Tax Pros&Taxpayers! Listen to H&R Block SVP of Govt Relations Fulton with a Washington perspective on the IRS decision not to provide the debt indicator to tax return preparers – and the impact on tax pros and taxpayers! Also, does IRS give “herb” tax breaks? Join Lyn, Mike, and laugh with HB! on the Tax Trouble Help Show! http://feeds.feedburner.com/TaxTroubleHelp
Tax Pro’s: IRS Debt Indicator Decision & YOU?- Jackson Hewitt CEO Speaks Out!
Listen to the podcast of my interview with Jackson Hewitt President & CEO Harry Buckley on the CBS Radio “Tax Trouble Help Show” (iTunes and chataboutit.com)
Mr. Buckley is one of the most influential leaders in the tax return preparation community and he has interesting views about the IRS debt indicator decision and the impact it will have on tax preparers and their clients who are expecting IRS tax refunds.
Listen to “Tax Trouble Help Show” “LIVE” weekly on chataboutit.com at 2pm EST. The podcast are always available after the show on chataboutit.com and iTunes.
“See” you on the radio! -Lyn
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Tax Breaks for Lebron James and George Steinbrenner: One Made the Decision, The Other Had The “Decision” Made For Him — Why Should it Matter to You?
The appeal of playing basketball for the Miami Heat (and partying on South Beach!) with friends in a superstar, supercharged version of the Boston Celtic’s BIG three notwithstanding, it’s reasonable to think that Lebron James decided to play in Miami, in large part because there is no personal income tax in the State of Florida — “he” made the decision, a good financial decision that will save him millions in taxes that he would have paid had he chosen to contract out his considerable basketball talents to another team in a less tax friendly State – including Ohio, the home State of his former Cleveland Cavalier team.
On the other hand, the now deceased, bombastic New York Yankee baseball team owner George Steinbrenner had the no taxes “decision” made for him, by a 111th Congress whom has dragged their collective feet about passing estate tax laws and tax rates.
Indecision, by it’s very nature – is always a De facto decision.
When you combine the wealth of Steinbrenner with the wealth of other billionaires who have died in 2010 — this “decision” by Congress has likely forfeited tens of billions of dollars that would have been collected by the U.S. Treasury and added to the coffers of our cash strapped government that is drowning in debt. And in the memorable words of the late Senator Everett Dirksen “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money”. During these difficult economic times, taxpayers have learned that every dollar counts. Why hasn’t our government learned the same lesson?
Death and taxes are supposed to be the only two sure things in life — but maybe it depends on who dies — and when.
I recently traveled to Washington, DC and through the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA), joined a group of other Enrolled Agent tax professionals on Capitol Hill to lobby Congress to make a decision about the estate tax and a number of other tax matters. During meetings with our elected officials, or their congressional aides, I was disappointed that there generally seemed to be no sense of urgency to finalize tax laws that have been pending far too long – a delay that has prevented tax professionals from initiating 2010 tax planning strategies on behalf of their small business and individual clients.
I remember once as a nervous little league baseball player, up to bat, and wanting to get the game winning hit in the last inning, “literally” following my Dad’s (who was also my coach) advice to me, which was to “close my eyes and swing”. Being trusting, eager to please my Dad — and naive about the game of baseball, I closed my eyes, swung, and of course, did not come close to hitting the pitched ball. Game over. My team lost. The other team won.
Well, as Steinbrenner closed his eyes for the last time he took one final swing and somehow managed to put the “sweet spot” of the bat on the ball and hit the 2010 estate tax — out of the park because congress threw a tax free pitch right down the middle of the plate. Game over. His team (heirs) won. We, the taxpayers have lost — again.
While many taxpayers won’t begrudge James the large amount of State tax dollars saved by the decision that he made to play in Florida, I believe many taxpayers are, or should be, frustrated at Congress for the tens of billions of tax dollars not assessed – and not collected from Steinbrenner’s estate, heirs and the estates and heirs of the other members in the class of 2010 deceased billionaires.
In either case, I have a distressing sense that the average taxpayer who seemingly pays more and more in Federal, State, and local income taxes each year, feels like they just got slam dunked on under the basketball hoop, and then knocked down into the dirt at home plate by a high hard one… /ns
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Lyndon “Lyn” Ford EA, MBA is a former IRS Agent
and host of the “Tax Trouble Help Show”on CBS radio
(chataboutit.com) Have a Tax Story? Be a show guest!
Information about the show and our Nationwide
IRS tax audit/tax collection representation services
can be found at www.taxtroublehelp.com or call 877.249.1383
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