1. Those who have private health insurance; keep it. 2. Those who don’t have private health insurance but can afford it based on income after taxes but excluding house payments, cars, etc; tough. You shouldn’t live beyond your means. 3. Those who don’t have private coverage because they can’t afford it would get it via the government similar to what gov’t workers get with payments they can afford or none at all if they just can’t pay. This is through a private company; just subsidized by the feds. They can opt out for private coverage when they get on their feet. 4. Those who aren’t covered because they’re poor and not doing anything about it or having more and more kids would be limited to coverage for a max of 2 kids. If they can’t provide for their other kids, the children are taken into protective custody and the parents are charged with criminal neglect. 5. Government does not decide what treatments any gets; only physicians would do that. 6. Minimal insurance coverage (like liability for autos) would be required for all but monthly/semi-annual premiums would be capped so not to be excessive. 7. No denial of service due to pre-existing conditions. A higher premium would probably be necessary however. 8. Smokers and the obese are not covered except for programs designed to quit smoking and lose weight. Too great a burden on the system to cover these slow-cook suicides. 9. No coverage for abortion procedures except in the case of rape, incest, or life of the mother. (don’t agree? Don’t pay your taxes) 10. benefits only extend to US Citizens and legal permanent residents who are employed and, therefore, paying taxes (and into the system) 11. Emergency rooms no longer required to treat everyone for everything. If it can wait until morning (headache, moderate fever, etc) it will. No more “Dollar Store” medicine via the ER. 12. Small tax on refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup. 13. Maximum 1-year patent on new drugs. 14. Gigantic grant for cures to shift R&D from treatment to prevention by big pharmaceuticals. 15. Provision allowing for possible co-ops.
Certainly not many of you follow the ongoings of cases where people try to take advantage of tax laws to benefit themselves because the law itself is murky. However, there is a case that is drawing much attention unto itself, because of the nature of the "supposed" crime.
A fellow citizen who thought himself smart saw a loophole in the way he could pay his employees. If he payed them with gold or silver, which has to still be recognized by our society as a legal form of payment, he could give them more for less. This worked in the way that the legal system binds the value of these metals, to the current standings on the market. However when tax time comes around you are only taxed on the "face" value of the metals, not the current value of the market.
Citation is here
http://www.lvrj.com/news/48145032.html
and here http://www.lvrj.com/news/46074037.html.
Now to do this is wrong...absolutely not, seeing as the law is clear on how it wll tax its citizens and what is legal in payment. However, the point they are trying to make, is that this is fraud ...tax fraud because the person doing the action is doing this on purpose to avoid paying taxes.
OF COURSE HE IS, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU GAVE AWAY OUR MONEY TO BIGGER CRIMINALS (GM, CHRYSLER) AND WE HAD NO SAY IN THIS!
So he is trying to save a few people from paying more money then they have to. If I get a slip saying I can not deduct a full amount of gas receipts on my business because technically the gas is also used for personal use, then send me a letter saying I can only report 80% or something likewise...dont bring me to jail because I did not quite know you could only declare a percentage.
They are trying to say he meant to avoid paying taxes, but then so was I when I declared 100% and not 80% of my gas receipts! This is a government that stone walls other investigations which could impact this one, on purpose because they do not want to give a chance to the defendant to have the upper hand. I am talking about an unlawful seizure by the FBI and IRS and the defendants home without proper warrants prepared, yet that case which was started before this one, has yet to see the light of day, and should that case rule that the seizure was unwarranted, then it would be thrown out of court, yet you can not discuss another case that has yet to be tried, therefor, it was a tactic to stone wall that is now leaving the defendant without any options.
He payed his employees with gold, the employees could have refused and he would have paid them cash, or cheque, but they accepted....so who is really at fault...the employer, employee or the goverment for not seeing that one law presided over another?
The government sees this action as a possible sore point where people will end up paying less taxes and the value of gold keep climbing, which BTW we have no real mines left in the US, all te gold mines are off this continent, we would end up being again stuck with foreign policies dictating our current economy!
I am signing out, however I think about Obama going off to jail because he gave as a gift to someone, a friend or family member, some gold coins and was found guilty of fraud. Can a gift be taxed, I don't know ....luckily I live in Canada!!!
