The US had few taxes in its beginning, and was generally an unregulated republic.
From 1791 to 1802, the United States government had limited internal taxes on vices and specialty including distilled spirits, carriages, refined sugar, tobacco and snuff. Additional taxed items were property sold at auction, corporate bonds, and slaves. The War of 1812 brought the nation’s first sales taxes on these additional items: gold, silverware, jewelry, and watches.
In 1817 Congress disbanded all internal taxes, relying on tariffs on imported goods to provide funds for running the federal government.
In 1862, during the Civil War effort, Congress enacted the nation’s first income tax law. It was based on the principles of graduated, or progressive, taxation and of withholding income at the source. During the Civil War, a person earning from $600 to $10,000 per year paid tax at the rate of 3%. Those with incomes of more than $10,000 paid taxes at a higher rate. Additional sales and excise taxes were added, and an “inheritance” tax was created. Read more…
And you think you have problems. Just when common folks thought they had it rough, we find out that Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, has tax problems too. But probably not the kind of tax problems you’re thinking.
Gates said the tax office in the US has to store his financial data on a special computer because his fortune is so vast. Say what?
“My tax return in the United States has to be kept on a special computer because their normal computers can’t deal with the numbers,” he said at a Microsoft conference held in Lisbon.
Maybe so, maybe not. Maybe its just his big head that needs its own special computer. But Gates goes on to state a problem which is all too common among the common folk as well. Read more…
Many of my clients voice a fear that many people with tax problems have – that the IRS will put them in jail for not filing their tax returns or for owing back taxes.
Based upon the amount of raw power the IRS has, and their reputation for having the willingness to use that power – fear of the IRS and of being put in jail is certainly not unreasonable. The facts speak for themselves, the IRS has put taxpayers in jail. The IRS even put a man who I was acquainted with into federal prison.
They always have a jail cell ready for wise guys
This man was not a client of mine, and he had not sought me out for legal advice. If he had done so, there are no facts I am aware of which lead me to believe that he would have been sent to jail. Unfortunately he chose not to hire a tax attorney. He also had another mark against him, he was a smart aleck. He defiantly refused to cooperate in any way with the IRS Collection Officers. He conducted himself in an arrogant manner toward them, and they finally got tired of it. He was given the opportunity to learn humility – all expenses paid by Uncle Sam.
Most taxpayers are their own worst enemies when dealing with the IRS. What I mean is that they either act like scared rabbits with the IRS and never really seek to know what their options to solve their problem. Or they refuse to comply on any meaningful manner and thus irritate the IRS personnel.
A tax professional may help move you toward being in tax compliance
– and away from jail
Having an experienced tax professional to represent you may be your best defense to avoid jail time. What a tax attorney offers a taxpayer is the ability to assist them to know all of their options are in dealing with the tax problem (including ones that other tax professionals can legally discuss). We can help calm down irrate Collection Officers, and get the case moving forward again. We move our clients toward actually solving their problem, through the use of strategies which are best for our clients, not for the IRS. We can often get our clients a valuable commodity – a little more time. Read more…
Agency Warns of 12 Common Scams
In an update of an annual consumer alert, the Internal Revenue Service urged taxpayers to avoid falling victim to one of the “Dirty Dozen” tax scams. In the new rankings, several new scams have reached the top of the consumer watch list, including offshore banking and identity theft schemes.
The IRS and other federal agencies are aggressively pursuing and prosecuting promoters of these schemes and many of their clients for fraud and tax evasion. These can result in imprisonment, fines and repayment of taxes owed with interest and penalties. Even innocent taxpayers involved in these schemes can face a staggering amount of back interest and penalties. Taxpayers who suspect tax fraud can report it to the IRS at 1-800-829-0433.
The IRS urges people to avoid these common schemes:
Offshore Transactions
Some people use offshore transactions to avoid paying United States income tax. Use of an offshore credit card, trust or other arrangement to hide or under-report income or to claim false deductions on a federal tax return is illegal.
A taxpayer involved in these schemes may be subject to payment of taxes, interest, penalties and potential criminal prosecution. Read more…
Now That You’ve Hired a Licensed Tax Professional,
Here’s How to Optimize Your Relationship
1. Be accurate and specific when asked to provide financial and other information.
Be detailed and accurate when you provide financial and other information.
Don’t leave anything out.
Let the tax pro determine whether a given fact is relevant.
Bear in mind that the forms you submit to the IRS must generally be signed under penalties of perjury.
2. Be punctual.
Your representative will be working under deadlines.
Provide all requested information in a timely manner. Read more…
All men know, once approaching the age of 40, health problems regarding their reproductive system start to occur more frequently and become more problematic, which, eventually, if not treated, may lead to impotence. What should a man do in such situation? Run to a sex expert and spend a lot of money without a certain idea whether his advises will help? Viagra? Don’t be pathetic. You know it’s just a temporary help which may have different unpleasant consequences. The only one and right answer are – adult sex toys for men.
