More Tax History on the Web - from Joint Committee on Taxation

Discussions of tax reform tend to become repetitive decade after decade. For example, there have been discussions from at least the early 1...

Sales Tax Holiday in Missouri (and elsewhere) - A Tax Oddity

I have written about this before and included it in my list of "tax oddities" - states offering "holidays" when sales ta...

Affiliate nexus, California and Amazon - the saga and oddities continue

A few unusual things have occurred since California enacted its "Amazon" - affiliate nexus law ( ABX 1 28; Chapter 7 ) at the end ...

VAT Hearing by House Ways & Means and Relevance for Tax Reform

A July 26 Ways and Means Committee hearing focused on consumption-based tax systems. Although there are a few different formulations for a c...

US Chamber of Commerce Seeks Tax Restructuring and Entitlement Reform

This month (August 2011), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (created by the debt...

Forbes post on "asking the right tax questions"

I am grateful to CPA and blogger Peter Reilly now blogging for Forbes in addition to his Passive Activities tax blog, for letting me be a gu...

PL 86-272, UDITPA and the CPA Exam

The CPA exam change getting the greatest attention is the addition of questions on International Financial Reporting Standards ( IFRS ). Bu...

California Property Taxes in the News

I found two interesting stories in the news this week about California's property tax and the famous "Prop 13." These stories...

Warren Buffett and Income Tax Progressivity

Warren Buffett is in the news this week for calling for increased income taxes on very high income individuals, such as himself ( New York T...

What is "tax reform"?

Senator Grassley sent a letter to President Obama on August 11 noting some differences in how he thinks President Obama defines "tax re...

Spending in the Tax Code - Needs to be addressed in deficit reduction

I've blogged on this several times, but it is back in the news, so I'll mention it again. There is and has been a need to reduce spe...

Payroll tax cut should expire as intended - we need to stop the tax cut addiction

In an August 5, 2011 speech, President Obama stated : "when Congress gets back in September, I want to move quickly on things that will...

Rhode Island, Vermont, accountability and unified economic development reports

Rhode island enacted SB 5894 ( Chapter 151 ) on June 30, 2011. This appropriations legislation adds some additional accountability measures ...

Debt ceiling and tax changes

The House passed a debt ceiling bill late August 1 ( amendment to S. 325) by a vote of 269-161.* The Senate if to vote on August 2. The word...