed pretty calm despite the big payout. “I’m just going to put this in my pocket and go home to talk to my wife,” Latham said. [WAVY]
Paper Towels v. Air Dryers[P]aper towels win out over regular air dryers, jet air dryers, and cloth rollers, at least in settings like health care provision where hygiene is especially important. [Conversable Economist]
Woman Busted for Smuggling Coke Hidden Inside Toblerone Bars, Which Is Like Smuggling Pennies Inside a Diamond [Gawker]
Middle-aged men warned to avoid violent exertion after man dies following Gangnam Style danceEamonn Kilbride, 46, collapsed with chest pains in front of colleagues at a Christmas party last weekend. He had just performed the dance hit by Psy, the South Korean musician, which has had been viewed at least 930 million times online. Gangnam Style parodies the lives of affluent residents of the country and is accompanied by vigorous dance moves, mimicking riding a horse. It has been performed by an array of public figures, including Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, and Ai Weiwei, the Chinese dissident artist. Prof Bernard Keavney, consultant cardiologist at Newcastle University, told The Daily Telegraph men should be "measured" at Christmas parties and warned them not to "stray outside your comfort zone". [Telegraph]
• Tax Portions of President Obama’s State of the Union Speech [TaxProf Blog]
The POTUS gave his first State of the Union address last night and he talked about a lot of things over his 70 minute chat. Luckily if you didn’t manage to watch, listen, or were simply screaming at the TV during the whole thing, Paul Caron summed up the tax portions for you, “Let me repeat: We cut taxes. We cut taxes for 95 percent of working families. We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for first-time homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children. We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college.”
Whoa, what was that part about small businesses? ” I am also proposing a new small business tax credit — one that will go to over one million small businesses who hire new workers or raise wages. While we’re at it, let’s also eliminate all capital gains taxes on small business investment; and provide a tax incentive for all businesses, large and small, to invest in new plants and equipment.”
Is he talking about — GASP — bonus depreciation? And eliminating capital gains taxes? Maybe! Regardless, the President has his work cut out for him since he’s dealing with an angry populous and negotiating with some resistant players across the aisle (who would likely propose the same ideas).
• SEC Issues Interpretive Guidance on Disclosure Related to Business or Legal Developments Regarding Climate Change [SEC.gov]
Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that companies will get all Al Gore on you with Climate Change talk but they will have to expand on the existing disclosures. Mary Schapiro isn’t interested in their opinion on the matter anyway; she’d rather that issuers just explain the impact of certain areas that may require disclosure. Pesky regulation, treaties with foreign countries, impacts on their business, you get the idea. Filings aren’t complex enough anyway.
• PwC Chairman Nally Says CEOs Are `Cautiously Optimistic’ [Bloomberg]
Looks a little cold over there in Toblerone land but Dennis looks like he’s enjoying himself. He also isn’t surprised that people aren’t as freaked out as, say, a year ago but dang it, things are still a little hairy.
