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The Supreme Court struck down the majority of President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in February, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren isn’t letting the Administration weasel out of paying back American taxpayers. “If your Administration is successful in its campaign to avoid paying back illegally collected tariffs, it would amount to a theft in broad daylight from each and every American family that has paid the price of your failed economic agenda,” Warren said in a Wednesday statement. Per her office’s estimates, the tariffs have cost families about $1,700 each. The Supreme Court on February 20 ruled against the tariffs 6-3, arguing...

A US appeals court on Monday denied the Trump administration’s bid to delay lawsuits seeking tariff refunds — a ruling that could pave the way for companies to get back the cash they previously paid for the levies. The Department of Justice filed a motion Friday requesting to delay cases seeking up to $170 million in refunds by up to four months after the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s tariffs on Feb. 20. But this week, a US appeals court ordered the case to be heard by the US Court of International Trade, or CIT, where the case was...

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Sunday said the Trump administration would need guidance from the courts on how to handle tariff refunds after the Supreme Court struck down duties authorized under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. “Well, we need the court to tell us what to do. They’ve created a situation where they struck down the tariffs and gave zero guidance on this,” Greer said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.” “Historically, you know, as a trade attorney, in my experience, courts will normally give you some instruction on what to do, when.” “The Court of International...

Multinational retail giant Costco has sued the US government to secure a full refund of import duties if the Supreme Court rejects President Donald Trump's authority to impose tariffs without congressional approval. Costco's lawsuit urges the federal trade court to declare Trump's 'emergency' tariffs illegal, an authority the president says he has under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Two lower courts have already ruled that Trump exceeded his authority by using emergency powers to impose tariffs. The case has now reached the Supreme Court, and several companies are trying to protect their rights to refunds should the justices...

Perhaps figuring out who is receiving tax refunds is the next thing @elonmusk should look into 👀

Billionaire DOGE head Elon Musk said on X, formerly known as Twitter, he would ask President Donald Trump about a proposal for a “DOGE Dividend” that would give taxpayers a refund check of $5,000 funded by the savings from his Department of Government Efficiency.

The average refund so far this tax season is ringing in at $1,395 compared to $1,963 last year... Tax refunds so far this year are markedly smaller than the same time a year ago, according to the earliest tax season data from the Internal Revenue Service. The average refund amount was $1,395 as of Feb. 2, down 28.9% from $1,963 for the same period last year, the IRS reported. That’s based on nearly 2.6 million refunds disbursed so far versus 7.9 million refunds disbursed by this point last year. The statistics for this year are based on five days of...

In addition to the off-year elections to be decided this November in Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi, a number of ballot initiatives will be voted on in other states. Perhaps the most consequential measure appearing on the November 2023 ballot, at least when it comes to fiscal policy, is found in Colorado, where voters will be asked whether they want to weaken the nation’s strongest tax and expenditure limit in exchange for property tax relief. Proposition HH, which was referred to the November ballot by Colorado lawmakers with the support of Governor Jared Polis (D), would weaken the state’s Taxpayer’s...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is paying $23 billion less in tax refunds for the 2023 filing season—with the average refund amount found to be lower by nearly $300. The IRS has issued over 69 million refunds collectively worth $198.868 billion for the week ending April 7, 2023, according to the agency’s filing statistics. Compared to the $222.344 billion in refunds handed out in the 2022 season, the 2023 filing season’s refund is $23.476 billion smaller or about 10.6 percent lower. The average refund amount between the filing seasons has dropped from $3,175 to $2,878, a decline of 9.3 percent...

The State of California is warning residents who may have received an inflation “refund” in the form of a bank card to withdraw their funds as soon as possible because thieves are targeting the refunds in fraud scams. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), facing reelection, announced that his administration would be sending “inflation relief” checks to residents in the form of EBT cards to help pay for expensive gas and other goods. The refunds were conveniently timed to begin arriving in residents’ mailboxes right before the election. Many people received letters that included a special EBT card loaded with...

