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
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
New York businesses tax liens in IRS around 70,000
According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) database, several businesses in New York owe a staggering total of $92.3 million worth of tax liens. These open liens have been around for several years, and it looks like the Internal Revenue System is almost never going to get that money back. A lien, in terms of law, is a public notice attached to property or businesses, letting the world know that you owe some money to a creditor.
At the current economic situation, a lien is almost a necessity in order to get assurance that a debt will be paid. Some of the companies that are under the radar of the IRS include big ticket names such as the Pan Am Airlines, owing it around $12.7 million.
The liens range from the biggest debt to be $92.3 million by a Manhattan company named Knatten Inc., to the smallest amount owed by the Expo Design Center in Ozone Park, which is a mere 15 cents. Some of the companies insist that they have already settled their dues to the IRS. This includes a former touring company of a country singer, which owes $150,115.85. Another is a New York fashion designer who even styled the First Lady Michelle Obama, who owes $67,883.
Some of the businesses that still owes the IRS have closed out, some are even dissolved, like Cynthia Rowley Inc., which still has an open lien amounting to $64,245 as stated in the records.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, Tax Evasion, Tax Law Tags: corporate tax, federal income tax, federal tax, federal tax fraud, income tax, tax code, tax evasion, tax fraud, tax law