The Tax Preparation Blog

Archive for May, 2006

Question: What Kind Of Tax Dollars Go To Pay For Certain Structures?

Okay, well I have a questions and am trying to learn about how the govt system works. City sales tax, property tax, federal income tax, etc…… I am wondering so I am asking you guys for help. I need to know what kind of taxes are used to pay for the following structures?

1. city park?
2. army tent?
3. public school textbooks?
4. Street Lights?
5. police/fire training?
6. public school teachers salaries?
7. flood control?
8. free/reduced lunch programs?
9. public university tuition?
10. national park system?
11. strip shopping center?
12. infrastructure of a city?
13. county hospital/indigent care?
14. Local Charities?
15. City Animal Control?
16. cab service?
17. park & ride lots?
18. Public University tuition?
19. City Lake?

Answer: As posted the last time you posted this question, didn’t they already cover this in your class? They would not just throw this question at you without some idea first!

Do your own homework. Go read the textbook where they talked about the different type of taxes and what each does. Then use logic to figure out where each of these items falls.

IRS plans crackdown on tax preparers

WASHINGTON–The IRS plans to require tax preparers to pass a test and register with the government to better police a largely unregulated industry used by most taxpayers.

Ron Paul on the Federal Reserve and FEMA

Question: Anyone’s thoughts on Turbo tax?

I normally get a refund every year when I file with my accountant. Since I’ve moved away, I’ve tried using Turbo tax on my own. It was surprisingly easy however the refund I usually receive is substatially less? Not much has changed in salary, tax status or withholding. I did change employers however. Why the change?

Answer: There can be so many reasons for the change. Tax laws change, deductibility of certain expenses, amount withheld can very. Are you sure you are having the exact same amount withheld?

If you do it correctly, turbo will give you the same refund as your accountant. However, despite all its claims of glory, if the person using it isn’t that good with knowing deductions, they can be missed. Take a printout of the last yr your acct did it and compare it to the first yr you did it. Are there items missing on schedule A?

Did you remember medical miles? Charitable miles? Did you deduct your state income taxes paid from your federal return?

Top ten jobs that will get raises in 2010

If your line of work is in one of these areas, you may be looking at a decent salary and possibly a raise this year.

Is there still scope for structuring salary, considering tax provisions

China would make pilot moves to raise hydropower electricity prices in a bid to subsidize residents who made way for the power projects,according to Zhang Guobao, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission.

The commission is about to raise hydropower electricity prices to the same level as coal-fired power plants in a pilot move. But we did not know when the pilot move would be launched and in what regions. However, there are still difficulties to finally make such hydropower electricity prices the same as coal-fired power plants.

Electricity from hydropower plants is sold at 0.2 yuan (3 U.S. cents) to 0.3 yuan per kilowatt-hour to power distributors, and it is lower than 0.4 yuan to 0.5 yuan per kilowatt-hour for electricity from coal-fired power plants.

Such prices are based on operational costs of different power plants and a reasonable profit margin, when the commission set the prices. Compared with coal-fired power plants, hydropower plants usually require a larger sum of investment for the construction, but run at lower costs upon completion. In the end, prices of electricity from most hydropower plants are set lower than those from coal-fired plants.

Lower pricing for hydropower electricity has been criticized as the country’s hydropower projects expanded.

By the end of 2008, China’s installed capacity of hydropower facilities reached 170 million kilowatts, and the country’s hydropower plants generated 563.3 billion kilowatt-hours last year, according to the China Electricity Council, the industry association.

That means hydropower plants accounted for 21.6 percent of the country’s total installed capacity, and 16.4 percent of the total electricity output last year, only next to that of coal-fired power plants.

Currently, compensation for relocated residents has become the biggest obstacle to the development of hydropower plants in China. For instance, China had relocated 1.27 million people by the end of June to make way for the giant project of the Three Gorges Dam, initiated in 1993.

And the raising hydropower electricity prices to subsidize the relocated residents in regions where there are dire needs for such funds could be a possible plan for the commission

Corinthian Colleges Completes Acquisition of Heald College

Corinthian Colleges, Inc. has completed the acquisition of Heald Capital LLC, the parent company of Heald College. Â Heald is a regionally accredited institution that has been delivering quality, career-focused academic programs since 1863. Â Heald prepares students for careers in healthcare, business, legal, information technology and other growing fields, primarily through associate degree …

Speaker Bass Proposed Economic Commission Created

Question: Income Tax, Medicare and Social Security?

I am trying to calculate a ballpark for my taxes for this year by going to the IRS web page calculator. When the site asks me to enter the total Federal income tax withheld to date in 2008, I assume Medicare and Social Security withholdings are out of this equation; is this assumption correct or should I add Social Security and Medicare withheld amount the total Federal income tax? Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer: Correct. Medicare and Social Security deductions are NOT included in your tax.

18.5 Billion Reasons to Make the Home Buyer Tax Credit Work

RISMEDIA, January 4, 2010—As part of the government’s high price-tag efforts to rejuvenate the flailing American economy, on November 6, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law an expansion and extension of the home buyer tax credit. With housing at the…

Nearly One-Third of All Tax Filers Pay No Federal Income Tax

West Side heckler arrested

A West Side resident who heckled officers conducting a motor vehicle stop ended up in handcuffs after he flicked a cigarette at an officer and then fought with them, police said.

Liberty Tax Service New and Approve…