Even the IRS Doesn't Want to Enforce Obamacare

The IRS has finally admitted what Cong. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Cong. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and others said for months: the new individual mandate provision will require an army of new IRS agents. How many is anyone's guess. But the IRS is now saying its current workforce just can't handle the load. One of the provisions in Obamacare will require all businesses in America (even the smallest ones) to issue 1099-MISC information reporting forms to any person or corporation which receives at least $600 in business. So, a gas station which a small business owner fills up his company-owned car at will get a 1099-MISC. An airline gets one. All the restaurants he meets clients in gets one. If you think this is crazy, you're in good company. So does the IRS. While the IRS has signaled (according to the linked report) that credit and debit card transactions will be exempted, this will mean that paper checks, electronic checks, wire transfers, cash transactions, and anything not involving plastic will now require a 1099-MISC. Even worse, you can't e-file a 1099-MISC very easily. A twenty-fold increase in the forms (which a source in the story projects) would swamp and overwhelm the IRS. That's before counting the amended 1099s when businesses challenge other business' accounting. ATR

Enough Money

One of the many shallow statements that sound good — if you don't stop and think about it — is that "at some point, you have made enough money." The key word in this statement, made by President Barack Obama recently, is "you." There is nothing wrong with my deciding how much money is enough for me or your deciding how much money is enough for you, but when politicians think that they should be deciding how much money is enough for other people, that is starting down a very slippery slope. Politicians with the power to determine each citizen's income are no longer public servants. They are public masters...more

World Health Organization Moving Ahead on Billions in Internet and Other Taxes

The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations' public health arm, is moving full speed ahead with a controversial plan to impose global consumer taxes on such things as Internet activity and everyday financial transactions like paying bills online — while its spending soars and its own financial house is in disarray. The aim of its taxing plans is to raise "tens of billions" of dollars for WHO that would be used to radically reorganize the research, development, production and distribution of medicines around the world, with greater emphasis on drugs for communicable diseases in poor countries. The irony is that the WHO push to take a huge bite out of global consumers comes as the organization is having a management crisis of its own, juggling finances, failing to use its current resources efficiently, or keep its costs under control — and it doesn't expect to show positive results in managing those challenges until a year from now, at the earliest...more

"Find Us Before We Find You"

Orwellian tax collection commercial.

Auto bill draft would require black boxes, "vehicle safety user fees"

All new cars would have to be equipped with "black boxes" that record performance data and federal safety regulators would be granted the authority to order immediate recalls under newly proposed auto-safety legislation being considered by Congress. The draft contains a wide array of provisions. Some require new safety features, such as the black boxes -- called event data recorders -- and brake override systems that allow a driver to stop a car even when the throttle is stuck open. Other elements of the bill give the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration more power to crack down on automakers that break the rules. The bill would create a "vehicle safety user fee," to be paid by manufacturers on each vehicle. The money would supplement NHTSA's budget. The fee begins at $3 per vehicle and increases to $9 after three years...more

Obama’s National Sales Tax

President Obama is vetting a new national sales tax (commonly referred to as a VAT) to extract more wealth from the private sector to sustain his insatiable hunger for more government spending. Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke have commenced a vetting strategy to convince Americans that they need to give more and more money to an every-expanding and bloated federal government. Congress needs to just say no to a VAT — and increased taxation — as part of any pitch by this Administration to balance the budget. Volker and Bernanke have used a two pronged strategy to vet the VAT. First is fear mongering. Bernanke argues that Americans need to choose between higher taxes or massive cuts in critical government programs. He mentioned Social Security, Medicare, Education and Defense as areas of government spending that would be targeted if we don’t raise taxes. This is a false choice. The federal government needs to reform entitlement programs, needs to root out waste fraud and abuse and should eliminate programs like the National Endowment for the Arts. The reason why elites in Washington would look to a VAT before increasing income taxes (and, believe me, higher income taxes are coming) is because not enough of the population even pays income taxes to make it worthwhile for the government to use the income tax structure to balance the budget...more

Nearly Half of US Households Escape Fed Income Tax

Tax Day is a dreaded deadline for millions, but for nearly half of U.S. households it's simply somebody else's problem. About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. That's according to projections by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research organization...more

