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Mr.Buffett. As an avowed supporter of the estate tax, Mr. Buffett could have let the government take its share of his estate after he dies. But just as Mr. Buffett has accumulated his vast wealth without paying much personal income tax, he has found a way to avoid the tax man in this maneuver as well, even writing in his letter to Bill and Melinda Gates that a condition of the gift is that the foundation “must continue to satisfy legal requirements qualifying my gifts as charitable and not subject to gift or other taxes.” On the estate tax, watch...

States and the IRS are mining personal and business data to sniff out scofflaws The Texas comptroller's Office suspected for years that well-heeled Lone Star citizens were buying big-ticket private planes out of state to dodge sales taxes. But the tax collector couldn't prove it. Then the agency installed new computer technology that matched federal airplane registrations with state tax records. In just the past six months, Texas has collected $5 million in unpaid taxes from 43 scofflaws. As tax season nears its Apr. 15 peak, revenue agencies are reaching for a software tool kit that has long been popular...

   Prayer requested for Taxman… Received from Taxman: Thursday morning at 0900, I will have a cardiac catherization procedure performed at the Jax Baptist Hospital I had a TIA (mini-stroke) on Jan 29 As a follow up, my doc recommended I have a cardiac stress test, and I was found to have three types of arrhythmias -- PVCs, PACs and atrial fibrillation, all at the same time So, they are going in to have a look.  Risk factor for the cath procedure is low -- depending on what is found, I could have no procedure, a balloon angioplasty or a...

Lawmaker's warning: Vote in New Orleans race could tip taxman U.S. actor/comedian Bill Cosby makes a face during a rally for voting rights of displaced residents in New Orleans April 1, 2006. Many citizens scattered across the country since Hurricane Katrina may be unable to vote in the city's April 22 mayoral election, according to rally organizers. REUTERS/Lee Celano BATON ROUGE, La. When New Orleans residents scattered about the country by Hurricane Katrina cast their ballots in the mayor's race, they'll be giving state tax collectors a way to locate them. One Louisiana lawmaker says he wants people to know...

Opponents of Referendum C counted on voters rejecting a bigger tax bite, $3,100 for the average family in the next five years, under the pressure of high prices for gasoline, home heating, health care and housing. We appealed to people's skepticism that the Democrat-led legislature would use the new money responsibly. Polling even last weekend suggested proponents hadn't made the sale. But they surged to victory with the help of respected Republicans like Gov. Bill Owens, former party chairman Bruce Benson and University of Colorado president Hank Brown. Those heavy hitters outweighed the more numerous antitax Republican voices, including the...

Wisconsin's Democratic governor thinks it's not fair that tangible items get taxed while downloads, like music, ebooks, software, etc., go completely untaxed. So, he proposes to rectify the situation by having Wisconsin's 5% state sales tax apply to Internet downloads. This is kind of like that famous hoax about how the USPS wants to charge people 5 cents for e-mail messages, except it's for real. What a dumb idea....

Good morning FReepers! Greetings from CPAC!Waiting for the hotel to be cleared out for VP Cheney, who is due to speak at 2:00. Have had a great time so far with many FReepers showing up - even the elusive Registered! PBS innterviewed me this morning - think they'll be fair and unbiased? LOL Bob J and Diotima and The Shrew are already interviewing famous people for Rightalk! We'll keep you updated.

PROVIDENCE -- In a highly-anticipated ruling this morning, U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith found on the the side of the state in the Narragansett Indian tribal smokeshop dispute, saying that it has the authority to impose a tax on cigarettes sold at the shop on tribal lands. Smith also ruled that the state did not violate federal law or the tribe's sovereign rights in executing a search warrant at the shop. "This conclusion is driven by the finding that the legal of the State's cigarette's tax scheme falls on the purchaser or consumer of cigarettes, and not on...

Michigan Rally Targets Howard Dean This Saturday! Democrat presidential hopeful Howard Dean will appear at a fundraiser in Ypsilanti this Saturday, August 16, from 11:30-12 noon. Unfortunately, Mr. Dean wants to raise taxes by repealing President Bush's tax cut. Michigan Citizens for a Sound Economy is organizing a protest to "welcome" Mr. Dean, who is a leading candidate for the Democrat Presidential nomination. Our Michigan team is going to show up shortly after 11:00 AM, as we want to be in place by 11:15. Location: 1305 Grant, Ypsilanti, (a few doors down from West Middle School.) CSE will provide t-shirts...

Blanchard to host Kerry fund-raiser in Detroit The Associated Press 3/24/03 8:56 PM LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts appeared in Detroit Monday night for a fund-raiser hosted by former Gov. James Blanchard. Kerry, one of nine Democrats running for the presidential nomination, was last in Michigan in October. While here, he campaigned for several Democratic candidates, including Jennifer Granholm, who went on to win the governor's race. During that October visit, Blanchard hosted an event for Kerry at the Detroit Athletic Club. Blanchard, now in private law practice, said he hoped to raise about $200,000...

<p>California's finances are in a world of trouble, and many experts believe the time has come for a top-to-bottom overhaul of the state's tax structure to inject a dose of stability into a treasury beset by wild mood swings.</p> <p>State revenue now depends so heavily on taxing wealthy individuals that the budget for roads, schools and social services can rise or fall with the performance of a relatively small number of stock portfolios.</p>

Former Vice President Walter Mondale waves to the crowd as Minnesota Secretary of State Judi Dutcher, right rear, and DFL gubernatorial candidate Roger Moe, second from right, applaud after Mondale was endorsed by the DFL Party in Minneapolis, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2002, to run for U.S. Senate in place of Sen. Paul Wellstone who died in a plane crash Oct. 25. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

Taxes To Congress Bottom 16 Things Your Taxes Pay For Second 10 Things Your Taxes Pay For Top 10 Things Your Taxes Pay For