Free Republic

While Cook County battles in court to impose a tax on sweetened beverages, so-called soda taxes are popping up across the country. Cook County would be the biggest place to impose the tax, following in the footsteps of Albany, Berkeley and Oakland in California, Philadelphia, and Boulder, Colorado. San Francisco and Seattle are set to begin taxing sweetened beverages on Jan. 1, 2018.

...The idea that we should be able to pass on our life’s accumulated wealth to descendants is deeply embedded. It appeals to the fundamental biological urge to protect your offspring and propagate your genes. Though only a small minority of estates are subject to inheritance tax in Britain as it currently stands, opinion polls consistently find that the majority of people oppose it. Instinct seems to override common sense. VAT falls disproportionately on people with low incomes, but it’s far less hated. Understandable sensitivity around issues relating to death make it difficult to discuss, but it’s time this conventional wisdom...

Top officials with 14 anti-poverty nonprofits were paid as much as $869,900 as their organizations were enriched with $900 million of taxpayer money, The Daily Caller News Foundation’s (TheDCNF) Investigative Group has found. The activist groups received as much as 85 percent of their revenue from federal, state and local governments and collectively spent millions on lobbying, TheDCNF’s analysis found. Also, half of the charities’ CEOs made political contributions – nearly all of which was to Democratic candidates.

Let’s talk about congressional Republicans. A year ago today, Republicans in congress were possibly the single most-detested part of the ruling class in Washington, DC. They had, as a group, made more false and failed promises to voters over the previous seven years than almost any such collective group of politicians in American history. They were headed at that point for a thrashing at the voting booths, with “experts” and polls indicating the GOP would lose its Senate majority and could possibly lose the House as well, if Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in a landslide in the presidential contest....

I’ve posted before about how Williamstown (Kentucky) officials are instituting a “safety fee” for ticket-taking attractions in the city. If implemented, the city would charge Ark Encounter 50 cents per ticket to go towards things like fire trucks and police cars — all the things that make the city a safer place for residents and tourists. Using the estimate of 1.4 million visitors a year, this would amount to approximately $700,000 that Ark Encounter would owe the city annually. The Creationists at Ark Encounter, however, say they should be exempt from that charge because they run a non-profit ministry. You...

The Albuquerque Tea Party has been granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service after applying eight years ago. The Albuquerque Journal reports Graham Bartlett, president of the local Tea Party, says he was informed about a month ago that the group's request was going through. Bartlett says the Albuquerque Tea Party requested tax-exempt status because it relies on donations and people tend to donate more when they know they can write it off on their taxes.

In Oregon, a state known for its avid bicycling culture, the state Legislature’s approval of the first statewide bike tax in the nation has fallen flat with riders.

Tired of winning yet? National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told C-SPAN Monday that the rapid downturn in illegal border crossings is “nothing short of miraculous.” He elaborated that total recorded border crossings in 2017 are just 53% of what they were in 2016, and that percentage continues to drop each week. As we have noted before, this has been achieved without building single foot of wall, without changes to existing statutes, without any new huge budget allocations to the Border Patrol, without the introduction of any new technology. The one and only reason for this fall is the...

In many ways was a massive trillion-dollar tax increase masquerading as a health reform plan called Obamacare... Obamacare’s taxes hurt nearly everyone with new tolls on business investment, drug and vaccine production, payrolls, medical devices, hiring and union health insurance plans... Every one of the taxes was counterproductive...So why tax them and make them more expensive — less “affordable?” To improve health, throw out all of these taxes yesterday... One major reason that President Obama gave us the weakest recovery from a recession is that business investment fell dramatically...during this recovery, business capital spending for plant and equipment and computers...

SHERATON SALE UPDATE EXPLAINED: Here is a better way to show you how you are being “snookered” by Phoenix officials on this new taxpayer paid Sheraton Original taxpayer paid funding: $355 Million TLG Offer(excluding give aways): $255 Million TLG value of their wants: Reserve Account: -$13 Million GPLET(Property tax give away) value. -$50 Million True value of sales price: $192 Million Operating Losses: Start up cost: -$10 Million Operating Losses: -$37 Million Total Operational Losses: -$47 Million Total loss to taxpayers -$210 Million What could $210 million have gotten you: 1,555 new police officers 500 miles of new roads Thousands...