Obama adviser Volcker says record deficits could lead to new VAT tax

White House adviser Paul Volcker said the United States may need to consider raising taxes to control deficits. He also said a European-style value-added tax could gain support. The former chairman of the Federal Reserve who is an outside adviser to President Barack Obama, said the value-added tax "was not as toxic an idea" as it has been in the past, according to a Reuters report. Volcker made the remarks at a New York Historical Society event Tuesday night. Volcker also suggested that a carbon or energy-related tax may become necessary to bring the budget back into check. Volcker acknowledged that the ideas weren't popular but that the outlook on entitlement spending and budget deficits were grim without some changes...more

It's Official – America Now Enforces Capital Controls

It couldn't have happened to a nicer country. On March 18, with very little pomp and circumstance, president Obama passed the most recent stimulus act, the $17.5 billion Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (H.R. 2487), brilliantly goalseeked by the administration's millionaire cronies to abbreviate as HIRE. As it was merely the latest in an endless stream of acts destined to expand the government payroll to infinity, nobody cared about it, or actually read it. Because if anyone had read it, the act would have been known as the Capital Controls Act, as one of the lesser, but infinitely more important provisions on page 27, known as Offset Provisions – Subtitle A – Foreign Account Tax Compliance, institutes just that. In brief, the Provision requires that foreign banks not only withhold 30% of all outgoing capital flows (likely remitting the collection promptly back to the US Treasury) but also disclose the full details of non-exempt account-holders to the US and the IRS. And should this provision be deemed illegal by a given foreign nation's domestic laws (think Switzerland), well the foreign financial institution is required to close the account. It's the law. If you thought you could move your capital to the non-sequestration safety of non-US financial institutions, sorry you lose – the law now says so. Capital Controls are now here and are now fully enforced by the law. Let's parse through the just passed law, which has been mentioned by exactly zero mainstream media outlets...more

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. Zeff, who also owns local parking lots and is the president of the Midtown Business Association, finds the situation a bit comical. "It's hilarious," he says, "that two people hopped in a car and came down here for just 4 cents. I think (the IRS) may have a problem with priorities." Now he's trying to figure out how penalties and interest could climb so high on such a small debt...read more

Tea party snowmen protest lawmakers in Lansing, MI

The scene in front of the Capitol Bldg., protesting tax increases as per theblogprof.

NM Dem Group Advocates $300 Million Tax Increase

A group of New Mexico House and Senate Democrats advocates raising taxes by more than $300 million to balance the state's budget and avoid deep cuts in health care services and education. One proposal outlined Thursday will roll back personal income tax cuts and capital gains reductions that were enacted in 2003. Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson opposes that, contending that the tax cuts are an economic development tool for recruiting businesses with high-paying jobs. The group of mostly liberal Democrats, calling itself the "Working Families Caucus," mapped out their budget-balancing proposals during a news conference and said they're hopeful they can overcome opposition to tax increases from conservatives, particularly in the Senate. "We're up to the battle in the caucus," said Rep. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque...read more

Guv leaves door open on income surtax — again

Last week Gov. Bill Richardson left the door ajar on the idea of raising the rate on what the state’s highest earners pay in the state’s income tax. He did it again today. “I have serious reservations,” he said during a late-morning news conference in his 4th-floor Capitol office. But he quickly added, “I haven’t drawn a line in the sand. I believe we need targeted spending cuts and $200 million in revenue.” House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, dropped a bill Wednesday that would add a 1 percent surtax on single individuals earning more than $133,000 annually, starting immediately. The bill also add the surtax to married couples and married individuals filing individual returns. Another tax bill dropped Wednesday would tax goods bought online. Advocates argue that taxing goods bought online is a matter of fairness. Goods purchased at brick-and-mortar businesses are taxed...read more

NM: A temporary tax hike it?

Governor Richardson seems adamant in asserting that whatever tax hikes he pushes through during the 2010 legislative session will be "temporary." This promise from a lame-duck Governor is ridiculous on its face and is an impossible promise. Of course, this is not where the silliness stops. Richardson will likely ask legislators to consider "sin" taxes on soda pop, cigarettes, and junk food. This puts the next governor of New Mexico in a tough spot. Even if the economy has improved a bit by 2013, the next governor will have to "cut" taxes on the politically-unpopular tobacco, soda, and junk food industries. There is no doubt that government bureaucrats will always have a "better" use for our money than cutting taxes on habits like drinking soda, eating junk food, and smoking. But what supporters of these tax hikes and the media won't tell you is that all of these tax hikes are highly regressive and disproportionately impact the poor. For example, tobacco taxes are highly regressive and, if they are increased, will disproportionately harm working class New Mexicans. According to Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation, more than 2/3 of all federal tobacco taxes come from those earning less than $40,000 per year (a pattern that also applies to state-level tobacco taxes). The poor also spend 2.5 percent of income on tobacco products versus 0.2 percent for the top 20 percent. Soda and so-called "junk food" taxes are also highly regressive. Worse, they would create an administrative nightmare. After all, potato chips might be a junk food, but are the slightly healthier Sun Chips? How about the fat-free potato chips that have come on the market in recent years? Things can get really complicated and unfair...read more

Obama's First Year: $2 Trillion in New, Proposed Taxes

We often get the question at ATR, "how much has Obama supported in new taxes?" This new study seeks to answer that question.

