www.passmethepork.com – http – So, Michelle and I decided to pull ourselves off our lazy chairs, put down our cold brews, and join in support of the New York City Tax Day Tea Party that took place at City Hall! The “wild protest” was amazingly well organized and very civil, with highly respected speakers such as Newt Gingrich in attendance. What happened to all the “redneck racists”…? THOUSANDS of normal everyday type people showed up. The streets were packed with people in suits and ties, parents with their kids, grandparents with their grandkids, ex-Obama supporters, democrats, republicans, libertarians, blacks, Puerto Ricans, … HARD-WORKING AMERCANS who are simply FED UP. Being in New York City, it was awfully refreshing to come across an increasingly large number of like-minded non-obamafreaks in one place. And to think that hundreds of similar rallies were taking place across the nation! For rest of post and additional links: www.passmethepork.com
Archive for March 9th, 2010
AMBULANCE ATTEMPTS U-TURN WHILE POLICE OFFICER LOOKS ON FROM NEARBY TRASH BAG
Vote for continued positive results in Melissa! Re-elect Our Mayor David Dorman on May 9, 2009. Mayor Dorman has shown that Effective Leadership bringing Positive Results. Let’s keep Melissa moving in the Right direction! www.votedorman.com
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It’s an election year in the United States. The politicians of both major political parties continue to outline their initiatives for their first Presidential term in office. Democratic candidate Barrack Obama outlines a long list of new spending promises under the slogan “Yes we can”. Meanwhile, Republican John McCain wants to continue spending on the Iraq war well into the future. In the Congress, there is no desire to cut federal spending and the dubious practice of spending “earmarks” continues without any real reform.
Meanwhile, the United States federal debt is currently approaching 9.5 trillion dollars and it is about to get worse since the national unemployment rate is now rising. The federal debt burden already amounts to about $79,000 for each United States taxpayer. Therefore, the current federal debt, economic recession, Iraq war, and new election year campaign promises are a formula that amount to one thing for the average American taxpayer: higher income taxes.
However, it is not as though taxes are not high enough already. In 2008, Americans will work every day from New Year’s Day through April 23, just to pay their taxes. It will take 74 working days to pay federal taxes and 39 additional working days to pay state and local taxes. Americans will spend more on taxes in 2008 than they will spend on their food, clothing, and housing expenses combined.
As both political parties in Washington D.C. contemplate raising income taxes in the next few years, there is a new and unique tax that is already under consideration in several large American cities. It is a tax already generating revenue in international cities like London, Milan, Stockholm, and Singapore. It is called the “Congestion Tax” and its implementation is feared by automotive commuters in major United States cities. The tax is based upon a vehicle entering a city or a designated area of the city. The tax is levied upon an automobile’s entry into the designated zone.
London could be a model for the administration of the congestion tax in major United States cities. The congestion tax in London started with a commuter tax of eight dollars a car. That daily tax has recently doubled for small gas powered cars and large vehicles now pay a $50 Congestion Tax each day. London does not have tollbooths or barriers around the Congestion Charging Zone and no physical tickets or passes are required. Monitoring is done through a network of camera sites at every entrance and exit in the tax zone and within the zone. Each camera site consists of at least one color camera plus a monochrome camera for each lane of traffic being monitored. The camera’s capture automobile license plate numbers and people are required to pay the tax based on the pictures.
The stated purpose of the congestion tax is to clean up the environment by reducing C02 emissions from automobiles stalled in traffic in heavily traveled, congested areas in large cities. The tax acts as an incentive for automobile users to utilize public transportation. The benefits of an increase in the use of public transportation would be to improve air quality, reduce traffic congestion, and improve public health by reducing air pollution.
New York City is one of at least five United States cities considering the implementation of a congestion tax. The initial tax for automobile drivers entering the New York congestion zone would be over eight dollars each day. In addition, there is an additional incentive for New York City because of the promise of $354 million in grants from the Federal Government for creating a congestion zone.
Consider the implications of these federal grants for a moment if you will. A taxpayer pays federal income taxes and the government uses that tax money as an incentive for local city governments to initiate an additional tax burden on automobile drivers in order to solve local traffic bottlenecks. It certainly becomes problematic for a taxpayer when federal income taxes are used as a financial incentive for cities to create new local fee based taxes.
In fact, a congestion tax may have dubious ramifications to local business and city employment. What the congestion tax will do is drive local business away from the inner cities into the suburbs where commuting workers and business customers do not have to pay a traffic tax . In addition, cab fares in large cities will have to increase in order for a passenger cab to enter a congestion zone.
Indeed, it is not been scientifically proven that long term global warming is man-made and the result of increased CO2 in the atmosphere. Consider that the planet’s recent warming is likely a result of the long term solar cycle of the Sun. In reality, the Congestion Tax is really a tax wolf in environmental sheep’s clothing. The truth is that it’s just another unnecessary tax burden on the worker and retail consumer that will not save the planet from global warming.
James William Smith has worked in Senior management positions for some of the largest Financial Services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Visit his website at http://www.eWorldvu.com
Dawn Pence speaks to the crowd at the Rapid City Tax Day Tea Party in Memorial Park, April 15, 2009.
A recent survey by the District of Columbia government identified top 10 cities in the U.S. that have the lowest overall tax burden. The survey was conducted on the state and local tax burden of families in the largest city in each of America’s 50 states and Washington, D.C. The survey provided the stat on the state/local income, sales tax, real estate tax and auto/personal property tax incurred by couples at various income levels.