So, as a CPA, if I understand the news, Senator Kennedy plans to required each employee to have health insurance.
Then, President Obama, you are considering taxing the benefits.
Sorry to say, I am speechless (which of course why I am writing).
This sounds like a Republican proposal to tax the middle class; have you been hanging out Dick Cheney?
Well, I am displeased to hear this, unless of course Obama was directing his attack towards the corporations and not the people. It is sad to say, but in this economic crisis, big coporations making billions of dollars profits, need to stand by their country, and support the failing infra-structure.
It is not by forcing the poor people, who work so hard , but cant afford the legal representation or accounting council to find all the loopholes, that should be targeted. Too often I find myself watching as the poor get poorer and ...well you know how it goes. Britney Spears is making millions, is she paying millions too in tax, or is there a glitzy accountant following her around calculating everything that can be deducted.
I would love to see a flat rate for people (corporations are a different matter) , that way less energy, effort,time and money is invested in making this happen. Think about it, no deductions, no receipts, no time wasted calculating, no time wasted getting documents, or contacting accountants that charge you through the nose to break even. If we had a flat 20% of whatever you did make, poor would not be poorer, then the rich.
They would be even. We would have alot more money in our coffers, because for once the rich would be paying the FULL amount,.....remember no deductions...so from 100 million dollars for one person's gain in a year (Arnold Schwarzenegger) would equal about 20 million for the US! Thats it thats all. No extra wasted money on the government figuring out new ways for people to pay, and have that side lined by another loop hole.
Why not, I ask you....why not? The person making 10$ an hour, does not have to worry about spending extra money to make all the weird calculations, to figure out this and that , and just pay an even 20%, easy! The rich guy, wont have the luxury of avoiding paying anythnig, because now, even with the best accountants, it wont matter....he still pays 20$
We’re still waiting for our middle class cut Mr. President. Huh??? We’ve already gotten our tax cut but most people don’t know that because the White House hasn’t hammered the message home. President Obama has delivered a tax cut for 95% of working Americans but Republicans are still drowning us in noisy claims that the president is raising taxes.
We are actually paying companies to ship our jobs overseas. Corporations receive tax cuts for outsourcing jobs to other countries. The president wants to eliminate those tax breaks, saving us $210 billion over the next four years. The White House needs to drive that message home tirelessly.
Why does it seem that the President is watering down his budget proposal to chase votes he won’t get? Republicans proved during the stimulus bill that despite all the concessions made to them then, they would never vote in favor of anything the President wants.
With Democrats, Independents and Moderate Republicans like me on his side, the President should focus on keeping his campaign promises because John Boaner, Mitch McConnell, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are opposed to fresh air, sunshine and Jesus, so long as they think President Obama is in favor of them.
Mr. President, you have helped them marginalize themselves to the maximum extent imaginable. Now it’s time to stand true to your word. Frankly, not everything you promised was what I wanted, but if you do what you told us you’d do, I will continue to support you, and I will vote against those who oppose you, regardless what party they’re in.
How do you deter an enemy who is willing to kill himself in order to kill you? You strike at something more important to him than his own life. Defining that will be easy for me. The next question is can America be as ruthless as our enemies?
The time has come to end the fruitless and unsustainable effort to search and destroy every cave in Afghanistan and bomb every campground in bordering Pakistan. It’s counterproductive anyway.
What will put the fear of America into terrorist masterminds and those who would follow their orders is simple and radical revenge. Masterminds have families: Cousins, brothers and fathers. Eliminate them. All at once, or one at a time, it works just as well. The ones who survive an initial “hunt” will go into hiding. Having some adult male relatives killed and the rest hiding out in caves will demoralize masterminds and their loved ones. You cannot work and support your women like that. You can’t make more baby masterminds that way. You cannot continue the blood line. The women and children will pressure them to stop their plotting and bombing.
People want to leave a familial legacy, and they can’t do that under those circumstances over the long term.
Should America do that? Yes. Do we have the “intestinal fortitude” and sustainable motivation? I don’t think so. But we should, and it shouldn’t take another terrorist attack to get us there.
