Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Web Enthusiasts Take Up Scam Baiting

Getting back at those email scammers seems like a constructive hobby.

A boost for reform of Social Security

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Still Fighting The Tax Cut Battle

Senate Showdown Likely on Bush Tax Cuts

Budget Debate Comes Down to Size of Tax Cuts

Republicans Say They’ll Push for Tax Cuts Regardless of War
     The good guys

Resist Tax Cuts in Wartime
     The bad guys

Filing Extensions Readily Available by Phone or Computer

As I have explained on several occasions, filing tax returns after April 15 is a smart move.

From my website

From last year’s blog

Unaccountable

One of the gripes we have long had about the way in which IRS employees administer the tax laws has been their immunity from personal responsibility for what are often blatantly illegal actions.  In 1998, a law was passed requiring discipline against IRS employees who break the laws.  According to this 62 page GAO report on the effects of the law, during the 50 months from July 1998 to September 2002, 71 IRS employees were fired.

The summary of the report in this Wall Street Journal article is quite interesting and quite a bit easier to digest than the GAO’s.  62 of the fired IRS employees were actually let go for not filing their own tax returns; not for any of the routine law-breaking that goes on constantly by over-zealous agents.  What really frosts me is the implication that the 1998 law has put a serious damper on IRS enforcement actions, thus allowing the tax cheats to run rampant.  What a load of crap. 

KMK

Move afoot in Congress to slash Bush’s tax cut

Why it’s never a good idea to count on tax breaks until they make it through the congressional legislation – digestion process.

Dynamic scoring assumes that we aren’t dummies

As I have always said, changes in tax rates and rules do affect behavior.  To not consider those behavioral changes when estimating the expected effects of proposed legislation is completely irresponsible, but business as normal for our rulers.

Raising taxes makes state fiscal crisis worse

Typical level of government intelligence to take a bad situation and make it worse.  Also a good illustration of the difference between the common sense market driven thinking of private businesses and the idiotic responses by our rulers in  government.  For example, when airlines are having financial difficulties, they lower their fares and bring in more customers.  When the Post Office (the epitome of moronic management) and State governments are losing money, they raise all of their prices, driving customers and taxpayers away.  It is a fundamental tenet of basic economics that people buy more of things when prices are lower and less when they are higher.  Of course, understanding the realities of economics has never been a requirement to be in positions of power.  Migration from high tax states to low or no-tax states will just continue as people reach their breaking points over having their pockets picked by obnoxious politicians.

KMK

This is why, when shopping, I only compare the up-front prices of products. Most rebates are bogus and it is wrong for any merchant to advertise “after rebate” costs as if they were realistic.

What am I missing here? The last time gas prices started going up, some of our rulers proposed temporarily removing part of the Federal gas tax. This time, they want to add on more tax.  No wonder the most most flagrant oxymoron is “government intelligence.”