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine provided the rankings of the lowest-tax cities for dual-income couples with one school-age child earning a combined gross income of $75,000. The property tax shown for each city is the estimate of a hypothetical home that a couple earning $75,000 would own. Similarly, the auto tax of the top 10 cities is based on the assumption that the couple owns two cars. The auto tax is an estimate of the registration fees, state and local gasoline taxes and personal property taxes all put together.
While the national median tax burden for such families is 9.1 %, all the top ten cities had an overall state and local tax burden that ranged from 4.1 % to 6.7 %. Not surprisingly, seven of the top ten tax friendliest cities are in states that do not have income tax.
The following are top 10 tax friendliest cities in the U.S.
1. Anchorage, Alaska: Anchorage has the lowest tax burden at 4.1 %. The estimated property tax is $2,872 and the auto tax is $176 in this city that is home to 42 % of Alaskan residents.
2. Cheyenne, Wyoming: This second most low-tax city enjoys a tax bite of 4.3 %. The property tax and auto tax estimates are $1,047 and $564 respectively.
3. Jacksonville, Florida: The city has a low tax burden of 4.6 % while the property tax and auto tax estimates are $1,869 and $333 respectively.
4. Las Vegas, Nevada: The fourth tax friendliest city in the list, Las Vegas has a tax bite of 5.4 %. The property tax and auto tax estimates are $2,416 and $610 respectively.
5. Honolulu, Hawaii: Honolulu has a total tax burden of 5.6 %. The city’s property tax and auto tax estimates are $1,279 and $425 respectively.
6. Memphis, Tennessee: At sixth position is Memphis with an overall tax bite of 6.1 %. Its property tax estimate is $2,084 while the auto tax estimate is $355.
7. Sioux Falls, South Dakota: With a tax bite of 6.3 %, and respective property tax and auto tax estimates at $2,701 and $325, Sioux Falls occupies the seventh position among the top 10.
8. Fargo, North Dakota: At number eight is Fargo with a tax burden of 6.3 %. Its property tax estimate is at $2,188 and auto tax estimate at $317.
9. Houston, Texas: Houston has a tax bite of 6.3 %. The city’s property tax and auto tax estimates are at $2,778 and $310 respectively.
10. Billings, Montana: Rounding out the top 10 tax friendliest cites is Billings with a tax bite of 6.7 %. The property tax and auto tax estimates are at $1,983 and $682 respectively.
Source: Kiplinger Personal Finance (05/07)
It’s important you do not to ignore IRS back taxes for long. When IRS collection notices are ignored, the IRS has to resort to collecting from taxpayers by force. They do this with their dreaded IRS tax levy. By law, the Internal Revenue Service has the right to issue an IRS tax levy on you. This means it’s completely legal for the IRS to levy your bank accounts, issue wage garnishments, and even seize your assets in extreme cases.
The most common IRS tax levy collection tools are the IRS bank levy and the IRS wage levy. If you receive notice from the IRS that either Tax Levy is going to be issued on you, you need to act fast. Your income and bank account funds are at stake and the matter is now extremely urgent!
IRS Bank Levy:
The IRS bank levy is an extremely harmful way to collect IRS back taxes. All of the money you scrimped and saved can be gone in and instant. Here’s what happens when the IRS Issues a bank levy:
1. First, the IRS freezes your bank account.
2. They give you 21 days to contact them and explain why you should receive the money. If you do not comply, the IRS will keep all of the money in your account for good.
If you received a Notice of Intent to Levy from the IRS, it’s imperative to act fast and get your tax debt taken care of. It’s a smart idea to consider professional help at this point. Timing is crucial and a tax professional has a better chance of negotiating with the IRS and getting the bank levy removed in the short 21 day time frame. Remember that once the IRS seizes your account funds with the bank levy, you will not be able to get them back.
IRS Wage Levy:
The IRS wage levy is another brutal method used to collect IRS back taxes. It’s also known as wage garnishment. Basically, the IRS can take a percentage of your paycheck until your tax debt is paid in full, or until the statute of limitations on your tax debt expires. You do not want the IRS to seize money from your paycheck for years. Remember, they can seize up to 70% of your paycheck. It’s important to work fast to find a better solution for paying off your IRS back taxes.
Stop the Bleeding:
Your bank account and paycheck are being threatened. How do you stop the tax levies, and fast? You have to start by giving the IRS what they want. You have to make an arrangement to pay on your IRS back taxes. You can pay by settling your tax debt (for less than the full amount due) with an Offer in Compromise, or your can pay them monthly through what is called an Installment Agreement.
Hiring Professional Help:
Once an IRS tax levy or federal tax lien has been issued against you, things get tricky. Negotiating with the IRS is tough once they’ve opened a direct route to your money. If you’ve already received an official IRS Notice you might need professional assistance with your tax debt. With a tax professional working on your side you have a better chance of being successful and getting your tax debt issues resolved once and for all.
Liv Worthington has worked in the debt management field for many years. She also advises clients with IRS back taxes who are facing an IRS tax levy or bank levy and need a fast tax solution.
Tax Blog
I just bought a condo and and I’m paying property tax close to 4K a year, and my interest is on the high side. Any info ?
I’m also single if that counts. And before I go to my tax accountant does the bank send out some paper statements on my mortgage interest to include in filing my return ?
Tax Blog
Is this the correct formula for the tax deduction:
Tax rate of 38.5% times all the mortgage interest I paid in the past year?
Also, If I owe $100 in taxes but my deduction is $125 (based on formula above) does that mean the govt. will send me a check for $25?