Wall Street Chiefs Defend Compensation At Firms

From NPRNews.com:

Wall Street executives said Wednesday they underestimated the severity of the 2008 financial crisis and apologized for risky behavior and poor decisions. They also defended their bonus and compensation practices to a skeptical commission investigating what caused the collapse.

Americans are furious and "have a right to be" about the hefty bonuses banks paid out after getting billions of dollars in federal help, the commission's chairman told chief executives of four major banks, all survivors of the deepest and longest recession since the Depression.

As the hearings opened before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, chairman Phil Angelides pledged "a full and fair inquiry into what brought our financial system to its knees."

The panel began its yearlong inquiry amid rising public fury over bailouts and bankers' pay.

'We Understand The Anger'

"We understand the anger felt by many citizens," said Brian Moynihan, chief executive and president of Bank of America. "We are grateful for the taxpayer assistance we have received."

With Bank of America having repaid its bailout money, he said "the vast majority of our employees played no role in the economic crisis" and do not deserve to be penalized with lower compensation. Moynihan said compensation levels will be higher next year than they were in 2008 — but not at levels before the financial meltdown.

Obama Tax Returns For 2008: See The Complete Filings

A few days ago, both Barack and Michelle Obama released their 2008 tax returns. The Huffington Post published an article examining their returns, and the amount of money they donated to charities. I’ve included a portion of the article below, but you can find the full text here.

When Barack Obama released his 2000-2006 tax filings during the height of the presidential campaign, he was criticized for slightly-less-than-biblically-required charitable giving.

In those years, Obama (serving as Illinois state senator, then U.S. Senator) never offered more than six percent of his income to charity. Twice he gave less than one percent of his earnings.

Fast forward a few years, and the Obamas' returns tell a different story -- both of a higher income bracket and a far higher rate of charitable giving.

The White House released the filings for both the President and the First Lady on Wednesday. Combined, the family brought in an adjusted gross income of $2,656,902, mostly from the sale of the President's books. The Obamas paid $855,323 in federal income tax. And they donated $172,050 - or about 6.5% of their adjusted gross income - to 37 different charities.

Here are the notable donations made

$25,000 to the Catholic Relief Services

$25,000 to the United Negro College Fund.

$5,000 to the American Red Cross

$5,000 to the Boys and Girls Club

$5,000 to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

$1,000 to Columbia University

$5,000 to the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity

$5,000 to St. Leo's Residence for Veterans

$2,000 to the Haiti Foundation of Hope

$5,000 to the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Noticeably absent from the charitable giving is the place where Obama sent $22,500 in 2006: his old church Trinity United.

One-Time Tax Credit Offered By IRS

From MSNBC.com:

There's a one-time tax credit available for people who didn't get a full economic stimulus payment in 2008. If your circumstances have changed making you newly eligible, the recovery rebate credit may be worth pursuing.

The IRS will figure what the credit will be for individual filers or you can do the figuring yourself. Among those who might be eligible are families who had an additional child last year, and people who didn't have a Social Security number in 2007, but obtained one last year.

Unlike the stimulus payments that were made by check or direct deposit, the credit adds to the amount of a tax refund, or decreases the amount of taxes owed. The maximum payment was $600 per taxpayer, or $1,200 for those married filing jointly.

10 "Green" Tax Credits and Deductions for '08 and '09

The Roni Deutch Tax Center® recently published a press release titled "Tax Lady" Educates Taxpayers on 10 "Green" Tax Credits and Deductions for '08 and '09 Tax Years, so I wanted to also make sure and share them with the readers of my blog. Check out the top 10 tips below!

• New Roof: Investing in a new roof can also give you up to $500 in tax credits.

• Solar Panels: You can receive huge tax breaks for installing a working solar panel system or photovoltaic system. Both receive a deduction for up to 30% of the total cost.

• Fuel Cells: There is a consumer tax credit for installing fuel cell and micro-turbine systems, as long as they meet the government's qualifications. The credit is for 30% of the total cost, up to $1,500 for each half kilowatt.

• Bio-Diesel: Similarly to hybrid vehicles, you can receive more federal benefits for having a bio-diesel vehicle than a hybrid, and some states even offer state tax breaks for bio-diesel powered cars.

• Energy Efficient Appliances: Appliances that meet "efficiency" qualifications can see deductions.

• Business Credits: You can get business tax credits for providing an eco-friendly work environment, hybrid vehicle company cars, or purchasing energy-saving appliances.

• Wind Energy: You can receive a 30% tax credit for the cost of a wind energy system once you have installed it.

• New Windows: Installing energy efficient windows can provide you with a tax credit of up to $200.

• Plug-in Hybrids: Effective January 1, 2009, there will be a huge new tax incentive for the first 250,000 plug-in hybrid vehicle buyers. Buyers will receive a credit from $2,500 to $7,500 for both cars and trucks following the plug-in hybrid standards.

IRS Begins Tax Season 2009 with Steps to Help Financially Distressed Taxpayers

According to their newest press release, the IRS has “kicked off the 2009 tax filing season by announcing a number of new steps to help financially distressed taxpayers maximize their refunds and speed payments while providing additional help to people struggling to meet their tax obligations.”

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman encouraged taxpayers to take advantage of several new tax credits and deductions this filing season and announced a major enhancement to the Free File program that will allow nearly all taxpayers to e-file for free and accelerate their refunds.

“With so many people facing financial difficulties, we want taxpayers to get all the tax credits they’re entitled to as quickly as they can,” Shulman said. “In addition, we are creating new protections to help people trying to meet their tax obligations. The IRS will do everything it can to help during these tough times.”

“We need to ensure that we balance our responsibility to enforce the law with the economic realities facing many American citizens today,” Shulman continued. “We want to go the extra mile to help taxpayers, especially those who’ve done the right thing in the past and are facing unusual hardships.”

On a wide range of situations, IRS employees have flexibility to work with struggling taxpayers to assist them with their situation. Depending on the circumstances, taxpayers in hardship situations may be able to adjust payments for back taxes, avoid defaulting on payment agreements or possibly defer collection action.