Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The IRS has announced a delayed start to the 2012 tax filing season.
You'll have to wait a bit if you are used to filing your annual tax return at the earliest possible date. The Internal Revenue Service has revised its opening date for tax season, pushing it eight days to Jan. 30. The tax filing deadline is Monday, April 15. The IRS will begin accepting 2012 tax returns on Jan. 30. Most taxpayers should be able to file on that date though some revised forms may not be immediately available. You can blame the delay on the federal "fiscal cliff" crisis and the new tax bill Congress passed just after Dec. 31. You can find more information in this Forbes article. Electronic filing season was originally set to start on Jan. 22 this year. As a result of the delay, nobody will get a refund in January, an H&R …
Friday, January 4, 2013
The main reason is the elimination of the payroll tax.
Despite the House and Senate reaching a Fiscal Cliff deal, 77 percent of Americans will pay more in taxes in 2013. That's because even though just 1 percent of households will pay higher income taxes, an increase in federal payroll taxes will hit nearly every wage earner, according to analysis by the Tax Policy Center. Individuals earning between $40,000 and $50,000 a year face an average tax increase of $579 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center's analysis. The average U.S. worker would pay $679 more in taxes this year under the fiscal cliff deal passed by the Senate early Tuesday morning, while the average member of the top 1 percent of earners would pay $73,633 more, according to Tax Policy Center analysis. The increases are …
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
The agreement reached between the White House and Congress doesn't address spending cuts and leaves another potential debt limit showdown on the table. It also increases taxes on income over $400,000. Is this a deal that works for you?
After a marathon holiday negotiation session, after grumbling by liberal senators and after a near-revolt by conservative representatives, the fiscal cliff deal was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives late Tuesday night. The bargain will increase taxes on income above $450,000 for families, increase capital gains taxes, permanently fix the alternative minimum tax, change the estate tax and provide some changes in deductions. It also will extend unemployment benefits, earned income tax credits and other tax breaks for the working class. The Washington Post has a cheat sheet with all of the details. Middle class taxpayers will still see a smaller paycheck in 2013; The payroll tax cut was not preserved as part of the fiscal cliff …
The bill eases portions of the so-called "fiscal cliff."
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a deal late Tuesday to ease portions of the so-called "fiscal cliff," according to the Huffington Post. How did our local representatives in Congress vote? Rep. Ed Markey, D-Malden, Rep. John Tierney, D-Salem, and Rep. Mike Capuano, D-Somerville, all supported the measure. The compromise was approved by the Senate at 2 a.m. Tuesday, and despite talk of rejecting it, the House ultimately passed the bill by a vote of 257 to 167. Sens. John Kerry, D-MA, and Scott Brown, R-MA, both supported the measure in the Senate. "Just voted for the fiscal cliff bill," Brown said on his Facebook Page at 1:55 a.m on New Year's Day. "Not the full answer but a small step forward. A lot of work next session. Good …
Thursday, December 27, 2012
President, Congress have just a few days to avert automatic tax increases and spending cuts. A number of Massachusetts Congressman suggest cutting nuclear programs instead.
Starbucks baristas are writing "come together" on all cups in the Washington, D.C., area to encourage Congress and the President to come together to fix the fiscal cliff issue. For more information about this initiative, go to www.patch.com/fixthedebt. Congress and President Obama are racing against the clock this week as they make one last attempt to hammer out a deal to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” the U.S. government is set to go over on New Year’s Day. Without a compromise deal to lower the deficit, the government will face a self-imposed deadline that triggers both spending cuts and higher taxes. Congress itself set the Jan. 1 deadline after failing to come to a budget compromise earlier this year. On Jan. 1, the George W. Bush-…
Friday, November 30, 2012
Massachusetts Democrats in Congress want to avoid cuts in benefits as part of any deal, but proposals such as raising the eligibility age for Medicare are still on the table. What would you do?
As Congress negotiates a deal to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" on Jan. 1, Massachusetts' congressional representatives have voiced their opposition to any cuts in benefits such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the Boston Globe reports. However, there are proposals still on the table that would change those benefit programs, including linking Social Security benefits to a more conservative inflation index that would slightly reduce annual increases, or raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67. The Globe reported that while the Bay State's legislators were united against changes to Social Security, there's some wiggle room on Medicare. Rep. Ed Markey opposes raising the Medicare eligibility age; Rep. Michael …
quasimodo
9:05 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013
You are correct. Why, with ALL the info available to the average-thinking American, most still worry, and the party-line promoters of miss-information are at still at work? YES, FICA is NOT a tax. The Democratic establishment, protecting their masters (as do the Republicans) has done the right thing: protecting their masters' welfare. more ›