Free Republic

Congressman Todd Rokita, R-Ind., will introduce legislation that helps Americans keep more of the bonuses they receive by making them tax-free. The legislation, “Creating Relief and Useful Middle-Class Benefits and Savings”—known as the CRUMBS Act—also takes a swipe at House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who has repeatedly downplayed the significance of the bonuses some Americans are receiving thanks to the GOP tax plan by referring to them as “crumbs.”“In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving to workers to kind of put the schmooze on — it’s so pathetic,” she told reporters last...

Tax season is in full swing across California, as millions collect documents, download software and hassle their accountants. But for millions of Californians, tax time provides a vital financial lifeline thanks to one of the most successful, but underused, anti-poverty programs – the federal Earned Income Tax Credit.

Wait, weren’t the tax cuts supposed to bankrupt the country to benefit the rich? It almost looks like the tax cuts — which took effect in January — are paying for themselves. That wouldn’t be fair, either. As the CBO notes, the new payroll withholding scheduled hadn’t fully taken effect in January; companies don’t have to update their employee tax withholdings until the middle of this month. When that happens, monthly revenues from individual income taxes will likely slip. But the latest CBO report does show how a growing economy can make up a lot of the difference between the...

Maryland will sue the Trump administration for capping state and local tax (SALT) deductions in its new federal tax law, the state’s attorney general said Thursday. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed by President Trump last year contains a provision capping SALT deductions at $10,000, and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said residents across the heavily-taxed state stand to take a hit as a result. “By eliminating the SALT deductions, Trump’s tax bill will jack up taxes for more than half a million Marylanders,” Mr. Frosh, a Democrat, said in a statement announcing his intent to sue the Trump...

The liberal media are rushing to see whether President Trump will accept blame for the stock drop in the same way he took credit for its rise. But CNN came up with a new twist on the blame-Trump game this morning, suggesting that the Trump taxs cuts are the culprit. Alisyn Camerota teed it up, suggesting, in respect of the stock drop, that the cuts were “at work here.” John Avlon was only too happy to run with the ball, saying it was indeed possible that: “those tax cuts created the conditions for this [stock drop.]” Get the rest of...

WASHINGTON — Speaker Paul D. Ryan faced a backlash on Saturday after he pointed to a secretary’s $1.50 weekly increase in take-home pay as a sign of the Republican tax plan’s success.“A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week ... she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year,” Mr. Ryan posted on Twitter, sharing an Associated Press report about paycheck increases under the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul.The article describes a high school secretary, Julia Ketchum, as “pleasantly surprised” that her pay...

Oh irony of ironies. How beautiful you can be! Less than a week after Univision smeared the Trump tax cuts, the owner of that broadcasting network, Haim Saban, has announced that he will be giving $1000 bonuses to his employees due to those same tax cuts. In fact, as we shall see, Saban very specifically credited those same tax cuts as the reason for the bonuses. To get a full appreciation of the irony involved let us first look at what a Univision anchor said about the Trump tax cuts as reported by the MRC Latino Staff on January 27...

Your Paycheck Could Increase Very Soon -- Here’s How Much You Can Expect New IRS federal tax-withholding guidelines should give millions of Americans higher paychecks in 2018. Matthew Frankel Jan 12, 2018 The Treasury Department recently released new withholding tables based on the recently passed tax-reform bill. These tell employers how much to withhold from their employees' paychecks, and 90% of workers should see an increase when the new guidelines are implemented. Here's what this means, when you should expect the change to affect your paycheck, and how much of an increase you should expect. New IRS federal tax-withholding guidelines...

Well, when you’re backed into a corner, there really is nowhere to go. That’s where the Democrats are on this tax bill. Even after they shut down the government over illegal aliens, companies continued to signal their intention to dole out bonuses to their workers. In all, over 250 companies have given out bonuses to over three million workers. Bonuses have ranged from $1,000 to $3,000 depending on the company. The tax plan has become more popular as well. So, what do Democrats do now? Well, just marginalize $1,000+ bonuses as “crumbs.”Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has done it, with Rep....

