Free Republic

The Trump administration is considering adding a citizenship and work authorization question to next year's federal tax return, while separately proposing rules that could restrict access to the full value of several tax credits for some immigrants who are legally allowed to live and work in the United States. A draft of Form 1040 released by the Internal Revenue Service this month asks filers to check "Yes" or "No" to this question: "At the time you file your return, are you, and your spouse if filing jointly, a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or an alien lawfully authorized to work in...

Death, taxes and tolls may be inevitable in life, but a bill proposed by two members of Congress from New Jersey and one from New York would allow commuters to deduct tolls from their federal income tax. Yes, New York City’s controversial congestion pricing tolls would be included, in addition to transit fares.The Lowering Commuting Costs Act would create a federal income tax deduction totaling more than $4,080 a year or $340 a month, for personal commuting expenses, including the cost of gas, public transit and tolls.It was introduced Tuesday by U.S. Reps Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd Dist., Tom Kean...

The Trump administration is proposing investing $5 billion in a fund that would help Middle East countries rebuild their energy infrastructure following the Iran War, the Wall Street Journal reported.The goal would be to have the countries reduce their reliance on the Strait of Hormuz for transporting oil and gas, the Journal reported. The U.S. would seek matching contributions from eight Middle Eastern countries: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, and Jordan, hoping to establish a $10 billion investment fund. The investment would be called the Partnership for Allied Trust and Construction, or Pact. Officials told...

As construction advances on New Mexico’s first $10 million forced taxpayer-funded abortion killing center in Las Cruces, NM, the New Mexico Alliance for Life (NMAFL) confirms that pro-abortion administrators at the University of New Mexico (UNM), in partnership with state officials, are targeting Las Vegas, NM as the site for the second state-funded abortion killing center. The information comes directly from Christopher Arndt, M.D., Interim President and CEO of the UNM Health Sciences Center, during a 2026 University of New Mexico Board of Regents meeting earlier this year. Discussing the state’s plans for a second facility, Arndt said: “And we...

For a government in as deep kimchi financially as the current Labour government running the United Kingdom, you would think there would be significant thought given to collecting taxes as much as they do to handing out what they'd actually collected and what they've promised. Granted, none of it balances on either side of the ledger as it should - the 'incoming' column is decidedly less than the 'what I told them I'd give them' side, but most governments run on a deficit. The key is to try to continually reduce them, or at least keep them at bay in...

Inflation can make an investment account look far healthier than it really is. Once taxes are added, investors may discover that a significant portion of their apparent profit never increased their purchasing power at all.The Hidden Tax Inside a Long-Term GainConsider an investor who puts $10,000 into a stock, earns 10% annually and sells after 20 years.The investment grows to approximately $67,275, producing a taxable capital gain of $57,275.That sounds like an exceptional result. Yet if inflation averaged 3% during those two decades, nearly half of the gain would reflect rising prices rather than a true increase in purchasing power.Compounding...

Manhattan’s wealthiest residents just found a new way to dodge Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax: Don’t buy at all. The city’s luxury rental market is shattering records as wealthy New Yorkers who could easily afford $20 million or $50 million trophy homes are choosing to rent instead, brokers say, a trend accelerating since the new tax on high-value second homes took effect. Manhattan median rents hit $5,295 a month in July, a record high, up 6% compared with last July and unchanged from June’s plateau, according to a Corcoran Group report obtained by The Post, with the average rent citywide...

On August 27, 2026, Attorney General Josh Kaul announced that the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) is joining a suit to block a federal policy requiring providers and states to comply with updated U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) funding rules for the next five-year grant cycle. “This is what Josh Kaul isn’t telling you: that this is just another example of him using lawfare to protect special interests like Planned Parenthood, Wisconsin’s largest abortion provider,” stated Heather Weininger, Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life. “Instead of expanding their counseling services to patients, Planned Parenthood wants to...

A sanctimonious liberal like any other respectable 16-year-old, I made a seminal lurch to the right the first time I opened a pay slip. I was manning the register weekends for the Ice Capades Chalet in Atlanta and made about $40 a week. Or so I imagined. Then where the hell was it? The significantly lighter payment was my rude introduction to taxation at source. Indignation at being fleeced at a minimal income persisted into my adulthood. I lived on a wing and a prayer for decades, and having to pitch anything whatsoever in the communal pot was consternating. I...

Planned Parenthood just announced a $47 million budget for their midterm election blitz. The ACLU is spending $25 million specifically to push pro-abortion propaganda. And, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL) is spending $23.5 million. That’s nearly $100 million, all aimed at one goal: flipping the U.S. Senate for Chuck Schumer, his pals at the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America), and the Abortion Lobby this November. Last week we got proof their plan may be working. A new poll out of Texas shows Democrat James Talarico jumping to a 5-point lead over Attorney General Ken Paxton in the race for...