For the last seven years the CIA has been kidnapping people from other nations and torturing them. Why not just go in there and quietly shoot them to death?
Frankly, by not killing women or children the way those terrorists routinely do, we can even claim the moral high ground.
Thanks for all were active again: U.S. House Passes 90 Percent Tax on Employee Bonuses
But it seems like we must still help President Obama! There can be other problems President Obama could need help. It's still a lot to change.
"Every six and half seconds, AIG loses the equivalent of the median household income in the US. Americans spent at world's largest retailer Wal-Mart Stores in the fourth quarter is $67.4 billion, so AIG's loss amounts to 92% of the spending! In other words, It's more like, It would take a person spending $1-million per day, everyday, the next 169 years to spend as much money as AIG lost during the fourth quarter, which lasted just 92 days."
- And one point more about tax money: over $ 90 billion were going from AIG to banks like Deutsche Bank, Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and some banks of US.
“A record $2.85 billion in alleged delinquent child support was collected from federal income tax refund offsets in 2008 under the Federal Offset Program.”
The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Admin. for Children and Families announced that the 2008 collection record broke the previous one in 2007 by over $1.15 billion.That’s well and nice, but it’s partly a LIE.Men NOT paying child support isn’t the only reason for arrears. Men also have arrears when they are hit with up to 23 years of retroactive child support (Michigan Law) on a child they never knew existed. My nursing home roommate was in arrears for 15 years due to the mother moving away and not telling him where. He found the boy last year, resulting in her renewing the CS claim. She got his 2008 return, but not anymore. After the boy came to see him, the father died of cancer. There’s also active duty reservists whose child support was based on their private sector income. Only Missouri and Illinois allows for emergency or retroactive reductions for reservists. The rest just fell behind, as only 55% of their gross income can be taken, PLUS their tax returns.There is far more to the problem of arrears than what is given to the media, or the media is willing to report on.
We need to give credit where credit is deserved: NAME this economic crisis after the man most responsible for it's creation.
$10 trillion deficit is what we had at the end of the Bush administration. In eight years, Bush more than DOUBLED all the indebtedness America had accrued in more than 200 years.
This is more than a talking point, this is a necessary reminder that should be made every day, so that the notoriously SHORT memories of Americans shall be stimulated on a regular basis.
The epidemic proportions of the drug problem in younger people are in direct correlation of the strict laws against alcohol. Alcohol is sold only by licensed merchants that require strict identification to purchase their products. When is the last time you saw an alcohol "dealer" on the corner? I'll give you a hint, it was just before prohibition was repealed. Young people who no longer have access to alcohol are turning to other more accessible drugs. The so called drug problem in this country is not because of the drugs themselves, but the laws that make them so lucrative to unscrupulous persons who are willing to do anything to sell their product. If drugs were legalized they would be regulated, keeping them out of the hands of children. PS A's could be aired on the dangers of harder drugs. Not to mention they could be taxed! Imagine this, a pack of cigarettes cost under a dollar to produce but often cost over $5 to purchase. Where does the extra $4+ go? TAXES! If drugs were legalized it would take drug dealers off the streets, squash dangerous gangs that thrive on illegal drug money, take them out of the hands of kids, and could pay for this "bail out" with the tax revenue in under 5 years. Not to mention creating jobs to make, distribute, and advertize different products. To me Sir it really seems like a no brainer. The likes of Al Capone in the 30's, Frank Lucas in the 70's, and Pablo Escobar in the 80's, made millions due to illegal drugs. I'm quite positive there are drug dealers still making millions that just haven't been caught yet. Prohibition didn't work then and it obviously doesn't work now. I hope that one day there won't be a drug problem in this country, but unfortunately that wont happen until it is properly distributed by licensed merchants.
"Marijuana" is NOT the proper name for Cannabis. Marijuana is a Mexican slang word for "weed". The use of the term was widely popularized in the 30's during the attempts to oust Mexican laborers who were taking American jobs in the depression. Please take note of this and stop using this derogatory term.
