Tax News Blog

Bolivian miners denounce tax

2007-02-08T02:43:00.000-08:00

LA PAZ, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales met with mining leaders Wednesday following protests in the capital over a proposed tax hike, La Razon reported. Morales had already promised to freeze the tax hike, but the miners converged on La Paz anyway and clashed with police, injuring two officers. Protesters blocked a main road leading out of the country late last month, calling for greater government control of the country's petroleum industry. The protests focused on Morales' failure to keep a promise to implement full nationalization of the sector, as the leftist leader once promised. .

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Cigarette tax cut rejected by panel

2007-02-06T02:41:00.000-08:00

PIERRE - Smokers in southeastern South Dakota are organizing "buying groups" to get cheaper cigarettes in Nebraska and Iowa, state Rep. Garry Moore, D-Yankton, told a legislative committee Monday morning. Moore said South Dakota's $1 a pack increase in the cigarette tax was hurting small businesses in his district. He argued to cut the tax by 78 cents, but the House State Affairs Committee voted 12-1 to kill the proposal without a vote of the full House.Voters in November approved increasing the state's cigarette tax from 53 cents a pack to $1.53 a pack. Moore's bill would have reduced the tax to 75 cents a pack."This is not selfish in nature," said Moore, who works for a company that wholesales cigarettes. "I know there are people who've said it's selfish in nature, and I really don't care.

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Crist tax plan may give small business a break

2007-02-02T02:39:00.000-08:00

Gov. Charlie Crist has proposed exempting small businesses from a tax on tangible personal property worth less than $25,000 and making changes to the state's homestead exemption that would affect both residents and businesses. A proposed special election later this year would ask Florida voters to approve a constitutional amendment that would include the tax relief measures. .

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Culver to lawmakers: Increase cigarette tax

2007-01-31T02:43:00.000-08:00

Gov. Chet Culver pressed the Iowa Legislature Tuesday for a dollar increase in the state's cigarette tax during his first budget address, taking his own party to task on a measure he said would save lives. The Democrat, elected in November, spent more time on the proposal than any other aspect of the $5.7 billion spending plan he outlined to the Democrat-controlled Legislature. Confronting hesitation by some of his party's legislative leaders about raising the tax a full dollar, Culver challenged lawmakers to get on board with an issue that was a part of his winning campaign and that a clear majority of Iowans support. "I understand that some appear to suggest that we should only increase the cigarette tax by 30 to 60 cents," Culver said. "But in this case, half measures will not even produce half the results." "I strongly believe the number needs to be a dollar," Culver added, sparking cheers from many of the Democrats in the House chamber and a contingent of students looking on from the gallery.

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Applicants vying for say in trust tax input

2007-01-29T02:42:00.000-08:00

OTTAWA -- A volatile mix of money and politics will be served on Parliament Hill this week as backbench MPs delve into Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's plan to start taxing income trusts. The Commons finance committee has been deluged with requests from the private sector to have its say as well, with some industry lobbyists putting the number of applicants as high as 200 groups and individuals. "It clearly indicates the level of interest that's out there," says George Kesteven, head of the Canadian Association of Income Funds. "There's an awful lot of misinformation about income trusts. "A lot of our time is going to be spent debunking myths." Only a lucky few, however, will actually get to state their case during the six hours set aside for hearings, and they will be the ones chosen by the MPs themselves.

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Pugster Hailing Cab Girl Woman Hobby Taxi X2 Italian Charm Bracelet

2007-01-23T03:15:00.000-08:00

This girl stretches her arm high in the sky as she is hailing for a cab! The new X2 version charm is a finer high quality charm Crafted and authenticated by Pugster Inc.

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Culver stands by proposed cigarette tax increase

2007-01-23T02:52:00.000-08:00

DES MOINES (AP) --- Gov. Chet Culver said Monday he would stick by his proposal to boost cigarette taxes by $1 a pack, despite calls by fellow Democrats to approve a smaller increase. "That's the beauty of our democratic process. We don't always see eye to eye on the issues," said Culver. "As the session moves along here and when it comes time to present budgets and determine how we are going to pay for our priorities, that's when the tough decisions have to be made. I've made my decision."Culver spoke at a news conference, at which he previewed a budget he will deliver to the Legislature next week. He'll also outline his priorities before a joint session of the Legislature. .

