Newsletter 90
Smith, Conley, and Associates Newsletter
Post tax season planning for 2009 (and beyond)
(If the links or images don't appear in your email, click here for a web-based version)
(If the links or images don't appear in your email, click here for a web-based version)
I believe this founding father had the 2009 Congress in mind when he said the following:
"...In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress. "
John Adams -Former President, Vice-President, Congressman, Diplomat to France and Holland, and a Harvard-educated attorney
John Adams -Former President, Vice-President, Congressman, Diplomat to France and Holland, and a Harvard-educated attorney
Why Uncle Sam can't compete.
Clients often ask, why does the USA seem to struggle in international commerce? Since US corporate tax rates are currently the second highest in the western world, this chart may explain the underlying answer to this question.
So how do some of the other economic powers of the world stack up? Here's a summary of the top 10 countries by tax rates. Click the chart below for the full data set. You may have noticed that Ireland (one of the top 5 fastest growing economies) has one of lowest tax rates. Could there be something for our Congress to learn from this?
So how do some of the other economic powers of the world stack up? Here's a summary of the top 10 countries by tax rates. Click the chart below for the full data set. You may have noticed that Ireland (one of the top 5 fastest growing economies) has one of lowest tax rates. Could there be something for our Congress to learn from this?
IRS says, "Come in from the cold" and offers amnesty program
| This won't affect any of our clients, but for others who are friends of our friends, IRS is offering an amnesty program on unreported foreign income. Since USB and other Swiss banks have reached a disclosure agreement with the IRS, now is the time for anyone with previously unreported foreign income to come clean with the IRS. The example on the IRS Q&A section shows how a $1 million dollar offshore account with $300,000 in earnings (over 5 years) would avoid hundreds of thousands of penalties by disclosing the income now. See question 12 for details.  IRS has just announced that they will extend this offer another month. October 15 is the final date. If any of our clients' friends need help, be sure to e-mail us for more details on how the plan works. |
 |
Tax updates on Facebook
| We understand how tough it is to make a buck in today's economy. Most business owners are having to put in extra-long hours to make up for employee cuts or lack of sales. Since your time is limited, we're going to make it easy to review the tax-savings tips we post almost every day on our blog page. Facebook members can use the "become a fan" link to add an auto-feed of these articles to your FB account.
. One click- that's all it takes to join our Facebook page or the controversial and spirited blog debate. See you online. |
Smith, Conley & Associates, PC on Facebook |
Health Care Comments -The fur begins to fly!
Last newsletter, we made a compelling case for how the then current health care legislation was fiscally impossible to implement.Senator Baucus' supposedly new and improved bill has now been released. We've summarized the major tax provisions of
of this horrendous legislation below:
| New taxes: Excise tax of 35% on 'gold-plated' health plans (those valued above $21,000 for family plan). Annual fees of $6 billion for health insurers, $4 billion for device makers and $2.3 billion for drug makers, all based on market share. | Insurance regulation: Bars insurers from denying coverage over pre-existing conditions. Sets up 'exchanges' where insurers offer plans in a standardized format for comparison-shopping. |
| Medicaid expansion: Adults and children up to 133% of federal poverty level (currently $30,000 a year for family of four) get coverage under Medicaid. | Subsidies: Tax credits available starting in 2013 for people between 134% and 300% of poverty level, and in certain cases up to 400% of poverty level. Credits designed so that no one up to 400% of poverty level pays more than 13% of income toward health-insurance premiums |
| Coverage requirement: Most individuals must have health insurance or pay a fine. Maximum fine is $1,500 for families up to 300% of poverty level and $3,800 for families above 300% of poverty. | Small business: Tax credits up to 50% of contribution to health-insurance premiums starting in 2013. |
| Larger businesses: Those with more than 50 full-time employees must offer coverage or pay a penalty of up to $400 per employee. Penalty kicks in if employees use federal subsidies to buy insurance. | Illegal immigrants: Not eligible for federal subsidies and don't face coverage requirement. |
What's the cost? Glad you asked! Here's the graphic detail from the Wall Street Journal.
Give your CPA an "A" or "B" but certainly not a ...
C because we're never average. By following our facebook or blog feeds, via the above links, you can place your vote after each article and mark it as an A-"dead on-target", a B-"Interesting", or a D-"not on target." Given your feedback, we'll adjust our content to what you find the most interesting!Here's an example of recent feedback:
Who pays the most tax? The most recent data.
The above crossover chart shows that the top 1% of taxpayers now pay more than the bottom 95%! Nothing changes faster than
tax statistics. The chart below is from a newsletter just 3 months ago and is now outdated.
The most recent data is:
Here's the [old] data in chart form. What it reveals is that almost 73% of all income tax is paid by the top 10% of income earners. To the "more government at any cost" crowd, we'd like to ask -"Just how much higher would you like this rate to be?"
tax statistics. The chart below is from a newsletter just 3 months ago and is now outdated.
The most recent data is:
- The top 1% of filers pay 40.4% (up from 39%) of the total.
- The top 1% of filers earn just 22.8% of the income.
- The bottom 50% of all filers paid just 2.9% of the total income tax.
Here's the [old] data in chart form. What it reveals is that almost 73% of all income tax is paid by the top 10% of income earners. To the "more government at any cost" crowd, we'd like to ask -"Just how much higher would you like this rate to be?"
Taxing humor
Somehow, the line that "we will only tax the rich" isn't helping Congress.
Now here's a Congressman who's being honest at his townhall meeting.
Much more health care reform and the IRS may adopt this payment method!
To link to our RSS news feed, click the orange button below or click this link to auto-add this feed to your Google homepage.
Start your tax planning now!
We offer proactive planning (both in accounting and tax consultation) so items like those above don't become a problem. Review past volumes of the Tax Update here.
Previous Newsletter
- We can help you develop financial and operational benchmarks for your business or personal goals.
- We offer on-line or phone support for your Financial Planning needs. Reserve your consulting time.
- To discuss anything in our newsletter, call us at 770-461-1115 or e-mail our team at CPA answers.
- To search prior Tax Updates, follow this link.
© Copyright 2004 Smith, Conley, & Associates
Clients Only || Privacy Policy