Crash Survival Zone

The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government has issued a State Revenue Flash Report discussing an across the board enormous drop in personal income tax revenues.

Total personal income tax collections in January-April 2009 were 26 percent, or about $28.8 billion below the level of a year ago in states for which we have data. In [...]

Millions of Americans enjoying their small windfall from President Barack Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit are in for an unpleasant surprise next spring.

The government is going to want some of that money back.

The tax credit is supposed to provide up to $400 to individuals and $800 to married couples as part of the massive [...]

Instead of having a Boston Tea party in your kitchen, check out the Homeowner’s Property Tax Reduction Kit (PDF, 1.4 MB). It’s got ways for you to check your assessment, identify errors, and how to appeal it. A state-by-state guide gives you the breakdown and specific laws for where you live.

…more…

Consumerist

By James Saft

Want to help fund the bank bailout, ease California’s budget crisis and shore up strained U.S. finances? Legalize drugs, tax the trade and save on interdiction, domestic enforcement and the prison and court system.
I’m only partly joking.

It won’t solve all of the U.S.’s problems and lord knows will cause some new ones, but [...]

President Barack Obama ordered the U.S. Treasury on Saturday to implement tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans, fulfilling a campaign pledge he hopes will help jolt the economy out of recession.

The tax cuts are part of a $787 billion economic recovery plan passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress over Republican opposition. The aim is to [...]

Federal tax-filing requirements have become so complex that they eat up 7.6 billion work hours a year, making the overall compliance effort equivalent to one of the nation’s largest industries, a new federal report found.

Annual preparation of Form 1040, filed by most individual taxpayers, alone consumes 3.6 billion hours, or an average of 26 hours [...]

The IRS unveiled a series of initiatives Tuesday aimed at helping people who can’t pay their taxes because they’re unemployed or experiencing other financial hardships.

As the economic downturn worsens, the IRS expects to see an increase in delinquencies among taxpayers who have ordinarily paid taxes on time, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. Steps the IRS [...]