The companies have credited the tax changes for plans to offer bonuses of up to $3,000, increases in retirement plans, wage hikes and even adoption benefits. The tax watchdog group Americans for Tax Reform, headed by Grover Norquist, has been keeping the most updated list of companies offering benefits and told Secrets that it had crossed the 250 mark. ....What’s more, many more companies are offering employee benefits but are just now passing along their information

The establishment media have saved Democrats from embarrassment by refusing to cover their struggling attempts to explain away the positive economic effects the Republican tax bill delivered for the working class. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other leading Democrats predicted the tax bill would be a disaster for the working class — “Armageddon” is how Pelosi described it — only to see more than three million American workers receive bonuses and pay raises as a result of the GOP tax cuts. Additionally, 90 percent of workers are expected to see an increase in take-home pay in 2018. Pelosi, one...

FedEx joins the growing list of companies who are celebrating the GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by sharing the profits with employees, and investing in America. Today, FedEx announced that it will invest over $3.2 billion in bonuses, wage increases, employee benefits, and new jobs. The official announcement states that FedEx will: "Over $200 million in increased compensation, about two-thirds of which will go to hourly team members by advancing 2018 annual pay increases by six months to April 1st from the normal October date. The remainder will fund increases in performance- based incentive plans for salaried personnel. A...

Legislation that first surfaced in California to give taxpayers a way to avoid the new cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions by making charitable donations has popped up in four more states so far, with others reviewing alternative methods. Changes to the U.S. tax system signed into law by President Donald Trump in December have sparked a furious search in states with high income and property taxes for loopholes to help residents replicate the benefits taken away by the $10,000 cap on federal SALT deductions.

Starbucks will provide paid sick time to its employees nationwide and give its 150,000 hourly and salaried U.S. workers another wage hike in April, just three months after its regular January pay increase, the company is announcing Wednesday. “Everyone is getting a raise — the level they get depends on the region and the cost of living,” said spokesman Reggie Borges. Many U.S. companies have announced bonuses or wage increases since Congress last month reduced the corporate income tax to 21 percent from 35 percent. “For us the change in U.S. tax law has given us a chance to accelerate some...

Chief executive officer and chairman of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger and Mickey Mouse look on before ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), November 27, 2017 in New York City. Disney giving 125,000 employees $1,000 cash bonuses 1 Hour Ago | 00:44 Disney announced Tuesday it will pay over 125,000 employees a one-time cash bonus of $1,000, as well as make a new $50 million investment into education program for employees. "We are directing approximately $125 million to our cast members and employees across the country and making higher education more accessible with the...

Top chief executives in Davos are heaping praise on changes to the United States tax code pushed through by President Trump. The consensus at the World Economic Forum, which kicked off on Tuesday, is that the tax overhaul will boost U.S. growth and increase investment. "There are companies all around the world who are looking at the U.S. now and saying, 'This is the place to be in the developed world,' " said Blackstone (BX) co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, who chaired Trump's economic advisory panel until it was dissolved in August after a series of resignations. "There are going to be...

The United States is projected to grow 2.7 percent in 2018 as President Trump’s tax cuts boost growth, the International Monetary Fund said in a new report Monday, delivering more positive economic news as the president passes his one-year mark in the White House. But deep inequality remains in the country and the IMF does not expect the growth to last long. “We certainly should feel encouraged by the strengthened growth, but we should not feel satisfied. There are still too many people who are left out of that recovery and acceleration," said Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF on...

It also said that economic activity in Europe and Asia was surprisingly stronger than expected last year, and global growth in 2017 was now estimated to have reached 3.7 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher than the Fund projected in October. “The U.S. tax policy changes are expected to stimulate activity, with the short-term impact in the United States mostly driven by the investment response to the corporate income tax cuts,” the IMF said in the update, which was released on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The effect on the U.S. growth is estimated to be...

If you're a Republican Trump supporter, the last few months have offered little in the way of positive polling news.  The last few days, however, have offered several glimmers of hope, all of which are linked to the robust economy.  We've been covering the drumbeat of upbeat economic news -- from low unemployment, to widespread optimism, to strong growth, to a booming stock market.  Here's a new piece of the larger puzzle, via the Washington Examiner: New applications for unemployment insurance benefits plunged by 41,000 to 220,000 in the second week of 2018, the Labor Department reported Thursday, the lowest level...

Associated Press Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a recent interview that President Trump’s tax plan would result in a faster-growing economy and greater job creation. In an interview with ABC News, Cook discussed a number of recent announcements by Apple, including their plan to invest $350 billion in the U.S. economy over the next five years and how President Trump’s tax plan will help the U.S. economy. Cook refused to “take a position” on how the new tax plan will affect individual Americans but commented on the corporate tax saying, “I do believe the corporate side will result in...