Bush Panel to Outline Tax Reform Options by July 31

Aid for Tsunami Victims May be Tax Deductible

One sign of a person’s maturity is when he realizes that none of these fairy tales is true.

Taxpayers most likely to foot bill for Huckabee’s highway designs – Plenty of higher taxes in store for us here in Arkansas, from our GOP governor.

Principled Giving in Times of Crisis – There are so many scams surrounding charitable donations, that it is difficult to be certain your donations are going to the right place. 

Congress Passes Law Extending Tax Deductions on Tsunami Aid – I don’t mean to be too Scrooge-like here, but as someone who has to prepare actual income tax returns, I hope this doesn’t start a trend of allowing taxpayers to essentially keep their books open for all kinds of certain deductions made after the normal year has ended.  Besides the differences this will create between federal and state returns that I already mentioned, it will lead to double counting of these expenditures when they are also accidentally included in the totals for 2005. While receiving double deductions for the same payments may seem like a good thing from the taxpayers’ perspective, I am just as interested in honesty and accuracy in the tax calculations as is IRS, and this kind of thing can do nothing but mess that up.

Tax Reform Panel – If I come across as overly skeptical of the current tax reform projects, it’s because I have been in this business 30 years and have heard and seen these lofty promises countless times before, with the exact same results.  I would be more than glad to assist in any truly sincere efforts to make taxation simpler and fairer in this country.  However, based on the roster of people chosen as members of the official President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, I don’t see how this time will be any more effective at doing anything but screw the tax code up even more.  While they claim to have a diverse mix of members, I can’t help but notice the glaring absence of any real life tax practitioners.  While politicians and academicians have their different viewpoints, there is no substitute for the real life world of doing actual tax returns and fighting with IRS on behalf of real people.  Contrary to popular belief, there are countless huge differences between the theoretical and real world applications of the tax system.  Ignoring the real world aspects is ridiculous and shows an utter lack of sincerity in this year’s stab at fixing the tax code.  I am surprised and disappointed that our first MBA president would establish such an incomplete panel and truly expect it to do any better than  the dozens of similar ones previously.

I was recently working on a 2003 1040 for a client who had earned some income in Portugal.  The statement showing the income and tax withholding amounts was in euros.  I thought it would be an easy thing to convert these amounts to US dollars; but the normal web sites I have used in the past, such as Yahoo’s and the Wall Street Journal, only had the current exchange rates and don’t allow historical rate searches. 

Since the income was received in July of 2003, and there has been a lot of well publicized fluctuation in the exchange rate since then, I wanted to use the July 2003 rate. It took a bit of Google web searching before I found a handy free web site that does allow this kind of historical research, www.x-rates.com.  With a URL like that (x-rates), I’m sure they’re mistaken for a completely different type of web site.

Since I have a number of clients who receive income from foreign sources, this kind of conversion tool will be very handy, so I have been added it to my blogroll for quick access. 

It did make a difference.  The current exchange rate is 1.31, while it was only 1.16 back in July 2003.  On several thousand dollars of income, using the more precise figure was helpful for the client. As I always do, I attached this documentation to the 1040.

BUSH’S TAX DE-CODER RING

AARP’s Social Security Ads Mislead the Public – Just singing from their usual DemonRat hymnal.

Study: Congressional Retirees Reap Huge Taxpayer-Funded Pensions   – Royalty has its privileges, so we mere peons have no right to be jealous of what our rulers are able to set up for themselves at our expense.

Congressional spendthrifts   – Drunken sailors are still in charge in DC, and it’s not just Teddy K.

Congress has concluded its 108th session. Beginning with the 102nd session, members of the House submitted 5,756 bills to increase spending, and just 1,158 to cut it. In the same period, senators offered 3,896 bills to raise spending and 504 bills to reduce it. What’s more, the trends are headed the wrong way: In both houses the 107th and 108th sessions marked the low point for the numbers of bills to cut spending and the high point for bills to raise it.

Ex-Senators to Lead Panel on Tax Code  – Great idea!  Who better to unravel the insane tax code than some of the same bozos who created it?  Nothing could go wrong there. Gee, I wonder how this simplification effort will turn out?

Bush Panel to Outline Tax Reform Options by July 31

Texas Lawmaker to Urge Statewide Property Tax for School Finance

Bush Signs Extension of 2004 Deduction Window for Tsunami Relief Donations – But most states won’t be able to pass legislation in time to conform with this new Federal law, such as in California.

Big Spenders Seek Divine Help With Debt – Nothing new here.  People have been begging for God’s help every time they toss the dice or pull the handle on a slot machine for centuries.

$40 Million Hunch – An “inner voice” in this Brooklyn man’s head gave him the winning lottery numbers.

Lotto winner delays $60 million jackpot for divorce 

Cash-hungry cities target online sales

It Pays to Locate Your Real Estate Agent Online