51 Million, Mostly Lower-Income, will do WORSE Under New Tax Law

According to Consumer Reports.org, the new tax bill passed by Congress last week will actually take more money from paychecks of individuals making less than $20,000 and households making less than $40,000. How is that possible? Read on to find out:

That's because the Making Work Pay credit, a temporary tax credit that's been in effect for the past two years, is going away as of January 1. That credit provides up to $400 per individual, $800 per household, for all eligible workers. And it adds more to the pockets of households making between $20,000 and $40,000 than the new, 2-percent drop in the Social Security payroll tax.

Why is the payroll-tax cut not as beneficial to those workers? Because at lower income levels, a 2-percent decline doesn't add up to much.The Tax Policy Center, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization, estimates that 51 million households, including many making $40,000 or less, would do worse under the new law. (On the Tax Policy Center's table illustrating that point, see the fourth column from the right, in the row labeled "All," for the total number of households benefiting more from Making Work Pay than from the Social Security payroll tax cut; the number is in thousands, so add three zeros to it.)

With the Making Work Pay tax credit, individuals between $6,452 and $75,000, have been eligible for up to $400 a year. Couples making between $12,903 and $150,000 have received up to $800. But, as Roberton Williams, a senior fellow with the Tax Policy Center, points out, the 2-percent drop in the payroll tax doesn't yield $400 until a worker makes $20,000. So workers making less won't get as much under the new system.

To confirm the TPC's assertions, I checked with both Barbara Weltman, a tax attorney and author of J.K. Lasser's 1001 Deductions and Tax Breaks, and John W. Roth, a senior tax analyst with CCH Wolters Kluwer, publisher of tax information and software. Both agreed with the TPC's assertion. "The net will be a negative for the lower working class," Roth said.

Read more here

2012 Hopefuls Challenged by Tax Deal

This story from Politico.com just shows you how messed up our current political system is. Republicans fear backlash after they worked with the president on a tax compromise. Should working together really be considered a political liability?

From Politico.com:

For a host of Republican presidential hopefuls, the White House-backed compromise to extend the Bush tax cuts presents an unlikely dilemma: How to agree with President Barack Obama.

That unfamiliar struggle unfolded Tuesday on the Senate floor, in media interviews and on newspaper op-ed pages, as the potential candidates sought to play the angles, with some taking bright-line positions in opposition and others hedging their bets with statements notable for their caution.

On the surface, the deal currently making its way through Congress gives GOP leaders much of what they wanted from the lame-duck negotiation: it keeps most 2001 tax rates in place while suspending Social Security payroll taxes and extending jobless benefits for unemployed Americans.

It's a proposal backed by the Republican leadership in both chambers of Congress and counts even Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the small-government conservative hero, among its supporters.

Continue reading at Politico.com...

Tax Deal Fuels New-Home Sales

According to the Wall Street Journal, sales of homes soared last month with buyers rushing to take advantage of the expiring federal tax credit. On Wednesday the Commerce Department announced that sales of “new single-family homes rose 14.8% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 504,000.”

Demand for new homes had also surged in March, when sales climbed 29.9% from the prior month. Sales in April were 47.8% higher than a year earlier.

The recent surge was likely the result of expiring government incentives, which provided an $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers and a $6,500 credit for repeat homeowners. Contracts for those homes had to be signed by April 30. Buyers have to complete purchases by June 30.

The housing market is stabilizing after both sales and prices plummeted during the recession. Sales of existing homes, a far bigger number than newly built homes, jumped 7.6% in April, the National Association of Realtors said earlier this week.

Construction of new homes also is picking up. Starts for single-family homes rose 10.2% in April from March, the fourth-straight monthly rise, Commerce said earlier this month.

Continue reading at WJS.com…

Swiss, U.S. Seen Needing Time to Ink UBS Tax Deal

The August 3^rd deadline for a settlement between Switzerland and the U.S. on the UBS case seems unlikely, according to several sources close to the case. Alibaba.com recently published a great article on the topic, explaining why a settlement is so hard to reach, and what the outcome is likely to be. You can read a segment of the story below.

Talks between Switzerland and the United States to end a tax row targeting UBS could stretch beyond an Aug. 3 deadline to allow more time for a detailed settlement, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday.

U.S. tax authorities are seeking to force Swiss wealth management giant UBS to disclose the identity of an estimated 52,000 U.S. holders of secret Swiss accounts suspected of dodging taxes even though this breaches Swiss bank secrecy laws.

