Free Republic

California lawmakers are throwing a lifeline to the troubled legal cannabis industry, approving a cannabis tax cut that the industry says will prevent further business failures. Lawmakers gave final approval to the bill last week, sending the measure to the desk of Newsom, who has previously committed to signing it into law. The measure would drop the state excise tax on cannabis from 19% to 15% on Oct. 1 and maintain that tax rate until June 30, 2028. The measure comes as tax rates for legal cannabis in California seesaw up and down. In July, the state increased the excise...

Democrat lawyers want to define tariffs as taxes because taxes must be approved by Congress, not Trump. Taxes are imposed upon persons earning income in the U.S. Tariffs are import duties imposed upon foreign entities. They are not taxes. The courts need to get this right. If the courts says Congress must approve tariffs, Congress will be unable to comply. Tariffs change commonly, and there are 194 countries that will pay tariffs to us. There is no chance that Congress could handle that task, nor should it. Congress’s duty is to approve a rare change of income tax, which is...

Well, here we go again. CNN tells us that a property tax revolt is spreading, with a nationwide movement to eliminate property taxes on the march.Most of us are familiar with the basic scenario of property taxation. Every state is replete with numerous political subdivisions commonly known as “municipal corporations.” These are counties, cities, school districts, fire districts, water districts, sewer districts, diking distraction, etc., etc. Each of these is known as a “taxing district” because state statute authorizes these districts’ legislative authority to adopt an annual budget and levy that budget as a tax on the property owners in...

SEATTLE, Wash. — Washington state currently holds the highest gas prices in the nation, with the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline at $4.66, according to AAA. This figure far surpasses the national average of $3.18.

In an interview on MSNBC "PoliticsNation" host Rev. Al Sharpton asked New York City mayoral candidate ZohranMamdani "you say you want to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund a bigger budget for the changes you want to implement in how the city is run. How will you keep them from leaving?" "When you ask New Yorkers what is it that is making them feel uneasy in this city, you often hear from them about the cleanliness of our city, the safety of our city, the affordability of our city. We are not asking to raise these taxes for the...

The Treasury Department on Monday revealed the full list of jobs that will qualify for a new tax deduction aimed at fulfilling President Donald Trump's campaign pledge to end taxes on tips. The list, which the Treasury Department provided exclusively to Axios, is divided into eight sections based on the type of work performed and will be published in the Federal Register along with a series of proposed regulations from the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service.

(a) An individual is entitled to defer collection of a tax, abate a suit to collect a delinquent tax, or abate a sale to foreclose a tax lien if:(1) the individual:(A) is 65 years of age or older;(B) is disabled as defined by Section 11.13(m); or(C) is qualified to receive an exemption under Section 11.22; and(2) the tax was imposed against property that the individual owns and occupies as a residence homestead.(b) To obtain a deferral, an individual must file with the chief appraiser for the appraisal district in which the property is located an affidavit stating the facts required...

Run Time 54 m. / " started noticing something was off in home appraisals,” says Mitch Vexler, whistleblower and expert on property valuations. He tells Daniela Cambone: “They were inflating property values to jack up taxes, and that was feeding into trillions in school bond debt that I believe will spiral.” On the scope of the problem, Vexler is blunt: “We’re talking about $5.1 trillion in school bonds that are based on these inflated appraisals. That’s massive—this is a ticking time bomb for local governments and taxpayers alike.” He warns of consequences for the bond market: “School districts are relying...

Trump’s Global Tariffs Found Illegal by US Appeals Court

Edmonds, Washington — population 42,871 — may look like a postcard-perfect community, but a $13-million deficit and more than $40 million in deferred maintenance costs is pushing the city toward historic, potentially irreversible changes. City officials are slashing services and weighing drastic options to stay afloat. “We are in a financial crisis, a significant one,” Mayor Mike Rosen told KOMO News. Now, Edmonds is considering selling off prized assets, including City Hall and the historic Frances Anderson Center, as well as asking homeowners to pay an extra $720 per year in property taxes to help balance the budget. Edmonds’ severe...

