Category: News and Politics
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Tax provisions of the infrastructure bill
Why are we discussing this? The infrastructure bill passed the Senate this month with a strong majority support but is not yet law. What tax provisions are included? Cryptocurrency broker reporting is the hot topic. The bill also includes a longer tax filing extension after disasters. (This is important because we expect to see more natural…
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Is it political? Is delayed prosecution for financial fraud unethical?
Twenty plus years ago when I worked as an accountant for contractors documenting various types of financial fraud committed by the Trump organization for civil cases, the decision to not charge him criminally clearly was political. Civil courts in hundreds of cases found evidence of fraud, yet criminal charges were never filed. Politicians in New…
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Nine 2021 tax law changes in the American Rescue Plan
The American Rescue Plan makes these nine tax law changes for 2021: Additional stimulus payments Expanded Child Tax Credit Expanded Child and Dependent Care Credit Expanded Earned Income Tax Credit Increased Premium Tax Credits Extension and expansion of Paid Sick Leave and Family Leave Extension of Employee Retention Credit Pension plan relief Repeal of worldwide…
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Overview of American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
Background In February 2021 the U.S. Senate, The House of Representatives and the Executive Branch led by the White House took a series of actions designed to address the pandemic recession by allowing a huge proposed economic stimulus bill to move through to approval without relying on Republican party votes. The Democratic Party members of…
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Political support policy for 2021 and 2022
I’ve been an advocate of written policies in aspects of financial management, whether investment policy, expense approval policy, charitable donations and more. This post is about my own political support policy for the next couple of years. I’m probably in the majority of Americans concerned with the actions by a minority of more radical but…
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Safety planning for 2021 post-pandemic: a personal choice
By all accounts, we are not yet halfway through the worst of the COVID pandemic as we soon enter the cold weather season. The most basic point of what we now know is that it spreads easily through the air with prolonged contact. Even indoor ventilation systems pose a significant spread risk. We also know…
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Trump’s three largest tax problems
Donald Trump’s tax problems are obviously of great public interest. This post summarizes the three largest issues as widely reported in popular media1 : 1) IRS audit on partnership losses – The federal government’s tax auditors at the Internal Revenue Service disagree with a tax position taken by Trump that could reportedly increase his income…
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Alarming financial reports leaked
Questions about the leaked reports from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Unit (FinCEN): All parties acknowledge this disclosure places the employees of financial institutions in danger. How badly is this going to deter anyone in the financial industry from complying with the law going forward? If employees in these institutions were following the law in reporting…
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What’s going on in D.C. and how does it affect your South Jersey business?
Yesterday the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce sponsored a discussion program with government policy experts from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce titled “What’s going on in D.C. and how it affects your business?”. If you own a small business in New Jersey (like me) the basic question is likely ‘How bad will it be?’ This…