Category: News and Politics
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No, you don’t get to face your accuser (Small business beware!)
Anonymous whistleblower complaints are a powerful government force regularly used against small business owners. Over the weekend Donald Tump tweeted another indication of his misunderstanding of how government works. False Tweets from Trump are hardly noteworthy in themselves but this one hits a nerve for me. As a small business owner I’ve faced at least…
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A primer on the China tariffs
What do you need to know as a consumer about about the China trade tariffs that starts today? This is a short bullet point summary. Legal background Tariffs are taxes authorized under Title 19 of U.S Code in 1930. The tax is based on Constitutional authority “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect…
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Twelve consumer product businesses to avoid
These twelve companies sell to consumers; meaning there is usually a consumer market choice to be made. They made my boycott list either for unacceptable social actions or for unrelenting damage to the environment*. I won’t buy from any of them and I hope that you reach a similar conclusion and don’t support them either.…
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Our broken tax system
This isn’t the type of tax blog post that I normally write. But after decades of writing and over 2,000 tax-related posts, columns and other publications, I sense that our tax system is spinning out of control, pulling our nation into a death spiral. It is time to speak out. Almost three decades ago I…
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Legal requirements to release the tax returns of candidates for public office
In the aftermath of revelations about the president’s financial scandals, a number of states are moving forward with bills that would require all candidates for public office to release tax returns in order to be listed on the ballot. This blog post does not attempt to list the states, the bills or their status. We…
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Reframing the language of leadership: words that matter
Words supported by action matter more in leadership than anything else. Economics, money, tax policy and other topics often visited in this blog pale to the importance of the credible and meaningful words in our leadership conversations. We now face a critical choice defined by the words we choose to use in that public conversation.…
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When do I get my tax refund?
The IRS begins accepting tax returns and processing refunds next Tuesday January 29. I can prepare and submit your tax return for e-file acceptance before then but it essentially sits in an electronic waiting list until the 29th. See tonynovak.com/taxes for information on getting started with an early tax return filing. The first tax returns…
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At one month, panic is setting in as we learn what government shutdown really means
The federal government shutdown is affecting an increasing number of my small business and individual clients in ways we never expected or anticipated. All indications are that these problems will get worse before the situation gets better. I am scheduling calls this week to address contingency and emergency plans with those most affected. I don’t…
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Tax fraud case with the highest implications
A high profile multi-million dollar international tax fraud case (Unites States vs. Natalia Veselnitskaya 18 CRIM 904) took a dark turn last week then a sealed indictment by federal prosecutors was revealed to the public. To be clear, this tax fraud case does not involve anyone in U.S. government. Yet this case brought special attention because…
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Enough with the immigration lies
Introduction: My background with immigration is working with construction, agricultural and fisheries businesses in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania that use immigrants for the majority of their work force. I know dozens of these workers who came here legally on work visas and are still waiting for their extension paperwork. Ironically, some of them…