Interesting tax expenditure example

The analysis to California proposal SB 508 includes an interesting observation about tax expenditures that I had not heard before. Here is i...

Greater transparency proposals for California budgeting - SB 14, SB 15 and SB 503

Two bills introduced in December 2010 to modify California budget processes will be the subject of a hearing in the Senate Governance and Fi...

Sales Tax Exemptions - outdated and inequitable

An editorial in The State (South Carolina) on March 27, 2011 - "Overhaul broken tax system" points out problems with the numerou...

Tax reform and small business

There have been a few hearings this year in both Senate and the House on tax reform. For one of them, I submitted testimony for the written ...

The Journey to a Lower Corporate Tax Rate

There have been a few congressional hearings, a comment by President Obama in his state-of-the-union address and a few other activities focu...

Higher Ed Subsidies - The Need for Brighter Light (transparency) on Tax Expenditures

I have seen a few stories about funding problems and possible reductions in funding of Pell grants that provide funds for low-income colle...

CA Film Credits Hearing on March 21, 2011

The California Assembly Revenue & Taxation Committee is holding a joint oversight hearing on the Film and Television Tax Credit Program...

California likely to get use tax look up table - SB 86 and AB 110

In California, SB 86 and AB 110, that are moving along, having passed in Assembly and Senate. One of the provisions in this legislation is ...

Tax reform - should all businesses be taxed the same?

Today's Wall Street Journal includes an article, " Tax Plan Aims for 25% Cap " by John D. McKinnon . It notes that House Ways...

1099s - manageable for small businesses?

The New York Times article - "Why the New 1099 Rules Aren ’t That Bad for Small Businesses" by Robb Mandelbaum (3/14/11) suggest...

IRS FAQs - Modern Guidance or Risky Stuff?

I have written on this before -" How Heavy is an FAQ " in the AICPA Tax Insider (11/11/10). The IRS has been making significant ...

The Competent Tax Return Preparer

I've been intrigued by a few aspects of the new IRS system to regulate all paid return preparers. In particular, what types of questions...

Illinois Governor Quinn's Request for 21st Century Tax Code - First, the Commission

On 2/16/11, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn delivered his budget speech to the legislature . He said he would form a commission to write a new ...

AB 153 letter to editor - Mercury News

Thanks to the Mercury News for printing my letter to the editor opposing their editorial supporting the AB 153 approach to solving the onli...

More on California AB 153 - so-called "Amazon law"

The San Jose Mercury News has an editorial in today's paper supporting AB 153, saying it "closes the loophole on Internet sales ta...

Federal Income Tax and Same-Sex Married Couples and RDPs

In 2010, the IRS issued new, but informal, guidance on how Registered Domestic Partners in California, Nevada and Washington, and same-sex c...

GAO Report on Duplicative Government Programs Including Tax Expenditures

The GAO released a 300+ page report this week - Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and ...

Senate Finance Committee Continues with Tax Reform Hearings

On March 8, the Senate Finance Committee will hold another hearing on tax reform. This one is entitled - "Does the Tax System Support E...

Bill Gates Commentary on State Budgets

The Wall Street Journal of 3/3/11 had an article -"Gates Calls for 'Clear and Honest' Accounting of State Budgets" by Rob...

Paying for Repeal of Revenue Raisers + A Peek Into Complexity of Section 36B

In 2010, Congress twice expanded 1099 reporting requirements. I think the primary reason for doing so is that the revenue estimates for both...

Is the Quill decision a loophole?

I just saw two references to the effect of the 1992 Quill decision being a loophole. For example, see the Stand With Main Street website ( ...

Collecting Use Tax in California

I'm always surprised when people ask "what's a use tax?" For several years, in California and many other states, there has...