Tax Tips & News: regulations

Same-Sex Couples Face Tax Hurdles

3 minutes read

This past June, New York became the 6th state to legalize same sex marriage. Regardless of ones individual beliefs concerning same-sex marriage, this much is clear: Tax laws–which are already complex & confusing–are that much more baffling for same-sex couples. This is mainly due to the fact that the Federal Government does not recognize same-sex unions. Same-sex couples must file separate federal returns, however they can file jointly in New York State and some other states that recognize...

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Jackson Hewitt Loses RAL Funding

4 minutes read

Jaskson Hewitt–the 2nd largest tax preparation business behind H&R Block–has lost over 50% of their Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) funding for the 2010 tax season.  Due to regulatory crackdowns, the bank that funded Jackson Hewitt’s RAL program–Pacific Capital Bankcorp Inc.–was blocked by the Office of the Comptroller, and ordered to leave the RAL business.

“It’s potentially disastrous for Jackson Hewitt,” said Vishnu Lekraj, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. “If they lose the ability to provide...

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“Death Tax” Expires, Extra Tax Planning Required

7 minutes read

The only certainties in life are Death & Taxes as the old saying goes.  But thanks to the inaction of Congress, wealthy taxpayers have one less tax to pay in 2010.  On the surface this should be a good thing, but unfortunately, it’s not that simple…

Tax planners across the country were certain that Congress would extend the Estate Tax–also known as the “Death Tax”–which was set to expire this year. The House acted, but the Senate did not. So for the first time since 1916 there is no estate tax,...

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H&R Block CEO Encourages Stifling of Competition

3 minutes read

Ahhh H&R Block.  You really are the McDonalds of income tax preparation.  It’s like I always say, if you wan’t a good burger, you don’t go to McDonalds.  Sure, it tastes good going down, but you’ll be sorry later…

Here’s H&R Block big wig Russ Smyth being interviewed about why he favors the new tax preparer regulations.  One of his answers: Because it will drive smaller Mom & Pop industries out of business.  He then quickly followed up that statement with “H&R Block encourages competition..,”

Well,...

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Taxpayer Advocate Scolds IRS

3 minutes read

In the wake of the newly imposed regulations governing paid tax preparers, Nina E. Olson of the office of The National Taxpayer Advocate–an IRS watchdog–issued a report faulting the IRS on collecting delinquent taxes. She called it “…an astonishing lack of transparency as to what is included in these revenue figures and how they are computed,”. After the IRS reported $118 Billion in collected delinquent taxes, the figure turned out to be more like $86 Billion. This 27% difference was...

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