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F1's super-rich to cop higher Swiss tax

2007-01-21T02:46:00.000-08:00

A collection of F1's super-rich could soon be in for a shock, as the notorious tax haven Switzerland is considering making life more expensive for foreigners. Some of the sport's highest earners are among scores who flock to live in the alpine country, because the government requires foreign residents to pay only 'direct' taxes rather than declare their mammoth income or assets. According to sources, foreign Swiss residents including Michael Schumacher, Bernie Ecclestone and Fernando Alonso pay a comparatively paltry lump-sum of about $60,000 per year in tax to their local region. Elsewhere, in Germany or France for example, income tax could cost them up to ten times as much or more. Swiss finance ministers, however, reportedly met last Friday and discussed possibly changing the system within six months.

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IN STATE OF CITY ADDRESS, MAYOR BLOOMBERG PROPOSES TAX RELIEF AND ...

2007-01-19T02:51:00.000-08:00

In his annual State of the City address, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg outlined a far reaching and ambitious agenda that takes advantage of the unique position of strength that the City finds itself in as a result of five years of innovation, accountability and fiscal responsibility; to prepare New York for its strongest future. .

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Three groups of Lao commodities enjoy zero percent import tax

2007-01-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

The Ministry of Trade has imposed a zero percent import tax on three groups of goods originating from Laos, namely rice and unprocessed rice; tobacco leaves and stem; and spare motorbike parts. The tariff rate will be applied for Vietnamese traders importing these items with the certificate of origin, form S, granted by Lao authorised agencies and valid until the end of this year. However, regarding tobacco leaves and stems, only those who are licensed to import tobacco materials under the Ministry of Trade's quotas can import these products. The tariff preferences are being applied under the agreement signed on July 28, 2005, between the Vietnamese and Lao ministries of trade for commodities eligible for preferential import tax rates. The agreement also lists items excluded from preferential import tax rates and those entitled to a 50 percent reduction in import tax.

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Most turn blind eye to tax cheaters

2007-01-15T02:55:00.000-08:00

OTTAWA -- Canadians who cheat on their taxes have little to fear from friends and neighbours who know about their wayward behaviour. The majority of Canadians would not turn a fellow citizen in for cheating on their taxes, reveals a poll commissioned by the federal government. Many of those who would report tax cheating say they would only do so if they were guaranteed anonymity and if a large amount of money was involved, according to a survey conducted for the Canada Revenue Agency. "Canadians are ambivalent about whether or not they would report tax cheating by someone they know to the authorities," says the report, which was conducted by Environics Research Group. "Even if they know for certain that someone is cheating on their taxes, a majority say they would not report this to the authorities, compared to about four in 10 who would do so." About sixty per cent of Canadians say they would definitely not or likely not turn someone they suspect is cheating on his or her taxes, according to the survey.

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Tax Season Begins As IRS Starts Accepting 2006 E-Returns

2007-01-13T02:42:00.000-08:00

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has begun accepting electronic submissions of tax returns from 2006. Known as "E-Filing," IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson says, "E-file is fastest, safest and most accurate way to file a tax return. People will get their refunds faster through e-file. E-file greatly reduces the chances for making an error compared to filing a paper 1040." According to the IRS, e-file surpassed a record in 2006 when more than 73 million tax returns, almost 54 percent of all returns, were filed electronically. Taxpayers who use IRS e-file and who choose direct deposit can receive their refund in half the time. Proponents of the new digital system say that encryption makes filing online safer and more accurate.

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Late tax break revival shouldn't have big impact

2007-01-11T02:44:00.000-08:00

The IRS printed forms before the last-minute changes, but electronic processing will avoid that issue. BY JERRY SIEBENMARK The Wichita Eagle Changes to federal tax rules last month could affect the processing of some businesses tax returns this year. But because so many returns are now being filed electronically, tax break extensions included in the federal Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 should minimize the impact. The act, signed into law in late December, included a number of business tax breaks that were set to expire but were revived. Trouble is, the federal tax forms were printed before those breaks were approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush. The IRS said the late changes will have the greatest impact on individual filers but an "even smaller number of business taxpayers." The biggest effect on business taxpayers will be slower processing of their returns in January and early February, the IRS said.

