NEWS ABOUT: tax breaks
tax breaks stories: 23 news briefs
Outlawed tax shelter scheme blamed for lack of modern safety features
Wall Street Journal Jun 26, 09 6:17 AM CDT
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Safer cars might have saved lives in Monday's DC train crash, but a tax-dodge deal made with a bank prevented the transit authority from replacing aging stock until 2014, the Wall Street Journal reports. The National Transportation Safety Board urged the authority years ago to either replace its older cars or add safety features, but the authority said it was unable to do so under a "tax advantage" agreement in which its rolling stock was sold to a bank and leased back.
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OPINION
Salon May 5, 09 4:05 PM CDT
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Offshore tax havens may not be fair, but they’ve been around for decades. So why is President Obama taking them on now, Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich asks in Salon. It’s not to try to keep jobs here, as the White House claims; the move might even drive jobs away. It’s far more likely this is a sly strategic move in the universal health-care fight.
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The Obama Administration will unveil details of its tax-haven crackdown today
Wall Street Journal May 4, 09 7:35 AM CDT
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White House plans to curb offshore tax avoidance will be rolled out today, the Wall Street Journa l reports, with the target on both US multinationals and wealthy individuals who are sheltering an estimated $700 billion in US earnings overseas. The plan takes particular aim at “deferral,” which allows companies to take large tax breaks on profits earned overseas until that money is repatriated to the US.
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Are you a whaling captain? Parent of a kidnapped teen? You could benefit!
Newsweek Apr 8, 09 4:45 PM CDT
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The tax code is more than 20,000 pages long and packed with loopholes galore. Newsweek lists six deductions you've probably never heard of: Alaskan whaling captains can deduct up to $10,000 for money spent fixing their boats or on other whaling expenses. Parents of kidnapped children can now claim them as dependents until they turn 18—previously it was only the year in which they were taken.
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Detroit Free Press Feb 17, 09 5:18 PM CST
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The auto industry may be tanking, but Michigan has a new small-scale savior: Kid Rock Beer. A Michigan brewery has landed a tax credit to produce a line of beer with the rocker's name and image, the Detroit Free Press reports. It's expected to create about 400 new jobs in the state, and the beer should be in stores by mid-spring.
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Senate moderates, GOP insist on stripping out billions
Washington Post Feb 4, 09 9:23 AM CST
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President Obama’s first big bill, the stimulus package passed by the House, lacks the votes to clear a Senate filibuster, reports the Washington Post . Senate moderates are proposing to strip $200 billion in spending to win GOP supporters. Says Democratic whip Dick Durbin, “100 decisions” will be “made between now and when we deliver the bill to the president's desk.”
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ANALYSIS
Eliminating levy on profit from home sales encouraged Americans to play the market
New York Times Dec 19, 08 11:18 AM CST
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A tax break introduced by President Clinton and made law in 1997 helped fuel the housing bubble that eventually led to the current economic crisis, the New York Times reports. The cut, which allowed owners to sell their homes without paying capital-gains taxes on profits up to $500,000, created an incentive to pump money into housing rather than other, taxed investment instruments.
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Biden calls for tax hike on rich, urging 'it's time to be patriotic'
Chicago Tribune Sep 18, 08 3:38 PM CDT
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John McCain slammed Democratic plans to raise taxes as “just plain dumb” and “painful,” the Chicago Tribune reports. The vehement appraisal came after Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden urged high-income earners to embrace a tax hike targeted at them. “It's time to be patriotic…time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut.”
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ANALYSIS
McCain says tax cuts for wealthy will fuel economy; Obama sees taxing as means to an end
Los Angeles Times Aug 21, 08 3:58 PM CDT
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John McCain and Barack Obama both target the very wealthy in plans to overhaul the tax code, to the opposite effect: Obama would raise their taxes and McCain would cut them. It's the most profound difference in their dueling proposals to stimulate the economy, the Los Angeles Times notes in a piece spelling out the ideas, and despite their "maverick" and "postpartisan" labels, they fall along traditional Republican and Democratic lines.
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As Congress ponders new taxes, regulations, industry opens wallet
Politico Jul 8, 08 4:40 PM CDT
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The hedge-fund industry is stepping up its lobbying efforts, Politico reports, having belatedly realized how tempting a target it presents to cash-strapped politicians. Facing attacks from both sides of the aisle for their tax-free offshore accounts and lightly taxed incomes, hedge funds upped lobbying spending to $1.9 million last year, and have donated $10.6 million to campaigns this election cycle.