"Many people took out loans they were never going to be able to afford,never! That means somebody knew from day one they were never going tobe able to pay back the loans." The bankers approved these loans and used the money to pay themselves bonuses and payed our government representatives to look the other way…that’s where we are…any suggestions for getting us out of the mess are welcome…but if you just want to play the blame game…where does that get us?
Read what was spammed on the comments section of my blog:
The people that bend the rules GET PAID!
You too can bend the rules by printing out fake paystubs w-2 w2 1099 forms usinghttp://www.PROOFOFEMPLOYMENT.com
Buy a home, car or get a huge irs tax refund just for being you! Do what you have to do to get yours! EVERYONE ELSE DID!!
http://www.FAKEPAYCHECKSTUBS.com
Print out Fake Employment and Fake Income, Wages, 1099, w2, w-2, using your home computer printer!
Oy vey!!
Maybe President Obama should grant some sort of amnesty for some percentage of back taxes up to some cutoff point.
I think that it would encourage people who owe taxes to try to make ammends.
Palin owes tax on per diem, state saysEXPENSES: Governor received meal money while living in Wasilla.By LISA DEMERldemer@adn.com(02/17/09 21:53:17) Gov. Sarah Palin must pay income taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received while living at her Wasilla home, under a new determination by state officials. The governor's office wouldn't say this week how much she owes in back taxes for meal money, or whether she intends to continue to receive the per diem allowance. As of December, she was still charging the state for meals and incidentals. "The amount of taxes owed is a private matter," Sharon Leighow, Palin's spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "If the governor collects future per diem, those documents would be a matter of public record." The revelation about Palin comes as U.S. senators, including Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, are under scrutiny over back taxes. A survey by the political newspaper and Web site Politico (www.politico.com) found that Begich was one of seven senators who acknowledged having paid back taxes. Some other state employees also owe back income taxes for travel payments and will be getting revised tax forms, Annette Kreitzer, state administration commissioner, said in an e-mail. She wouldn't say which, or how many, employees will be receiving the notifications. The payments became a touchy issue for Palin last fall when she was running for vice president and campaigned as a budget watchdog. The Washington Post published a story in mid-September that said she had charged the state almost $17,000 for meals and incidentals while staying in her own home. The state considers Juneau, where she lives in the Governor's Mansion, to be Palin's official duty station. Palin billed the state for 312 nights spent in her Wasilla home during her first 19 months in office, according to the Washington Post. She received $60 a day tax free, money intended to cover meals and incidentals, while traveling on state business, her travel forms show. "Last fall we raised questions about longstanding practices within the Department of Administration regarding tax treatment of per diem payments," Kreitzer wrote in an exchange of e-mails over the past few days with the Daily News. "At the Governor's request, we reviewed the situation to determine whether we were in full compliance with the pertinent Internal Revenue Service regulations," Kreitzer wrote. "As a result of this review, we determined that per diem needs to be treated as income, requiring a revision of W-2 forms for any affected employees." The new determination by administration officials won't affect state lawmakers, said Pam Varni, director of the Legislative Affairs agency. Under IRS guidelines, legislators receive tax-free payments to help with living expenses while in Juneau for the legislative session -- if their home is at least 50 miles away, Varni said. The current rate, set by the U.S. Department of Defense, is $189 a day. That goes to everyone except the three Juneau-based legislators, who get smaller payments that are taxed as compensation. Legislators can also charge the state $150 a day for time spent on state business when the Legislature is not in session, but those payments are taxed as income, Varni said. Begich's situation came to light through a political survey released last week by Politico about senators and their taxes. Fifty-five senators, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, didn't answer the questions, and a few others owed money but didn't consider it "back taxes" for one reason or another. On his way out of a meeting with veterans on Monday, Begich answered a few questions about the back taxes he paid on a vehicle provided to him by the city when he was mayor. "I refused the car the first 10 or 12 months," Begich said. "I didn't want the car. "Then they told me I had to have it because of liability and a need and security and blah, blah, blah. So I ended up getting a used car. The first time a mayor has gotten a used car." It was a former police SUV. The tax obligation came to his attention in late 2007, as he remembers it, after a regular IRS audit of city issues. The city then sent him revised tax statements. "They gave me