Airgas Exec angry about federal tax being ‘uneven’
Peter McCausland, the Executive Board Chairman of Airgas Inc., protests what he calls the ‘unfair’ federal law that makes his employees pay higher income taxes than the multi-million dollar private equity people. He goes to say that his employees, numbering more than 14,000, include everyone from managers to truck drivers, and that this unfair taxation is making them lose a lot of money.
The tax break was made in order to incentivize new businesses. However, McCausland defends what he says is a loophole in the law. “If a private-equity guy invests his own money, that should qualify for capital-gains treatment. But the income he gets from [investors’] money should be taxed like ordinary income.” At the moment, high-level business only get to pay a mere 15 percent of capital gains tax instead of paying the income and payroll taxes that employees have to suffer.
He voiced out his concern by writing a letter each to two United States Senators, namely Robert Casey, a democrat, and Pat Toomey, a republican. “If the private-equity people paid income taxes at ordinary rates, and if corporations paid taxes on foreign income, and if Amazon paid sales tax, the system would be more fair”, says McCausland. However, both Senators defended the law in their replies.
McCausland told reporters “Both the Republicans and the Democrats were reluctant to come out and say this is a loophole we ought to close… It’s a ridiculous position. It’s fundamentally unfair.”
Categories: Federal Tax, Tax Law Tags: federal tax, income tax, tax code, tax increase, tax reform
It Pays to Prepare: filing federal tax for 2013
According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), now is the perfect time to begin reviewing your federal income tax withholding rate so that you can avoid both big tax refunds and tax bills when you file your federal tax returns next year.
Every year, there are millions of citizens who have to wait for long processes of refunds simply because they have more taxes withheld than the actual required amount. This can prove to be a hassle since they will not be able to access their money immediately. On the other hand, a poorly calculated tax can also lead to having to pay additional taxes on the day of filing.
Jennifer Jenkins, spokesperson for Ohio IRS, said, quote, “By reviewing and adjusting your withholding rate, you are less likely to have to write out a big check in April to pay taxes due. That’s if your withholding is less than it should be. Or, if your withholding rate is too high, adjust it to put more money in your paycheck now. The timing couldn’t be much better for those who are looking ahead to holiday gift-giving season, cold weather heating bills, and end-of-year charitable donations”.
You can make adjustments and modifications to the number of your withholding allowances at any time. Simply check out the different forms available such as the W-4 form at the IRS website (irs.gov). There is also an IRS Withholding calculator to help you fill out your information properly.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax Tags: federal income tax, federal tax, filing taxes, income tax
Denver man failed to pay $2.5 million in taxes
With a debt of more than $2.5 million in employment taxes and making numerous false claims, a man from Denver now faces a hefty fine of up to $250,000, not to mention the jail time of up to 5 years per count of charge. The man, identified as Lucilious J. Ward was indicted last October 2 by a federal tax jury.
In a statement released by United States Attorney John Walsh, he says “Business owners who withhold their employees’ money for taxes, but steal those funds for their own use, are victimizing their employees and the United States.”
Ward, owner of the business named Global Access, was found to have willfully and knowingly did not truthfully account for the taxes he withheld from his employees salaries, amounting to $2,556,764. This was comprised of Social Security taxes, federal income taxes and MediCare taxes as well. He also fraudulently listed two false claims of federal income tax withholdings, one for $34, 168, and another for $76, 479, attempting to cheat the government of over $110,000 in IRS refunds.
Lilia Ruiz, the Acting Special Agent-in-charge for the Criminal Investigation of the IRS Denver field office, said, “Business owners who withhold and fail to remit employment tax withholdings are merely stealing from their employees and other Americans”.
Although innocent until proven guilty, Ward is still being charged with a total of 19 counts of failure to pay over tax, and another 2 counts of making false claims against the IRS.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, Tax Evasion, Tax Law Tags: avoiding taxes, federal income tax, federal tax, income tax, tax code, tax evasion, tax fraud