Free Republic

If anything approaches “taxation without representation” in contemporary American government, it is property taxation.  This is because as a practical matter voters – as property owners – have no say in the amount of property taxation they endure.Harold Lasswell, a prominent U. of Chicago political science professor, once said that the country is made up of two groups: the political elites and the masses.  The exploitation of the masses is now being achieved through property taxation. Since political elites have, in most counties, complete control over issues of assessments and property taxes, they have the opportunity to exploit this power...

It appears Sen. Orin Hatch's comment that "everything from this ill-conceived tax's structure to its implementation has been a disaster," are coming true. As AP reports, an "Obamacare" tax on medical devices is falling short of its revenue target because thousands of companies aren't paying it, according to a government audit released Tuesday. An audit found the IRS received only 5,107 returns (against expectations of over 9,000) with a 24% shortfall in revenues. The tax is projected to generate $29 billion over the coming decade, so a 24 percent shortfall - if it were sustained - would be significant. As...

An ObamaCare tax on medical devices is falling short of its revenue target because thousands of companies aren't paying it, according to a government audit released Tuesday. The audit by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration says the IRS needs to do a better job policing the tax. The tax agency, however, doesn't have adequate tools to identify which companies owe it, the audit said.

If you think the price of a fill-up at the local service station is steep, Thomas J. Donohue will not be your favorite guy. Donohue, the President and CEO of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, is concerned about the nation’s infrastructure. So much so, in fact, he’s written a piece titled, “Let’s pave the way for infrastructure funding,” in which he opines that it’s time to “raise the gas tax.” "The U.S. Chamber believes", he writes, "that the simplest, most straightforward way to fix the Highway Trust Fund is to raise the gas tax, which hasn’t been done in...

Ukraine doesn’t need Russia to take it down—Kiev is doing fine destroying itself, most recently with a new tax code that doubles taxes for private gas producers and promises to irreparably cripple new investment in the energy sector at a time when reform and outside investment were the country’s only hope. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on August 1 signed off on a new tax code that effectively doubles the tax private gas producers in Ukraine will have to pay, calling into question any new investment, as well as commitment from key producers already operating in the country. The stated goal...

Robert Redford is suing New York state related to the sale of Sundance Channel. The actor-director sued the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance in Albany County Supreme Court on July 30 claiming that he's being overtaxed on money his company made when it sold off a stake in the channel in 2005.

When he’s in trouble, President Obama changes the subject to the economy. And in speech after speech, he utters some version of this line: “We know from our history, our economy does not grow from the top down, it grows from the middle up.” This is a puzzling statement. I don’t know what it means, much less whether it’s true. I asked a number of economists and they were no help. “I have no idea what it means,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office, says. “I am unaware of any literature supporting the proposition,” Kevin Hassett,...

A key appeals court on Tuesday ruled that despite including a tax, Obamacare doesn’t violate the Constitution’s requirement that all tax bills originate in the House of Representatives, giving the Obama administration another health care win. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that the Obamacare tax was “incidental” to the primary purpose of the Affordable Care Act, so it isn’t a revenue-raising measure as envisioned by the Constitution. “Some exercises of the taxing power are not subject to the Origination Clause,” the unanimous panel concluded. The issue had been in...

Noah Rothman wrote up Quinnipiac’s gubernatorial poll yesterday, prompting me to wonder over at Townhall whether the polling outfit was holding back its Senate numbers for separate release. We now have our answer. A virtual deadlock, and advantage Gardner: The closely-watched U.S. Senate race is tied with 44 percent for U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, the Republican challenger, and 42 percent for Sen. Mark Udall, the Democratic incumbent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Another 10 percent are undecided. This compares to the results of an April 24 survey by the independent Quinnipiac University showing Sen. Udall at...