France’s finance minister urged his European counterparts Sunday to do more to chase down tax due from the European operations of US tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Facebook. Bruno Le Maire’s comments addressed an issue which has aroused fierce controversy: the complex tax arrangements of multinational corporations under fire for slashing European tax bills by shifting revenue across borders. “I have just come back from the G20 meeting in Hamburg, and I can tell you that the present age is not one for the weak,” Le Maire told an economic symposium in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence....

The Seattle City Council unanimously approved a pioneering new income tax on wealthy residents Monday. A a legal challenge is widely anticipated. The measure applies a 2.25 percent tax on total income above $250,000 for individuals and above $500,000 for married couples filing their taxes together. The city has estimated the tax will raise about $125 million a year and cost $10 million to $13 million to set up, plus $5 million to $6 million per year to run and enforce. The council’s finance committee cleared the tax last week, increasing the rate from 2 percent to 2.25 percent.

Do you recall that little dust-up out in California over the massive new gas tax they passed? It resulted in a recall effort to remove freshman state senator Josh Newman from office, along with a petition to repeal the tax hike. That prompted state Democrats to circle the wagons, going so far as to change the rules to make it much harder to gather the required signatures to recall any legislator. Normally that would be a dicey move in most other states because the same rules would be used against them, but hey… this is California. The Democrats control pretty...

The Illinois House voted to override Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto of the income tax hike and budget bill. This is the first budget Illinois has passed in two years. The House voted 71-42, which is the bare minimum House Speaker Mike Madigan needed, after a security incident delayed the vote for two hours. The House passed the tax hike and budget bill on Sunday with 72 votes, including 15 Republicans. A few flip flopped, according to The Chicago Tribune: On Thursday, there were some slight changes. One lawmaker who previously voted for the income tax hike on Sunday, Republican...

Eager to pay more taxes? Then look no further than Norway. Hammered by the opposition for slashing taxes and going on a spending spree with the country’s oil money, the center-right government has hit back with a bold proposal: voluntary contributions. Launched in June, the initiative has received a lukewarm reception, with the equivalent of just $1,325 in extra revenue being collected so far, according to the Finance Ministry. That’s not much for a country of 5.3 million people, many of whom are already accustomed to paying some of the highest taxes in the world (the top rate of income...

The blackmail tax bill just passed and now going to the Governor's desk. I pay about 6K per year in property taxes and fees. No kids in school after this semester. I can work remotely from anyplace with high speed internet.

Total capitulation by Governor Bruce Rauner is in the works. The taxoholics wore him down. In the emergency session, Rauner has agreed to hike the personal income tax rate to 4.95% from the current 3.75%. The corporate income tax rate will rise to 7% from the current 5.25% rate. For what? Nothing. Reforms are nonexistent. Another Deadline Come and Gone {..snip..}

I am now researching the rights of the American Taxpayer. Has any taxpayer fought the IRS and won? In fact, yes! The first case we will discuss is https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-139.pdf The tax code generally allows the IRS to audit three years back, and six in some cases. The U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. v. Home Concrete & Supply, LLC has dramatically cut back on IRS reaches into six year territory. It is an absolutely positive win for the American taxpayer. The main rule is that the IRS time to audit runs three years after filing or due date. However, the IRS...

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Latest on Nevada becoming the fifth state in the U.S. with stores selling marijuana for recreational purposes (all times local): Minnesota resident Edgar Rosas Lorenzo on Saturday flew with his family to Sin City for a wedding. But even before he checked in to his hotel, he stopped at a pot dispensary on the Las Vegas Strip. The 21-year-old says he learned of the legalization of recreational marijuana in Nevada while he was at the airport waiting for his flight to depart. He waited in line about 40 minutes before he could buy one-eighth of...

Illinois started its third straight fiscal year without a state budget on Saturday, territory that could mean some universities won't be able to offer federal financial aid, road construction and Powerball ticket sales will halt, and the state's credit rating will be downgraded to "junk." While a spending plan got early approval in the House on Friday, the chamber later adjourned for the day, with House Speaker Michael Madigan saying they would return Saturday — the first day of the new fiscal year.