a letter and said you got to pay taxes on it. So they revised my W-2s." He wouldn't say how much he owed. "It's irrelevant," Begich said. Generally, people are supposed to pay income taxes on the value of an employer-provided vehicle that is for personal use. Police vehicles are among the exceptions -- officers can drive them home and not be taxed on the value of the commute. There's no specific exception in the law for mayors or governors. Palin has had a state Chevy Suburban. Begich said a mayor is always on the job. No other Anchorage mayor ever had to pay income taxes on a city vehicle, he said. "That's the point. I'm always on call. Always. ... And I think that's what the city's view was, for the city manager and me, was that we were always on call," Begich said. "But the IRS viewed it differently." "After that issue came up, I got rid of the car," Begich said. He was in a downtown parking lot getting into the Toyota Highlander hybrid he bought in late 2007 to replace the city rig. The Politico story about the survey said his situation echoed that of Tom Daschle, who had to step down as President Barack Obama's pick for health secretary after revelations about back taxes, including taxes owed for a limo and driver. "For Politico to say it's the same as Daschle -- that's bunk," Begich said.Henry M KCUF, 128 Kb/s on Shoutcast Unlimited and still the Most Eclectic Music on the WWW: http://tinyurl.com/kcuf-on-shoutcast-limited/ to play, http://www.urdomain.us/kcuf.htm to see what's playing, and now available on RECIVA Internet-Radio receivers, http://tinyurl.com/kcuf-on-reciva KCUF can now be listened to using a Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget: http://gallery.live.com/results.aspx?bt=1&q=KCUF
Gov. Sarah Palin must pay income taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received while living at her Wasilla home, under a new determination by state officials.
The governor's office wouldn't say this week how much she owes in back taxes for meal money, or whether she intends to continue to receive the per diem allowance. As of December, she was still charging the state for meals and incidentals.
"The amount of taxes owed is a private matter," Sharon Leighow, Palin's spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "If the governor collects future per diem, those documents would be a matter of public record."
The revelation about Palin comes as U.S. senators, including Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, are under scrutiny over back taxes. A survey by the political newspaper and Web site Politico (www.politico.com) found that Begich was one of seven senators who acknowledged having paid back taxes.
Some other state employees also owe back income taxes for travel payments and will be getting revised tax forms, Annette Kreitzer, state administration commissioner, said in an e-mail.
She wouldn't say which, or how many, employees will be receiving the notifications.
The payments became a touchy issue for Palin last fall when she was running for vice president and campaigned as a budget watchdog.
The Washington Post published a story in mid-September that said she had charged the state almost $17,000 for meals and incidentals while staying in her own home.
The state considers Juneau, where she lives in the Governor's Mansion, to be Palin's official duty station.
Palin billed the state for 312 nights spent in her Wasilla home during her first 19 months in office, according to the Washington Post. She received $60 a day tax free, money intended to cover meals and incidentals, while traveling on state business, her travel forms show.
"Last fall we raised questions about longstanding practices within the Department of Administration regarding tax treatment of per diem payments," Kreitzer wrote in an exchange of e-mails over the past few days with the Daily News.
"At the Governor's request, we reviewed the situation to determine whether we were in full compliance with the pertinent Internal Revenue Service regulations," Kreitzer wrote. "As a result of this review, we determined that per diem needs to be treated as income, requiring a revision of W-2 forms for any affected employees."
The new determination by administration officials won't affect state lawmakers, said Pam Varni, director of the Legislative Affairs agency.
Under IRS guidelines, legislators receive tax-free payments to help with living expenses while in Juneau for the legislative session -- if their home is at least 50 miles away, Varni said.
The current rate, set by the U.S. Department of Defense, is $189 a day. That goes to everyone except the three Juneau-based legislators, who get smaller payments that are taxed as compensation.
Legislators can also charge the state $150 a day for time spent on state business when the Legislature is not in session, but those payments are taxed as income, Varni said.
Begich's situation came to light through a political survey released last week by Politico about senators and their taxes.
Fifty-five senators, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, didn't answer the questions, and a few others owed money but didn't consider it "back taxes" for one reason or another.
On his way out of a meeting with veterans on Monday, Begich answered a few questions about the back taxes he paid on a vehicle provided to him by the city when he was mayor.