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Tax exemptions to go, says PM

2007-01-09T03:12:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: The coldest day in the capital this winter on Monday brought a chilling message — all tax exemptions could be pruned. Ahead of the Budget, speaking at the Ficci AGM, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set the alarm bells ringing when he said: "In the long run, our tax regime should not have too many exemptions which make tax administration an unnecessarily complex exercise vulnerable to misuse." But the good news is exemptions available for individuals are not likely to be axed in this Budget; the focus is likely to be on exemptions for the corporate sector. But if the trend is established, it's a question of time before individual exemptions too — like the ones on home loans, investment in public provident funds, post office savings schemes and insurance — will face the heat.

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Corzine talk to push tax reform

2007-01-07T02:52:00.000-08:00

TRENTON — Gov. Jon S. Corzine will try to spur action to rein in property taxes Tuesday when he delivers his first State of the State speech. While governors often use their annual addresses to pitch new initiatives, Corzine's speech is expected to focus on renewing efforts that bogged down late last year. "He will take stock of where we are and indicate that we have some unfinished business," said Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr., D-Camden. With legislative elections looming in November, when all 120 Senate and Assembly seats will be decided, and property taxes consistently named New Jerseyans' top concern, the political stakes could hardly be higher for the state's ruling Democrats. Corzine, Roberts and Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, said last week they have broad agreement on several key proposals, including a 20 percent property-tax credit for most homeowners, a 4 percent cap on annual property tax increases, increased oversight of school spending, and efficiencies in local government.

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China's tax collections rise 22 per cent

2007-01-03T02:57:00.000-08:00

The Chinese government has revealed that its tax collections have risen by 22 per cent in 2006, an increase over the 20 per cent it collected in 2005. According to the Chinese 'state administration of taxation', tax revenues totalled 3.8 billion yuan ($480 billion / Rs213,5520 crore). As China's economy grows rapidly — it grew by 10 per cent in 2006, on the back of an export boom — the country has been strengthening its efforts to improve tax collections from private enterprises. In November 2006, China's trade surplus rose to a record $22.9 billion, taking the year's total surplus to an all-time high $156.52 billion dwarfing the $102 billion for the whole of 2005. (See: China's trade surplus hits $157 billion; November surplus at record $22.9 billion) This export growth has also strained relations with the EU and the US, which accuse China of keeping the yuan undervalued to make its products artificially cheap in international markets.

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Mystery billionaire pays $200m in back tax - and keeps a state ...

2006-12-30T02:52:00.000-08:00

Feeling nervous about your end-of-year tax bill? Already suffering from bouts of loathing towards Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then consolation can be found in California, where a mysterious “Taxpayer X” has just come clean about his income and handed over $200 million in unpaid taxes — almost single-handedly eliminating the revenue shortfall of the state. The tax payment is so large that it would pay the annual budget of California’s National Guard three times over. And it will close the gap between the state’s projected and actual revenues from $250 million to $47 million. This will put the finances of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the State Governor, back on track — a New Year gift to compensate perhaps for the leg that he broke while skiing during the holidays.

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Charities have trouble advertising tax credit

2006-12-26T02:54:00.000-08:00

PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona charities are struggling to get the word out about a state tax credit that is similar to the one for school donations.The ''helping the working poor'' tax credit offers the same dollar-for-dollar return to Arizona taxpayers as the school tax credit. But it's more complex, and nonprofit organizations say they have neither the time nor the resources to publicize it aggressively. ''We don't have that capability,'' said Janice Parker, executive director of the Mesa-based Save the Family Foundation of Arizona, which assists families with emergency expenses such as child care so that a household's wage earners can stay on the job.''We're too busy trying to help the population we're working with.'' .

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MP's tax info leaked online

2006-12-17T02:52:00.000-08:00

TORONTO -- The confidential tax information of Liberal MP Ken Dryden and several sports personalities is available on the Internet courtesy of federal employees who are illegally leaking the information. Canada Revenue Agency workers are violating the Income Tax Act, the Privacy Act, and possibly criminal law by feeding information to former employee Alan Baggett, who in turn posts the disclosures to an Internet chat group. "He quotes a guy I used to work with on one of my teams," an employee of the Toronto North Taxation Services Office said on condition of anonymity. "I went up to (the employee quoted) and said, 'You're feeding this stuff to Alan Baggett?' and he said, 'Oh, I really don't talk to him any more.' " Baggett's chat group postings are highly critical of the workings of the federal agency, which collects billions in taxpayer dollars, and often reveal confidential tax information gleaned from the files of debt collectors.

