The Federal tax refunds are running behind
Tax refunds are supposed to be coming soon, and everybody obviously enjoys those wonderful little checks. However, this tax season isn’t going as planned since the amount of tax refunds is lagging.
The IRS isn’t exactly showcasing any numbers on how many federal tax refunds have been issued so far this tax season, but we know that refunds have gotten off to a bumpy start so far.
The stars simply aligned perfectly for a lag in federal tax refunds. There was a late launch to the start of the filing season, as it started on January 30, which is 8 days off of the normal start date. This happened because of a last minute, fiscal cliff tax change that got the green light by Congress. There was also the inability of taxpayers to file for credits until early March, in addition to the time-consuming analysis of tax returns. This was due to the IRS trying to improve on their efforts to filter out identity theft and tax refund fraud.
Even big companies like Wal-Mart are feeling the late start to the tax refunds. This time last year, Wal-Mart cashed out about $3 billion worth of checks that were related to tax refunds. Currently, that amount is just $1.7 billion.
Tax professionals have noticed many disappointed tax filers who can’t file their taxes yet or whose refunds are taking longer than usual to arrive. The process of the tax refunds is picking up a bit, but it still isn’t back to normal.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, State Tax Tags: federal income tax, federal tax refund, income tax, tax, tax credits, tax refund
Federal tax credits may save Hotel Syracuse
The Hotel Syracuse has been closed for about nine years now. There have been various attempts at reviving the hotel over the past years, but all of the attempts have failed; however, there may be a way to do it after all.
Senator Charles Schumer stated that the fight to hang on to the Federal New Market Tax Credits, which is part of the deal to head off the fiscal cliff crisis, may play an important role in turning things around for Hotel Syracuse.
$75 million of New Market Tax Credits to CenterState CEO will need to be delivered by the Department of the Treasury. The CenterState CEO will then need to use that funding to help financially aid the development projects within that region. This includes a hefty $10 million for the most important of the projects: Hotel Syracuse. In short, federal tax credits just might help revive Hotel Syracuse. The local leaders are stating that the $10 million will help in forming a new attempt to bringing the hotel back out of the ashes.
There is a particular project that has been delayed for a while, consisting of building a new hotel on a parking lot site right across the convention center. Local leaders had stated that a revival of Hotel Syracuse would erase the need for that long delayed project. There is not big downtown hotel, and if federal tax credits indeed do save Hotel Syracuse it can be that big downtown hotel.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, State Tax Tags: federal tax, federal tax credits, income tax, state tax, tax, tax credits
Former Chicago Bears player pleads guilty to Federal tax charges
A former Chicago Bears player named Chris Zorich pleaded guilty to federal tax charges, as he admitted to the judge that he did not file his taxes as he was supposed to, on time.
Zorich, 43, faces four misdemeanor counts of not filing his federal income tax returns from the period of 2006 to 2009. During that time, he supposedly had made over $1 million, which included income from a charity that he had started himself.
The judge of the trial for Zorich asked him if he knew that it was wrong to not file the tax returns. Zorich responded that he knew that it was indeed a wrong act to commit, but he didn’t provide any reason as to why he went along with it anyway. Zorich’s attorney had stated that Zorich was very much looking forward to putting the case far behind him, and moving on.
Zorich is a Chicago native and played on the 1988 Notre Dame team that won the national championship. He also had played for the Chicago Bears from 1991 to 1996, ending his career with the Washington Redskins back in 1997.
The former Chicago Bears NFL player is looking at a payment of $71,000 in back taxes as a part of his plea agreement with the judge. His sentencing will be done on July 12. Each count for Zorich carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison, and also a $100,000 fine.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, State Tax, Tax Evasion, Tax Law Tags: celebrity tax evasion, federal tax, income tax, tax evasion, tax fraud, tax law