"I refused the car the first 10 or 12 months," Begich said. "I didn't want the car.
"Then they told me I had to have it because of liability and a need and security and blah, blah, blah. So I ended up getting a used car. The first time a mayor has gotten a used car." It was a former police SUV.
The tax obligation came to his attention in late 2007, as he remembers it, after a regular IRS audit of city issues. The city then sent him revised tax statements.
"They gave me a letter and said you got to pay taxes on it. So they revised my W-2s." He wouldn't say how much he owed. "It's irrelevant," Begich said.
Generally, people are supposed to pay income taxes on the value of an employer-provided vehicle that is for personal use. Police vehicles are among the exceptions -- officers can drive them home and not be taxed on the value of the commute.
There's no specific exception in the law for mayors or governors. Palin has had a state Chevy Suburban.
Begich said a mayor is always on the job. No other Anchorage mayor ever had to pay income taxes on a city vehicle, he said.
"That's the point. I'm always on call. Always. ... And I think that's what the city's view was, for the city manager and me, was that we were always on call," Begich said. "But the IRS viewed it differently."
"After that issue came up, I got rid of the car," Begich said. He was in a downtown parking lot getting into the Toyota Highlander hybrid he bought in late 2007 to replace the city rig.
The Politico story about the survey said his situation echoed that of Tom Daschle, who had to step down as President Barack Obama's pick for health secretary after revelations about back taxes, including taxes owed for a limo and driver.
"For Politico to say it's the same as Daschle -- that's bunk," Begich said.
Henry M
KCUF, 128 Kb/s on Shoutcast Unlimited and still the Most Eclectic Music on the WWW: http://tinyurl.com/kcuf-on-shoutcast-limited/ to play, http://www.urdomain.us/kcuf.htm to see what's playing, and now available on RECIVA Internet-Radio receivers, http://tinyurl.com/kcuf-on-reciva KCUF can now be listened to using a Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget: http://gallery.live.com/results.aspx?bt=1&q=KCUF
KCUF, 128 Kb/s on Shoutcast Unlimited and still the Most Eclectic Music on the WWW:
http://tinyurl.com/kcuf-on-shoutcast-limited/ to play, http://www.urdomain.us/kcuf.htm to see what's playing, and now available on RECIVA Internet-Radio receivers, http://tinyurl.com/kcuf-on-reciva
KCUF can now be listened to using a Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget: http://gallery.live.com/results.aspx?bt=1&q=KCUF
Where are the thanks for AMERICANS...
we pay our taxes
we pay our bills
we pay our house off
we pay our car off
we pay our childrens educational expenses
we pay our childrens college expenses
we pay into our 401k
we pay into our retirement
we pay for our business expenses
we pay for our food
we pay for our clothes
we pay for our gas
we pay for our heat and electricity
we pay for our cost to be an American...explain it to me...
WHAT DID I DO WRONG...what went wrong in AMERICA?
tell me your thoughts...
Senator Dodd went rogue and inserted some crazy stuff into the new law, so the President will need to be creative. Perhaps we are looking for HEROES to run our troubled banks. A lot of wealthy patriots have made great financial sacrifices to serve in the Obama Administration. Like-minded people who don’t want to go through the vetting process and insane pubic humiliation of being outed on every little tax related or other embarrassment can now serve their country without becoming federal employees but while still consenting to be paid wages not all that far above that.
I see nothing different Obama has said or done since 2004 and today -- perhaps Gregg's understanding of it morphed overnight between the time he was begging for the job and yesterday, when it came time to vote on the stimulus plan. Gregg seems to claim otherwise.
Obama should have known Gregg either hasn't the courage of his convictions or , far more likely, hasn't got any deeply held beliefs other than politics. We demand omniscience! How DARE the President not realize a man like Gregg would say anything to further his own personal ambitions?
There's something wrong with a vetting process that cannot discern that a politically savvy adult who somehow got himself repeatedly elected to the US Senate would claim to have turned his back on Petty Partisan Politics but actually lack the moral fortitude to stand by his decision.
Continuing with the ideas form the Economic Recovery Meeting...
