Free Republic

Ever since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in late 2017, Democrats and a few Republicans have decried how the law’s $10,000 cap of the state and local tax deduction harms schools, local communities, home values, first responders, and middle-class families. Fast forward almost two years later and these false claims are not going away. House Democrats recently announced a hearing scheduled for Tuesday where many of the common myths are likely to be repeated. Here are a few of the most common misconceptions. Myth #1: The Cap Hurts Middle-Class Taxpayers Before the 2017 tax cut capped the state...

Key Points Normally you can’t take a tax break for your pet but, under select circumstances, you might be able to. The IRS once allowed an exotic dancer to deduct the cost of breast implants. Is your pet a social media influencer? You just might be considered a small business. ============================================================== You probably know by now that charitable deductions are tax-deductible. But how about the cost of caring for your pet? Or your kid’s clarinet lessons? In select cases, the IRS has permitted taxpayers to deduct off-beat expenses on their tax returns. Here’s the key: Those costs must meet certain...

Year-end tax planning will take on extra significance — and complexity — this year, given the likelihood that congressional Republicans will try to get a tax bill passed before Dec. 31 to claim a legislative victory for 2017. The normal year-end tax advice goes like this: Figure out if you will be in a higher or lower income tax bracket next year. If your tax rate is likely to go up next year, try to accelerate any income you can into this year and defer deductions until next year, so that your taxable income is higher this year and lower...

If you were to randomly ask a sample of 100 Americans from around the country why the mortgage interest deduction was implemented in the tax code, I'd wager that the bulk of the answers would range from "I don't know" to "they were designed to give a tax break to the rich." Both answers suggest ignorance of facts, but the former is at least honest. The latter is just regurgitation of a leftist talking point by those feigning knowledge on the subject. The truth is a bit different than popular perception on this matter. Few, if any, among that small...

A Congresswoman who is “sick and tired” of drug testing welfare recipients has introduced a bill in Congress that would subject the rich to many of those same requirements. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., unveiled Thursday the Top 1% Accountability Act, which would require those claiming itemized deductions of more than $150,000 on their tax returns to submit to drug tests or file for less generous tax deductions. The proposal is a shot across the bow at Republican governors in states, including Moore’s home state of Wisconsin, that require the recipients of certain welfare benefit programs to be drug tested in...

Bush wants to cancel the deduction for state and local taxes. As the presidential candidates roll out tax reforms, one test of seriousness is which tax deductions they’ll cut. One of the better ideas is Jeb Bush’s proposal to end the deduction for state taxes. While liberals decry tax cuts for the rich, they adore this particular subsidy for the rich, and especially for rich states and the political class in Sacramento, Albany and Trenton. Since the creation of the federal income tax in 1913, taxpayers who itemize have been allowed to deduct the income and property taxes paid to...

There is a common saying on Capitol Hill that those who do not come to the table will become the lunch. This refers to those who fail to hire sufficiently well connected lobbyists or make large campaign contributions. Even those who do come to the table may get carved up. When President Obama called the parties making money from medicine into the White House to discuss what would become of Obamacare, most of the special interests tried to make a deal. With the Democrats controlling Congress and the White House, they knew that defiance would likely backfire. The major insurance...

WASHINGTON — With 2010 models arriving in auto dealer showrooms, the Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers that buying a new car, light truck, motor home or motorcycle could qualify them for a special deduction for state and local sales and excise taxes on their 2009 tax returns. Purchases made before Jan. 1, 2010, qualify for this deduction under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. The deduction is limited to sales and excise taxes and similar fees paid on up to $49,500 of the purchase price of a new vehicle. The deduction is reduced for joint filers with modified...

He is a kind of Society for th’ Prevention of Croolty to Money. If he finds a man misusin’ his money, he takes it away fr’m him an’ adopts it. —MR. DOOLEY Charity is said to be a virtue without compare, and yet we all know that it arouses suspicion—about the giver’s display of his generosity, the recipient’s dependency, some essential inequity that the gift only reinforces. Perhaps for this reason, Maimonides argued that the highest level of charity was not charity at all but rather helping the needy find the means by which to earn their own living. In...

Mr. & Mrs. Fred Thompson will be interviewed on Hannity & Colmes tonight.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Placing a neatly folded bill or a clutch of coins into a collection plate as it passes along the pew calls up a Norman Rockwell image of American life. But IRS rules taking effect this month may further change the way Americans contribute to houses of worship. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 prohibits donors from declaring contributions to churches or other charitable organizations unless they can produce records of the transactions. Several clerics said they knew nothing about the change before a reporter called asking for comment. "It probably will make a difference," said the...

This year is going to be a happy one -- at least for some taxpayers. Among the many changes that became effective on New Year's Day are higher contribution limits for 401(k) plans, a decline in the top federal estate-tax rate and a new deduction for many people who buy mortgage insurance. The standard mileage rate rose. So did the personal exemption, income brackets and dozens of other tax items adjusted for inflation every year. While these and other changes will bring relief to millions of taxpayers, many will be hit by higher taxes. About 11 million workers will have...

Proposed Resolution for Illigal Immigrants ursurping jobs of US Citizens.

GERING, Neb. -- The ibex head was jammed next to the moose, whose velvety antlers brushed against a rare red lechwe and an African bongo. Below them were several preserved bobcats, and at the far end of the storage container stood endangered leopards, frozen in lifelike mid-prowl. In all, there were more than 800 big-game and exotic animals piled into an old railroad car behind the Wyobraska Wildlife Museum, a modest and lightly visited facility here, far from any population center. It was just one of four large containers packed with animal mounts and skins -- trophies shot on expedition...