Taxes Will Rise in 2013
Although the fiscal cliff has been averted, there was a consequence to it that will make many unhappy: Americans are projected to pay higher taxes in 2013.
From the information and facts taken from the Tax Policy Center, about 77% of American households will be paying higher federal income taxes for this year. The hike will mostly be in payroll tax.
According to Roberton Williams, an economist at the Tax Policy Center, only less than 2% of all tax units will see an increase in taxes in the year 2013.
If you are making over $400,000 in a single year, on your own, or if you’re part of a family that rakes in over $450,000 than the tax rate on your last dollars of income will go up about 5 percentage points.
All workers across the nation will definitely see an increase in taxes this year. Congress had let the payroll tax cut expire right before the calendar rolled into 2013, meaning that for every $100 you make this year, $2 will be taken away by taxes, compared to last year.
There was quite a debate over taxes, as it played a critical part in this past year’s presidential election. President Obama stayed true to what he said in raising taxes for the wealthy. President Obama’s decision is still more or less controversial because there are some that believe the wealthy shouldn’t bear the responsibility of paying more taxes because they have more money. Regardless of whether it’s fair or not, workers will still have to pay more taxes this year.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax Tags: corporate tax, federal income tax, federal tax, income tax, tax law, tax the rich
Woman in Cordele Indicted for Identity Theft
A woman from the city of Cordele was indicted this past Thursday by a federal grand jury for her crime of stealing people’s identities. From reports of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Kimberly Michelle Banks was charged for using stolen identities and making false federal income tax returns.
Banks was charged with aggravated identity theft and wire fraud through a 6 count indictment. Federal prosecutors believed that she had used stolen identities to prepare false tax returns, and submitted them electronically to the IRS for refunds, knowing full well that they were fraudulent.
This particular case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Alexander R. Effendi and Justin K. Gelfand. Both work under the Justice Department’s Tax Division. In addition, Michael Soli of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia will also be on the case. The investigation of this case was done in part with the help of the IRS, as they aggressively seek out tax cheats and identity thieves on a daily basis.
There are many cases of identity theft that have been happening, and they will continue to happen as long as individuals are careless in protecting their personal information. These criminals can use it to make fraud federal income tax returns and more. Even if you don’t think that you are being careless with your information, you should still take extra precaution with your personal information. There are many identity thefts that are caught, but there are some that slip by, and will walk away with thousands of dollars of your hard earned cash.
Categories: Tax Law Tags: identity theft, tax law
Bill in Consideration Will Allow Government to Fire Federal Tax Cheats
There has been a legislation that was reintroduced this week by a House lawmaker that will allow the government to fire federal employees that do not pay their taxes.
This same legislation was passed by the house this past summer in a bipartisan vote; however, the legislation died in the Senate. Representative Jason Chaffetz brought life to the bill and guided it through the House during the 112th Congress.
The legislation presented would be applicable to executive and legislative branch workers, in addition to those working at the Postal Service who fail to pay taxes or haven’t settled on an agreement with the government to repay their debt. This same bill will also prevent the government from hiring people with severe tax debt. Severe tax debt is defined as an outstanding debt to the federal government where a public lien had needed to be filed. Currently, Internal Revenue Service employees are the only ones that will be fired for failing to keep up with their taxes.
Chaffetz mentioned on the debate room floor that the employees who are willing to make an effort to pay back the taxes will not get fired. Looking at a report from the IRS, there have been more than 98,000 federal employees that owed over $1 billion in unpaid federal income taxes in the year 2010. In addition, retired civilians had a tax debt of about $470 million, and over 83,000 military veterans had owed close to $1.6 billion in unpaid taxes in the year 2010.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, Tax Evasion, Tax Law Tags: federal income tax, federal tax, federal tax fraud, tax cheats, tax evasion, tax law