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia advocated for the abolition of property taxes and described health insurance as a big "scam." "We need to completely abolish property taxes. It forces us to pay ‘rent’ to the government on property that we own, but if we don’t pay property taxes, the property that we own gets taken away from us. That should never happen in a free country," Greene declared in a post on X. "Secondly, health insurance is a giant scam that has become completely unaffordable. And it doesn’t make any sense and I don’t know anyone, and I...

Hey @AOC , @BernieSanders , @SenSchumer , @SenWarren , every Dem should be thanking @potus for doing what the Dems have dreamed of doing, but have NEVER been able to do, creating a sales tax on 2 of the biggest semi companies in the country ! This opens the door for Sales Tax for export licenses on EVERYTHING! He is going to generate corporate tax revenue that you guys only wish you could pass. You should be thanking him all day, every day for this brilliant move you guys couldn't ever pull off ! In the future, don't call it...

There will be no changes to individual information returns or withholding tables for the 2025 tax year while the IRS implements the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) in a phased manner, the agency said in an Aug. 7 statement.The IRS building in Washington on July 21, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch TimesInformation returns are documents that businesses must file with the IRS, reporting transactions such as wages paid to employees. The IRS’s withholding tables describe how much an employer must withhold from an employee’s paycheck for taxes, Social Security, and Medicare.The OBBB was signed into law by President Donald Trump...

Democrat Texas Judge Lina Hidalgo derailed a meeting Thursday at the Harris County Commissioners Court over a failed tax hike, encouraging children to descend on the courtroom to ask commissioners how they planned to vote. A tax increase proposal, supported by Hidalgo, was brought forward Thursday to fund certain child care and education training programs previously covered by COVID-era funding, according to Houston Public Media. During the meeting, Commissioner Tom Ramsey was seen in footage from KHOU11’s YouTube page saying he would vote no to put forward the proposal on the next ballot, casting doubt on the county’s budget being...

Beginning in January 1, 2026, all kayaks, rafts, and stand-up paddleboards (SUPs) will require a permit. The permit could be a 7-day permit ($6) or annual permit ($20). See more here. The agency says they must do this to educate and work against invasive species. We can find only two other states that require paddleboards (under 10 feet) to get a permit to use. This fits nicely with Oregon’s unique bike tax. Everything people love about Oregon is now being taxed and regulated. At the same time, the same agency is jacking up camping fees for out-of-state residents by 25%...

President Donald Trump suggested on Sunday that his administration could distribute dividends from tariff revenues to Americans with certain income levels.Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Trump said that a distribution of dividends to selected U.S. households is possible, even as the government works to pay down the national debt.“We have a lot of money coming in, much more money than the country has ever seen, by hundreds of billions of dollars,” he said. “There could be a distribution for dividends to the people of our country. I would say for people that would be middle-income people and...

*** A coalition of 20 attorneys general, led by New York AG Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit Monday, arguing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s demand that states turn over personal information about SNAP recipients dating back five years, violates privacy laws. SNAP is a federally-funded, state-administered program that provides billions of dollars in food benefits to tens of millions of low-income individuals and families in the United States. The new USDA demands, released last week, require states to provide a list of individuals who have applied or are currently receiving SNAP benefits, in...

Donald Trump has delivered on two of his campaign promises with no taxes on overtime and no taxes on tips in his 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' but there are strings attached. Trump has claimed that his bill 'prevents the largest tax hike in history and unleashes economic growth.' The bill was signed into law on Friday, containing two provisions that allow individuals to deduct tip wages and overtime from their taxes. Despite claiming there are 'NO tax on Tips' and 'NO tax on Overtime,' there are limits on which taxes can be deducted and by how much. Also, not...

Kimberly Hoover has been to most Michelin-star restaurants on the East and West coasts. She and her wife, multimillionaires from their real estate firms, own homes in or near New York City, Washington, Miami and Quebec…“At some point, it starts to feel wrong. It starts to feel excessive. It starts to feel somehow inappropriate. And at some point, it just doesn’t feel good…Imbalanced is really not good for anyone, even if you’re on the positive end of that imbalance, because it’s unsustainable.” …During the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, affluent Americans who benefited from...

Why pay higher prices in a more competitive housing market when you can just keep paying compulsory taxes on your capital gains? That’s effectively the head-scratching argument CNN tried to make to ding President Trump’s tax-cutting agenda. Yeah, we couldn’t really make sense of that logic either.