Tuesday, January 29, 2013
You can now start filing your tax returns for 2012.
It's tax time. From now through Monday, April 15, tax preparers will be busy sorting through W2 forms and other tax documents to get ready to meet one of Uncle Sam's most important deadlines each year. Starting Wednesday, you can file your 2012 tax returns. Some people will wait until near the deadline, especially if they owe the government money. Others will hold off doing their taxes if they do them on their own. It's a pain to get all those forms together and make sure that every line item is filled out correctly. So who prepares your taxes? Take our poll below.
Friday, January 11, 2013
The IRS has announced a delayed start to the 2012 tax filing season
You'll have to wait a bit if you are used to filing your annual tax return at the earliest possible date. The Internal Revenue Service has revised its opening date for tax season -- pushing it eight days to January 30, 2013. The tax filing deadline is Monday, April 15 The IRS will begin accepting tax returns on January 30, 2013. Most taxpayers should be able to file on that date though some revised forms may not be immediately available. You can blame the delay on the federal "fiscal cliff" crisis and the new tax bill Congress passed just after Dec. 31. You can find more information in this Forbes article. Electronic filing season was originally set to start on Jan. 22 this year. As a result of the delay, nobody will get a refund in …
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Most Americans will take home 2 percent less money this year due to a Social Security payroll tax increase.
Despite a fiscal cliff deal being reached, working Americans will see less money in their paychecks this year. A temporary reduction in the Social Security tax was not reinstated by the federal government, meaning our paychecks will shrink by 2 percent. “When Illinois changed their tax by 2 percent, people really didn’t notice it because Social Security taxes were lowered at the same time,” said accountant David Robbins with Nieminski Robbins and Associates Certified Public Accountants in South Barrington and Chicago. “Now the temporary lowering of the 2 percent is gone so people are going to see less take home pay.” Robbins explained that the first $113,000 of income is taxed under the Social Security payroll tax policy. This means that a…
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Congress is so focused on the fiscal cliff, the farm bill has yet to be renewed.
Come Jan. 1, there is a threat that milk prices could rise to $6 to $8 a gallon if Congress does not pass a new farm bill that amends farm policy dating back to the Truman presidency, reported the New York Times. If Congress does not renew the Farm Bill by Monday, Dec. 31, the milk price formula reverts back to 1949, reported CBS. On average, a gallon of milk costs $3.65, according to the dairy industry. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said without a farm bill renewal farmers will be in a hurry to sell to the government, creating a shortage in the stores. It is estimated the price of milk could go as high as $8, he told the Capital Press. If the farm bill is not renewed the government will be forced to buy milk at inflated prices, …
Sunday, December 30, 2012
President, Congress have just a few days to avert automatic tax increases and spending cuts.
On Thursday, Starbucks baristas from stores across the Washington, D.C. area wrote "come together" on all cups to encourage Congress and the President to come together to fix the fiscal cliff issue. For more information about this initiative, go to www.patch.com/fixthedebt. SAN RAMON, CA -- Congress and President Barack Obama are racing against the clock this week as they make one last attempt to hammer out a deal to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” the U.S. government is set to go over on New Year’s Day. Without a compromise deal to lower the deficit, the government will face a self-imposed deadline that triggers both spending cuts and higher taxes. Congress itself set the Jan. 1 deadline after failing to come to a budget compromise …
The financial deadline looms in Washington, with no deal yet made. Check this primer, and share your questions and thoughts.
With Christmas 2012 over, one reality check is that the looming "fiscal cliff" deadline is just a few days away. On Dec. 31, tax cuts dating to the George W. Bush presidential term are scheduled to expire, and President Obama and congressional leaders have not reached a compromise. Of course, that means tax bills would increase for many middle- and upper-class taxpayers. And that means paycheck withholding for many workers would change, leaving them with less take-home pay in the new year. Apparently, though, there will be no immediate change in withholding tables, while the situation is unresolved. According to John Tuzynski, the IRS’ chief of employment tax policy, employers should continue to use 2012 withholding tables and personal …
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
The Lehigh Valley has issued a statement on the so-called 'fiscal cliff' government crisis
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
In response to the current 2013 Government Spending Crisis (deceptively called the “fiscal cliff”), the Lehigh Valley Tea Party (LVTP) asks our Representatives and Senators, as a first step toward a solution to this crisis, to vote for legislation cutting the size and power of government. The federal government cuts should start with eliminating the wasteful cost of departments performing improper functions of government at the federal level. The first federal departments to be abolished with the control of these functions picked up by the states are: Education, Energy, Health & Human Services, Commerce, and the Environmental Protection Agency. These department eliminations will help to eradicate costly waste in addition to the abuse of …
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey says our economy will take a huge hit if lawmakers fail to act on the impending "fiscal cliff"
- OPINION
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The following opinion piece was submitted by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey: “[T]he vast majority of Democrats on Capitol Hill would prefer not to have to do anything on entitlements, would prefer, frankly, not to have to do anything on some of these debt and deficit problems. … And what I’ve tried to explain to them is, number one, if you look at the numbers, then Medicare, in particular, will run out of money, and we will not be able to sustain that program, no matter how much taxes go up. I mean, it’s not an option for us to just sit by and do nothing.”- President Barack Obama, July 11, 2011 I agree with President Obama. No matter how much we raise taxes, we cannot avoid a fiscal disaster unless we address the true drivers of our out-of-control …
Friday, November 30, 2012
President Obama visits Hatfield toy company as part of tour pushing extension of payroll tax cuts.
President Barack Obama visited a toy factory in Hatfield Township, Montgomery County on Friday, citing it as an example of the type of business that would suffer if Congress does not act soon to prevent the country from running over the "fiscal cliff," a series of tax increases and cuts in spending that are due to come into effect at the beginning of the new year. In remarks broadcast live on C-SPAN, Obama called Hatfield-based K'Nex, which makes kits of interlocking pieces that allow children to construct their own toys, "one of the few companies in the toy industry that has aggressively moved jobs back here [to the U.S. from overseas]," The President said middle-class consumers will have money "to buy more K'Nex" if Democratic and …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey tells Valley Chamber of Commerce that without reform, current federal deficit spending will lead to much more painful cuts.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey spoke to members of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce at a breakfast gathering Monday at DeSales University and neither the eggs nor the message was sunny side up. The Pennsylvania Republican and well-known deficit hawk addressed the so-called “fiscal cliff” the U.S. government is facing Jan. 1 if Congress and the Obama administration cannot make a deal to avert tax increases and spending cuts that will automatically kick in. But Toomey, whose family lives in Upper Milford Township, said that the across-the-board spending cuts slated for Jan. 1 look mild compared to future actions that will be needed if the nation doesn’t start shrinking the federal deficit and paying down the debt. The fiscal cliff would …
A. Taylor
3:24 pm on Monday, January 21, 2013
I have no idea what you are saying. It would be helpful if you used punctuation, and clearly stated your opinions, using facts and reliable sources to support them. Everything is not black and white for everyone, some people cannot simply open an interest-bearing checking account because it usually takes a large amount of money to keep them open. I know this, because I am an employee of a bank, … more ›