A trial against UBS was scheduled to start in Miami on July 13 but presiding judge Alan Gold agreed to delay it until Aug. 3 to allow time for a settlement.

A status call between Gold and lawyers from UBS and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service on July 29 could be an opportunity for an announcement of a delay. A meeting between Swiss Finance Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also scheduled on July 31.

"I would not be surprised if during the July 29 call or at the weekend there may be another request for a delay," a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Many investors believe the judge will again postpone the trial as the tax talks are complex and working out a deal that without further weakening bank secrecy requires time.

"Nothing will happen on Wednesday. The parties will agree to postpone the deadline until September to reach an agreement," a Swiss-based trader told Reuters.

Two Swiss-based sources familiar with the situation said a deal was unlikely to come before July 29.

Swiss Seek U.S. Tax Deal Before UBS Case Continues

From Reuters.com:

A looming court case against Swiss bank UBS AG could prove a stumbling block to the United States and Switzerland clinching a tax agreement this week.

Switzerland, whose private banks manage around $2 trillion of foreign wealth, aims to secure 12 new bilateral tax deals by the end of 2009 which could allow it to be removed from an OECD "grey list" of states which need to improve tax cooperation and avoid possible sanctions from G20 nations.

It has already secured five agreements, with Denmark, Norway, France, Mexico and one other unnamed country, and plans to put the issue to a referendum. Talks between Swiss and U.S. officials restart in Washington on Tuesday.

Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz has asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to drop a tax evasion case against UBS in return for a new tax accord, which might struggle for ratification in Switzerland if the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) persists with its pursuit of the bank.

"We believe there has to be some kind of agreement before July 13 when the IRS and UBS are due to take part in a mini-trial," said analyst Teresa Nielsen at Vontobel, adding this could even come in an 11th hour deal on July 12.

IRS to Offer Deal to Tax Evaders

From The New York Times:

The Internal Revenue Service, under pressure to bring in money to the faltering economy, plans to give offshore tax evaders a big break.

The agency has drafted a plan that significantly lowers a penalty that applies to wealthy Americans who hide money overseas in secret accounts, a person briefed on the matter said Thursday. The plan is intended to lure out of hiding scores of wealthy people who must come forward and declare their accounts in order to take advantage of the lower penalty.

The plan was developed amid a widening investigation into wealthy American clients of UBS but will apply to clients of other banks as well.

Under the plan, according to the person briefed on the issue, the IRS will cut an onerous penalty for not filing a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Account, known as an FBAR — something offshore tax evaders have not done.

The current penalty is 50 percent of the high balance of each account over the last three years — an amount that can wipe out an investor’s accounts in just two years — but the I.R.S. will reduce that penalty to 5 percent to 20 percent, depending in part on whether the wealth was inherited.

The I.R.S. will also require taxpayers to pay any taxes and interest owed over the last six years, as well as assess a standard, accuracy-related penalty of 20 percent. Taxpayers must also file amended returns for the last six years.

The proposal, which the IRS is communicating to its field agents who audit returns, does not allow taxpayers to escape potential prosecution, but it makes that outcome less likely, in particular for those covered under the 5 percent FBAR penalty, this person said.

“They need to get money back into the system, so they needed to sweeten the deal,” the person said.

Transit Agencies May Get Help on Bad Tax Deals in Bailout

From the Wall Street Journal:

Public transit agencies may get relief from the federal government from soured tax shelter leasing deals, as part of the auto-industry bailout bill Congress is weighing this week.

A provision under discussion as part of the draft bill would spare transit agencies in major cities like Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles from having to pay millions in penalties to banks with whom they entered into the deals.

Under the tax shelter arrangements, transit agencies agreed to sell assets like train cars to financial institutions, and lease them back from the firms. The transit agencies received cash upfront, while the banks reaped tax depreciation benefits from owning the equipment.

However, many of the deals were insured by American International Group Inc. When AIG collapsed and its credit rating was downgraded, the transit agencies were in technical default of the leaseback agreements, triggering millions in penalties.

Washington's transit agency settled with Belgium's KBC Bank last month, in a case where the bank sought $43 million in penalties.

The final details of the auto bill were still under negotiation late Tuesday between congressional leaders and the White House. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), said he hopes the Senate can vote on the package Wednesday.

A provision in a draft version of the bill obtained by Dow Jones Newswires would have the federal government guarantee the obligations of the transit authorities. Transit agencies had lobbied Congress for that guarantee, because it would remove them from default in their leaseback arrangements.

The Treasury Department had already rebuffed a request from the transit community that it step in and guarantee the deals, according to people familiar with the discussions.