The Obama administration has urged congressional leaders to take swift action to halt the rush of United States companies moving abroad. In letters sent to four lawmakers, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said the administration supported a quick fix that would halt the trend of so-called inversions, in which United States companies buy a smaller competitor and reincorporate overseas to save money on taxes. Speaking at the CNBC Delivering Alpha conference on Wednesday, Mr. Lew called for legislation that would include a package of business reforms, one of which would bring tax levels of companies in the 20 percent range....

July 1 might go down in history as the beginning of the end of the comprehensive, progressive income tax. A progressive income tax, in which the government attempts to tax all labor income and capital income, such as interest, dividends and capital gains more than once, cannot help becoming so complex that it eventually dies of its own weight. This is particularly true when the government attempts to tax the worldwide income of its “tax persons” rather than the income located in its own territory. The complexity is caused by the never-ending attempt to define what income is and what...

Lets get fair tax passed.

Washington needs more money and if it doesn’t get it, your morning commute will become: a) more expensive b) more unpleasant c) both The problem, you see, is that the Highway Trust Fund is "going broke,” by the Beltway’s curious definition of the phrase. It is sort of the way that after a round of painful “cuts,” spending somehow still goes up. The Highway Trust Fund takes in more than 18 cents on every gallon of gasoline sold in this country, so there is plenty of revenue. Just not enough to meet Washington’s needs and desires. People are driving more...

Your bank and investment provider are now officially working for the United States tax authorities – and you’re footing the £1bn bill. On Tuesday July 1, new US tax legislation also clicked into place – US tax legislation that applies in Britain, that is. The US-originated laws require British financial institutions to investigate and report via HM Revenue & Customs any information that may be of interest to the Internal Revenue Service, the US equivalent.

Starting in August, the Obama administration will dramatically revamp and cut back the formula it uses to send transportation funds to the states unless Congress replenishes the Highway Trust Fund The Department of Transportation (DOT) predicts that the fund, which has traditionally drawn its revenue from the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, will be depleted by late August . The agency will use a previously-established formula to calculate the percentage of remaining funds that each state will receive, with new revenues coming in every two weeks as money from the gas tax comes into the fund.

US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) that allows banks worldwide to reveal information about their depositors, takes into effect on July 1. Under the new act all foreign banks are required to reports all offshore accounts of the US citizens. Banking centers like Switzerland and Luxembourg that agreed to the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) will have to begin turning over account names and other data to US financial authorities so that they can tax unreported income. According to the Internal Revenue Service, US citizens will have fewer options to stash their cash offshore away from the...

The District of Columbia Council on Tuesday approved a "yoga tax" on gymnasiums and yoga classes that has angered fitness buffs in the U.S. capital. The Democratic-controlled council voted 12-1 to give final approval to a $10.6 billion budget for 2015 that included a sales tax on gyms, yoga studios and other athletic businesses, a spokeswoman for Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said. The budget also includes a substantial income tax cut that would be offset by expanding the existing 5.75 percent sales tax to such services as tanning salons, health clubs, car washes and bowling alleys. The move is expected...

Two years after activists for same-sex marriage obtained the confidential tax return and donor list of a national group opposed to redefining marriage, the Internal Revenue Service has admitted wrongdoing and agreed to settle the resulting lawsuit. The Daily Signal has learned that, under a consent judgment today, the IRS agreed to pay $50,000 in damages to the National Organization for Marriage as a result of the unlawful release of the confidential information to a gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, that is NOM’s chief political rival. “Congress made the disclosure of confidential tax return information a serious matter...

Airline ticket prices are soaring this summer. Prices are up 12 percent since 2009, even after adjusting for inflation. When customers of Spirit Airlines book their flights, they can see exactly what they’re paying for. Spirit provides a breakdown of individual factors that make up the total cost of an airline ticket, including the base fare, fuel prices, and taxes/fees (aka the government’s cut).

According to the wire service, Monsanto mulled a takeover of its $34 billion seed and herbicide rival, in part, to move its legal headquarters to Switzerland. It’s a move known as corporate inversion and it has the power to shield money held overseas from Uncle Sam’s tax collectors.