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In today’s cruise ship and travel news we hear about the Giant Ponzi Scheme going on with some of the cruise lines and customers that want a refund and can’t get one after months of trying. Jim Walker a Marine Lawyer based in the Miami area has called out the cruise lines for their poor handling of this multi million dollar issue.

According to SXSW’s terms and conditions of participation, their strict no-refund policy states, “Any and all payments made to SXSW are not refundable for any reason, including, without limitation, failure to use Credentials due to illness, acts of God, travel-related problems, acts of terrorism, loss of employment and/or duplicate purchases.” Due to the cancellation, the festival also laid off a third of its employees, a decision referred to as “the only way to stop the bleeding” by a source to the Austin Chronicle.

The tax season appeared to be off to a slow start when it opened last month, with initial statistics showing fewer returns filed and smaller refunds issued. While the numbers from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) were down, expectations were still high. However, a few weeks later, the data is again raising eyebrows: across the board, fewer taxpayers have filed tax returns and refund numbers remain underwhelming. Tax season opened on January 28, 2019. Three weeks into the season (week ending February 15, 2019), the IRS has received 39,747,000 individual income tax returns. That compares with 41,738,000 individual income tax...

The space tourism firm XCOR Aerospace Inc. announced plans in 2008 to launch its private two-seat Lynx space plane. Lynx was expected to fly paying space tourists to an altitude of about 38 miles above Earth, where passengers would experience 90 seconds of weightlessness. The company first estimated flight tests would begin in 2010, with private flights to follow soon after. Many space tourists bought into XCOR's Lynx model for the chance to briefly experience weightlessness at the edge of space. Having paid XCOR $100,000 for a ticket, customer Nael Hamameh thought his flight would come as early as 2011,...

Shares of Tesla were down 4 percent Monday after falling more than 6 percent on a report that the electric car maker has turned to some suppliers for a refund of previously made payments in a bid to turn a profit. Tesla has asked some suppliers to refund money it has paid since 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing a memo. The memo, which the paper said was sent by a global supply manager, described the request as essential to Tesla's continued operation and characterized it as an investment in the car company to continue the long-term growth...

Some advertisers question level of refunds, want more details about fraudulent traffic Google is issuing refunds to advertisers for ads bought through its platform that ran on sites with fake traffic, people familiar with the situation said, as the company develops a tool to give buyers more transparency about their purchases. In the past few weeks, Google has informed hundreds of marketers and ad agency partners about the issue with invalid traffic, known in the industry as “ad fraud.” The ads were bought using the company’s DoubleClick Bid Manager. Google’s refunds amount to only a fraction of the total ad...

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has confirmed to Congress that illegal immigrants granted amnesty under President Obama’s new programs could claim back refunds even when they never filed returns to pay their taxes in the first place. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who had pressed Mr. Koskinen over the issue, released written responses Wednesday ... and, in fact, illegal immigrants granted the amnesty will now be able to claim refunds on tax returns they never even filed, thanks to the Earned Income Tax Credit. “To clarify my earlier comments on EITC, not only can an individual amend a prior year return to claim...

City University of New York is returning thousands of dollars to about 150 immigrant students who live illegally in the U.S. and overpaid for their tuition. A student group called CUNY Dreamers told school officials late last year that many immigrant students from New York paid higher, out-of-state tuition even though they were eligible for in-state rates, a difference of about $4,000 per semester. A CUNY spokesman said administrators conducted a review of enrollments on CUNY’s 24 campuses and began the process of returning excess payments. New York is among 19 states that allow in-state tuition for immigrant students. Its...

There's plenty to be mad about with Obama's executive orders on immigration. But this ruling by the IRS that illegal aliens who didn't pay any taxes or file a tax return can recieve a tax refund on monies they never paid is about as outrageous as a government action can get. Washington Times: The IRS is defending its decision to let illegal immigrants claim up to three years’ refunds on income even if they never paid income taxes, telling Congress in a new letter last week that agency lawyers have concluded getting a Social Security number triggers the ability...