While many pro-lifers focus on preserving the Hyde Amendment to keep federal tax dollars from funding abortion, many Americans don’t realize that their state taxes are already funding it. A new report from Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) highlighted that 21 states are funding abortion through Medicaid. “Twenty-one states currently use their own funds to cover abortion services for Medicaid enrollees beyond the limits imposed by the federal Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding of abortions in cases other than pregnancies that result from rape, incest, or are a life threat,” reports KFF. Using state taxes to pay for abortions, this...

Dem Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday refused to break ties to notorious hate streamer Hasan Piker — while hinting he wants to sock the middle class with the bill for his Medicare for All plan. El-Sayed even left the door open to continuing to campaign with Piker in the pol’s general election matchup against Republican Mike Rogers — despite arguing that the notorious Twitch streamer’s 2019 comment, “America deserved 9/11” was dumb. “It was a dumb statement,” El-Sayed told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “He disavowed it. So yes. America didn’t deserve 9/11. “But to sit here and play...

A trio of Big Apple homeowners has filed suit to delay the state’s controversial new tax on luxury second homes — claiming Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration bungled the rollout and unfairly put the burden on homeowners. The disgruntled owners charge that City Hall is unfairly burdening them by forcing them to prove they are full-time New Yorkers if they do not want to pay the pied-à-terre tax, according to the suit filed Friday in Staten Island Supreme Court. The city Department of Finance “has arbitrarily and capriciously foisted onto New York City residents the burden of proving they are not...

A Southern California nonprofit that runs domestic violence shelters has paid its longtime chief executive officer, a Hawaii resident, more than $1.6 million in salary and vacation over two years — far more than local peers. Experts in nonprofit oversight say 1736 Family Crisis Center CEO Carol Adelkoff’s out-of-state residency and compensation raise questions about board governance and ‘reasonable’ pay. Adelkoff said her compensation grew significantly over the last couple of years because she was paid unused vacation time that had accrued over the 40 years she has worked at the nonprofit. As public spending on homelessness has come under...

Missouri voters rejected a ballot measure in Tuesday’s primary election that would’ve abolished state income taxes. While nine states have phased out individual income taxes, Missouri voters apparently feared an increase in other forms of taxation to make up for the revenue loss. The measure, Amendment No. 5, was rejected by an 84%-16% vote, with about a fifth of the ballots tallied. Missouri GOP Gov. Mike Kehoe backed eliminating the income tax. Opponents of the change claimed that the state’s highest earners would’ve benefitted the most, while public areas like schools, prisons and social services would’ve been directly impacted. Concerns...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman vowed to undo Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “oppressive” and “reckless” pied-à-terre tax if elected – as it was revealed the Big Apple plans to hire dozens of employees just to process the new fee. Blakeman, who’s currently serving as the elected Nassau County executive, issued a dire warning Thursday saying state Democratic Party policies will drive more New Yorkers out of the city, which already carries a 12.5% local tax burden, the third highest in the country. “This reckless tax will drive even more families, jobs, and investment out of our state, and middle-class New Yorkers...

No one will be shocked to learn that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's pied-a-terre tax is more expansive than he let on. Mamdani said the tax only applied to wealthy people who owned secondary homes in the Big Apple that are worth more than $5 million. But if you read the actual tax, that $5 million value only applied to one-, two-, and three-family homes. Condos and co-op units that are secondary homes are also taxed, and starting at a value of $1 million, or more. That explains why there are 31,000 properties subject to the tax. HOLDUP. Zohran’s...

New York City business leaders aren’t inclined to go to war with Zohran Mamdani – but his latest stunt surrounding the controversial pied-à-terre tax is forcing them to reconsider, On The Money has learned. This week, our Marxist mayor released the names of taxpayers who are being subjected to his idiotic levy on owners of apartments worth $5 million or more that are not their primary residences. It’s idiotic partly because these wealthy out-of-state residents don’t use our services, but nevertheless already pay plenty of state and city taxes – the lion’s share in fact. They might decide to buy...

California Democrat starts by targeting billionaires, ends article demanding taxes on $50-million net worth — that threshold will keep dropping until it hits your 401(k)New York’s socialist mayor campaigned on taxing billionaires, immediately pivoted to hitting millionaires — same playbook progressives used with income tax over a century agoEvery dollar seized in wealth taxes gets ripped out of businesses like Walmart and Tesla, destroying jobs and innovation to fund left-wing NGOs and handouts for illegalsIf you ever wished you could be counted among billionaires, your wish might come true soon if the socialists get their way. Of course, it’s not...

Key takeawaysSocial Security income continues to be subject to federal income tax.A new senior deduction means only about 12% of seniors will pay taxes on their benefits.Nine states impose some income tax on Social Security.Is the income you receive from Social Security taxable? With the recent tax law, Social Security income continues to be taxable, but an additional deduction for seniors may help offset what is owed.Under the recent law, taxpayers age 65 or older—and their spouses, if filing jointly—can each claim a $6,000 deduction for tax years 2025–2028. This senior deduction is reduced by 6% (but not below zero)...