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ANALYSIS
Some see pragmatism, others inconsistency in GOP candidate's votes
Los Angeles Times Jul 1, 08 4:38 PM CDT
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John McCain can’t seem to settle on a comprehensible energy policy, Noam Levey writes in the Los Angeles Times , noting that the Republican has been on both sides of issues from oil drilling to ethanol. He favors fuel-efficiency standards while rejecting renewable-sources guidelines and rejects tax breaks on renewables while supporting nuclear subsidies. “There is a very sporadic pattern here,” said one environmentalist.
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OPINION
NYT writers ruminate on what the effects of spiraling prices will be
New York Times Jun 29, 08 12:27 PM CDT
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How does really expensive fuel affect you? The New York Times Op-Ed page asked 10 writers to ruminate on that question, and the responses are all over the map: The lure of staying home could have workers demanding tax changes that benefit telecommuters, thinks Nicole Belson Goluboff. Say goodbye to suburbia, says Allison Arieff: cities are more efficient.
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Hillary wants to suspend it; Barack says that's shortsighted
New York Times Apr 29, 08 9:06 AM CDT
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Hillary Clinton has joined John McCain's call for a summer holiday from the federal gasoline tax, but Barack Obama says the move will hurt more than it helps, the New York Times reports. Clinton says she’d pay for it with a windfall-profits tax on the oil companies. “Middle-class families are paying too much and oil companies aren’t paying their fair share,” Clinton said.
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Tax breaks not paid back in community benefits
Wall Street Journal Apr 4, 08 2:20 PM CDT
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Nonprofit hospitals are making more money than for-profit hospitals, and that has many critics wondering why they get such sweet tax breaks, the Wall Street Journal reports. Seventy-seven percent of nonprofits are making money, with at least 25 pulling in more than $250 million a year. Many are spending that money on new facilities and executive pay, rather than charity care.
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Veto threat as Republicans call it industry discrimination
Washington Post Feb 28, 08 5:36 AM CST
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Millions of dollars in tax breaks enjoyed by the top five oil companies would be rescinded under an $18 billion tax package which cleared the House of Representatives yesterday. The money saved would be plowed into creating alternative sustainable energy sources. It represents just a penny a gallon to the oil giants Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP and Shell.
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First rebates from 'booster shot for our economy' to be mailed in May
Associated Press Feb 13, 08 2:30 PM CST
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President Bush signed Congress’ economic stimulus bill into law today, ensuring that the tax rebates at the heart of the $168 billion plan will find their way into American bank accounts by May. The average rebate for an individual will be $600, with $1,200 for couples and a $300 add-on per child, reports the AP.
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Larger rebates, more benefits still to come
Washington Post Jan 29, 08 8:30 AM CST
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The Senate has unveiled its own economic stimulus package, challenging the plan agreed to between House leaders and the White House. The Senate plan would give $500 to almost all Americans, rich and poor, and would extend unemployment benefits to the jobless, reports the Washington Post . Senators are also likely to add heating cost assistance, foreclosure-prevention funding, business tax incentives, and other benefits.
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UPDATED
Bipartisan compromise would put $600 in your pocket
CNN Jan 24, 08 10:39 AM CST
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Congress today announced an economic stimulus package that would put a $600 check in every American taxpayer's mailbox by early summer, sources tell CNN, and a likely $300 per child. The refunds are "there to strengthen the middle class, to create jobs and to turn this economy around," said Nancy Pelosi in announcing the deal this afternoon.
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Candidates offer differing views on 'fair tax,' extending Bush cuts
Christian Science Monitor Jan 5, 08 9:44 AM CST
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With President Bush’s tax cuts set to expire in 2010, tax reform could become a key issue in this year’s presidential race, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Most Republican candidates favor extending the cuts, though Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul support eliminating income tax altogether. The Democratic candidates almost universally favor repealing Bush’s cuts but differ slightly in their proposals.
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Victories over Dems may hurt his own initiatives, raise debt
Washington Post Dec 15, 07 4:53 PM CST
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Christmas came early for President Bush, who’s scored a slew of recent victories over the Democratic Congress. But the wins could threaten both the federal debt and some of his own pet projects, the Washington Post speculates. Bush’s steadfast opposition to tax-increasing spending measures from Democrats could push the federal deficit this fiscal year to almost $240 billion. Even some Republicans are wary.
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