For the first time ever, the tax increases signed into law, as well as proposals for tax hikes made by or supported by President Obama have been pieced together. It combines three elements:

* The tobacco tax hike he signed into law in February 2009
* His budget proposal, also from February of 2009, and
* The latest version of healthcare reform, which he has endorsed

The results are shocking. All told, these tax hikes total $2 trillion over the next decade. This does not even count his 2010 trial balloons, such as a value-added tax (VAT) or a new bank tax.

This is more in taxes than was ever supported by any past President since World War II, even after indexing for inflation.

Click here to read the full report.

The Responsibility Tax

The White House has spent months imploring banks to lend more money, so will President Obama's new proposal to extract $117 billion from bank capital encourage new bank lending? Welcome to one more installment in Washington's year-long crusade to revive private business by assailing and soaking it, says the Wall Street Journal. President Obama's new "Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee" -- please don't call it a tax -- is being sold as a way to cover expected losses in the Troubled Asset Relief Program. That sounds reasonable, except that the banks designated to pay the fee aren't those responsible for the losses. With the exception of Citigroup, those banks have repaid their TARP money with interest, says the Journal. The real TARP losers -- General Motors, Chrysler and delinquent mortgage borrowers -- are exempt from the new tax. Also exempt are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which operate outside of TARP but also surely did more than any other company to cause the housing boom and bust...read more

Tax expansion could pay for healthcare overhaul

Democratic congressional leaders are considering a new strategy to help finance their ambitious healthcare plan -- applying the Medicare payroll tax not just to wages but to capital gains, dividends and other forms of unearned income. The idea, discussed Wednesday in a marathon meeting at the White House, could placate labor leaders who bitterly oppose President Obama's plan to tax high-end insurance policies that cover many union members. It could also help shore up Medicare's shaky finances, and the burden of the new tax would fall primarily on affluent Americans, not the beleaguered middle class. But the concept also carries political risks: Many older Americans, one of the nation's most potent voting blocs, could see their tax bills rise because they often depend on savings and investment income in retirement...read more

Happy New Year! 73 New Tax Hikes Take Effect

It might surprise many people to learn that not one, not two, but seventy-three new tax increases went into effect on January 1, 2010. This was the result of Congress letting temporary tax relief expire. They still have time to put the tax relief back in place before the end of the year, but they are gone for now. A complete list of them is maintained by the Joint Tax Committee. All told, these expiring tax provisions total between $100-$150 billion of new tax hikes...read more

Health bill: 42 studies, 214 mentions of taxes

House Democrats' health care bill runs to 1,990 pages, costs $1.06 trillion, covers 96 percent of eligible Americans and demands the production of 42 studies on everything from whether post-partum screening should be required to using student loan programs to help recruit doctors. The studies could be a blueprint for action by future congresses. They include looking at geographic disparities in Medicare, whether more services need to be provided for those who don't speak English and the undercapitalization of nursing homes. But studies are just part of the extensive reach of the measure, which Democrats introduced Thursday. The word "report" appears 364 times and "tax" is used 214 times -- and while some of those refer to bookkeeping such as tax years, the bill does raise several key levies, such as a "surcharge" of 5.4 percent on individual taxpayers who earn $500,000 or couples with incomes of $1 million. Rep. Mike Pence, Indiana Republican, said the bill uses the word "shall" 3,425 times, which he said was an indication that a lot of new mandates are being imposed...read more

Richardson orders freeze on capital projects

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has ordered a freeze on capital outlay projects around the state. Richardson says unless state agencies or local governments had contracts in place as of last Friday - with contractors or engineers, for example - projects will be put on hold. The freeze announced Monday will remain in place through the next legislative session, which starts in January. Richardson said lawmakers did not do enough in last week's special session to cut so-called pork spending. He said the goal of the freeze is to come up with as much as $150 million in savings. The Legislature did not cut any capital spending in the recent session. Instead, it ordered that $150 million in dormant projects be identified for possible cuts in January. AP