The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was designed to get the economy moving again by getting people to spend money. It’s off to a slow start, because most of what the plan calls for is new spending: new infrastructure projects, new subsidies for alternative fuels, new educational stimulus money, and more local handouts. But there’s already a “stimulus” plan in place that can handle all that, and more! Continue reading “Is The Federal Earned Income Tax Credit a Good Avenue for Stimulus Payments?”
2008 Tax Return Conundrum: With Funding Dropping, How Will Feds Pick up the Slack?
2008 tax return numbers just aren’t looking good for the government. Year over year revenue has dropped catastrophically, even as spending is up. So how are they making up the shortfall? There’s been some tentative talk of cost-cutting and income tax hikes, but there are some unusual plans that are also in the works:
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Easy Tax Returns: Is the 1040-EZ as easy as can be?
Some of the earliest examples of writing historians have discovered include records of tax payments. Let’s not forget, complaints that taxes are too complex are nearly as old.
Tax authorities have always tried to strike a balance between a simple tax code and a tax code that rewards behaviors they’d like to encourage. The most effective way to do that? Give different taxpayers different ways to file — big corporations like GE may file a 40,000-page tax return, while an individual might file a 1040-EZ. But are these “easy” tax returns easy enough?
Continue reading “Easy Tax Returns: Is the 1040-EZ as easy as can be?”
