Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

The rich are already paying their fair share

Unpaid Taxes Take Their Toll. FirstPay Customers Learn the Dangers of Passing the Buck – I have seen this kind of thing happen on several occasions during my career. Payroll processing services keep the tax money instead of forwarding it to the State and Federal tax agencies. When the charade is exposed, the employers are then forced to pay the same taxes a second time.

State tax follies – Luckily, the higher State taxes aren’t wiping out all of the savings from the recent Federal tax cuts for most people.

Low-Income Tax (aka Welfare) Break Loses Steam

Tax Credit (aka Welfare Payment) Is Forced to Vote to Embarrass Republicans

Tax cuts inflationary? That theory should be ancient history.

Left Turn. Is the GOP conservative? – A lot of us are wondering if the GOP is abandoning its conservative roots in pursuit of the moderates who are turned off by the increasingly communistic DemonRats.

Firms Had a Hand In Pension Plight (link to article expired)

Social Security numbers key to identity theft

Here are some more stories on the investigations underway over the collapse of one of the busiest title companies in Harrison, Arkansas. We have several clients who have used their services, including some who did lose money when the company’s bank accounts were frozen; so we are following the developments quite closely.

Police asked to investigate abstract co.

JP asks AG to review abstract co.

Original Article on the Seizure – Check the recent reader comments, including one person proud of Harrison’s reputation for lynchings; except that this time it’s not a racial KKK thing.

While the first extension for 2002 1040s doesn’t run out until August 15, there are some that are up on July 15. The first extensions filed by April 15 for Fiduciary (1041) and Partnership returns (1065) are only for three months. These always have a way of sneaking up on me since I am usually so focused on 1040s.

Three more months of time can be obtained by filing Form 8800 by July 15 for both 1041s and 1065s. This brings their due dates into synch with the second extension date for 2002 1040s, October 15.

Senate Panel Hears Proposal to Reduce Pork – This is as likely to have an effect on the out of control spending as it is to expect Bill Clinton to keep his hands to himself while visiting Hooters. Some temptations are too strong for weak-willed people to resist. The only solution for those rulers who consider the Federal Treasury to be their private piggy banks is to check the spending scorecards of all incumbents next year and vote the ones out who have been spendaholics, regardless of party affiliation.

Besides violating their avowed dislike for big government spending, the GOP rulers in DC have abandoned their hatred of government regulation. The latest Federal Register is the longest in history (75,606 pages for 2002), to accommodate the flood of new regulations promulgated by our rulers.

Anyone who is truly a fan of low taxes, less government spending, and fewer regulations can’t be very satisfied with the performance of the GOP. There is still a political party that hasn’t abandoned those principles. Sending a few more Libertarians to DC would surely send a wake-up message to the RINOs who take their conservative base for granted.

The cliche used to be that the deficit was caused by the Demonrat controlled Congress spending like a bunch of drunken sailors. Are we better off now that the drunken sailors are Republicans?

State Income Tax Break May Pass Congress – A possible return of the itemized deduction for sales tax for those people who don’t have State income tax to claim.

Those Notorious IRS 400 (link to article expired) – IRS stats on the 400 tax returns with the highest AGI.

Democrats and Fat Cats – Debunking one of the many lies the leftist media spout as gospel; that the GOP are a bunch of evil rich fat cats and the Demonrats are just hard working little guys. As with most of the “truths” per the media, the reality is 180 degrees off.

Boomer Bummer: Retirement May Get Ugly for Generation (link to article expired) – Planning for retirement has never been a simple task because calculating whether you will have enough money to live on or not depends on how long you’ll be living after you stop working. For most people, this can’t be known with any certainty, in spite of what some actuaries may claim.

As Fed Cuts Rates, Retirees Are Forced to Pinch Pennies (link to article expired) – Interest rates have always been a double edged sword. Lower rates are obviously great for borrowers; but it’s not just banks that see their income pinched when the rates drop. People, often retirees, who have their money in cash type accounts (savings and CDs) see their interest income cut drastically.

Is Buying a Larger Home A Wise Financial Move? – A good look at how to decide how large & expensive a home to purchase.

What You Should Know About Buyer’s Agents – I’ve always liked the idea of having a Realtor who looks out for the buyer’s best interest, especially after having been burned by one who I thought was looking out for my interest, but had to side with the seller in a dispute because of the way most commissions are structured. The sharing arrangement among Realtors makes the buyer’s agent a sub-agent of the listing agent, and thus required to work more on behalf of the seller than the buyer. As this article discusses, there are various strategies being used by so-called Buyers’ Agents to avoid this conflict of interest problem.

No common cents – Donald Lambro debunks some common economic myths.