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Tax cuts revived in La. Senate committee

2006-12-15T02:48:00.000-08:00

BATON ROUGE, La. -- A state Senate committee went on a tax break binge on Thursday, moving to create a weeklong "sales tax holiday," give parents a $125 tax credit and create tax cuts for businesses, as a legislative session wound through its final days. It's unclear how much of the proposed tax relief will get enough support to make it through the full Legislature, as some lawmakers wonder whether the state can afford to lose the hundreds of millions of dollars in sales tax revenue. The bills move to the Senate floor for debate, then will need approval from the House. Rep. Taylor Townsend, sponsor of a business tax break bill, predicted that lawmakers will probably argue over and change the measures further. He questioned whether the state could afford all the cuts in tax revenue _ what he estimated would be a $455 million reduction.

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US to give tax relief for 'phantom' gains

2006-12-13T02:57:00.000-08:00

US President George W. Bush is expected to sign into law by next week a bill that will give relief to employees who were taxed on "phantom" share options gains they never received. The enactment of the legislation will allow refunds to be claimed from January by employees at companies such as Cisco and Intel that paid tax on the paper value of share options that later lost much of their value. The legislation will give relief to many of the employees hit hardest when the technology bubble burst. The bill reforms a tax on incentive on stock options that was designed to encourage long-term share ownership by employees, but exposed them to huge financial risk by taxing the theoretical gains they made when the stock was purchased, not when it was sold.

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MCD budget sans new tax proposals

2006-12-09T03:03:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: Municipal Commissioner A.K. Nigam on Friday presented the Budget Estimates for 2007-2008 promising to implement major development projects in the Capital related to modernised parking, community halls, modernisation of hospitals, garbage collection and road construction. He announced more cash incentives for girl students besides increasing the fund allocation to education and health sectors. The Budget Estimates also laid emphasis on carrying out various projects and improving several facilities in view of the Commonwealth Games 2010. This includes a Rs.4,455-crore action plan under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and another Rs.76-crore plan for various development activities. Stating that the MCD would augment its existing financial resources without burdening the citizens of Delhi with new taxes, Mr.

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National will oppose tax bill

2006-12-07T02:59:00.000-08:00

The National Party has decided to vote against a bill which introduces a new tax on portfolio investments in offshore companies. The Government changed the way the tax will apply after business sector protests, and it is now on the basis of a 5 per cent fair dividend rate. But National's revenue spokesman Lockwood Smith said today the system was inconsistent and complex. He said Finance Minister Michael Cullen had claimed the new tax was not intended to tax capital gains, but it clearly did. "The so-called fair dividend rate is not fair at all," he said. "The complexity of complying with this legislation, and the fear of IRD-imposed penalties should taxpayers get it wrong, will result in many individuals simply applying the maximum 5 per cent rate to their foreign share investements.

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Shifting your tax assessments

2006-12-03T02:56:00.000-08:00

Section 127 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, confers power on the tax department to transfer the cases of an assessee at the discretion of the competent authority when it is felt necessary to do so in the interests of the revenue and for proper assessment of tax and collection thereof. The discretion is not guided or controlled by the provisions of section 124. Section 124 is a provision defining the jurisdiction in normal circumstances, whereas section 127 can be attracted only when it is felt by the commissioner or the Central Board of Direct Taxes or the competent authority that it is proper or appropriate to exercise power under the provisions of the Act. .

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Thaksin's children to fight against tax evasion charges

2006-11-27T03:06:00.000-08:00

Thailand's ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's two children will fight allegations of tax evasion all the way to the Supreme Court, the Shinawatra family's legal adviser said on Sunday. Thaksin's son Panthongtae Shinawatra and elder daughter Pinthongta Shinawatra have been accused of tax irregularities in the January's sale of Shin Corp shares to Temasek Holdings of Singapore. But the family's lawyer Noppadon Pattama said both Panthongtae and Pinthongta were ready to go all the way to the Supreme Court to prove their innocence. Their legal representatives have met with Revenue Department officials last week to discuss the filing of documents related to the share sale, Noppadon said. Meanwhile, Noppadon accused Revenue Department director-general Sirot Sawadpanish of contradicting himself and making statements prejudicial to the Shinawatra case.

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