Nowadays, more and more men start to use adult toys. At first, adult toys come as a kinky addition to the erotic bedroom games. The, it becomes like a hobby, trying new models and new brands of sex toys. A great introduction to sex toys would be such products as cock rings, light bondage accessories, sensual love kits, strap-on dildos, sex swings, which are meant to be used together with a partner and which are a sure way to diversify your sexual life as a couple and open new horizons of sexual pleasure for both partners. After a nice and successful introduction of adult toys, as an innovating and exciting approach of improving your sex life, you can step to a more delicate aspect of a man’s sexual life – anal stimulation, or, using the medical expression – stimulation of prostate gland.
Read more…
Many fashion houses can be found at a fashion map of the world. But Prada is the only one. It is a unique brand with a long history, interesting collections of women and men clothes, stylish accessories and extremely beautiful shoes. Things from Prada are sold in shops and boutiques all over the world. PRADA replica is popular among fashion lovers of any age and level of wealth. The Empire of Style would never become so famous if its first lady Miucia Prada hadn’t been so talented.
Miuccia was a really gifted designer but she had no idea about that gift. A smart girl was very clever and dreamed about the career of a famous scientist. She disliked fashionable clothes, her figure was smart but she paid no attention to it. A real lady must be intelligent, not beautiful. At least Miuccia thought in that way.
Everything had changed when Miuccia got 29. Suddenly she inherited a big company Prada. At first sight the brand seemed to be very popular and successful. But in fact bags and suitcases made by Prada lost its popularity and the biggest part of the clients. Thus Miuccia received rather a problem than a gift. But her young and bold heart was ready to accept a challenge. Lady Prada decided to renew the glory of the company. Although Miuccia had no special designer’s education somehow she created a great collection of black handbags. Just after the showing them on podium Miuccia understood, they were successful. Soon PRADA replica was sold so rapidly that it impressed Miuccia herself and her colleagues. But making good handbags was not enough to become the most popular brand in the world. Soon active woman Miuccia had made the collection of clothes – for men and women, after that she created extremely beautiful sunglasses. The triumph of Prada was really huge, but Miuccia was worth it for her hard work and a really great talent!
“Today the three most experienced organizations in defending civil rights in the nation have gathered to announce an effort to challenge the legitimacy of the state law SB1070,” said Thomas A. Saenz, president of MALDEF in news conference outside the Capitol in Phoenix. Saenz described the new rules as “unconstitutional” and “discriminatory” and said it violated the civil rights of Latinos in Arizona, regardless of immigration status. MALDEF President told Efe that there is still no date for filing the lawsuit but could be next month.
“This state law will only increase so rampant practice of racial profiling that exists in Arizona,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of ACLU in Arizona.
He added that the time it enters into force, possibly in August, all people will have to carry documentation proving their status in the U.S. at the time of taking to the streets to avoid arrest. “It a very sad moment in the history of our country when the police is forced to ask for documents to people in the streets, “he said the activist. A coalition of advocacy groups civil rights and immigrants warned that there are many constitutional problems with the SB1070 because it violates the clause of interference with the power of the federal government to practice immigration law. According to Dolores Huerta, co-founder of Farm Workers (UFW) in Arizona is attacking an entire segment of the population, in this case Latinos. “We must not retreat even an inch to the efforts Arizona to accuse our community of all the ills of this state and its efforts to get us out of here, “defended the activist. Read more…
The camera, with ability to perform sequential records to which access is enabled with a key to the city of Galeguaychu and the assembly had been installed for months by the Secretariat of Environment in order to observe the activities of Botnia, told Telam a spokesman for that agency. The device has a 360 degrees, is similar to that used in meteorology and was relocated to the former hunting ground that was in the Victoria Island, on the coast of Argentina. It is expected that the images can be viewed on any computer when the connection of this camera with a Web site, said a spokesman for Environment of the Nation. The high-resolution camera was reinstated by the municipality of Gualeguaychu at the request of the assembly “to permanently monitor the Pastera installed illegally in the Uruguayan tow1000n of Fray Bentos,” said a spokesman Gustavo Rivollier entrerriana commune, Assemblyman Gualeguaychu Telam said that “when the camera is not working because the internet has no place,” while acknowledging that the unit was reinstalled there “at the request of assembly members.” He also argued that “from now on you can control more effectively the stains that appear regularly in the river and the entrance and exit of vessels from the port that is installed in Fran Botnia Bentos . Read more…
Thomas Hagan, 69, left the New York prison where he slept two nights a week since he would join a work program that allowed him to start in 1992 to reside with his family and after being denied the parole in fourteen times since 1984. Hagan was the only one of three arrested for the death of Malcolm X who admitted his involvement in a murder that occurred on February 21, 1965, while the activist was speaking in New York with 400 people and all his family, and for which he was sentenced to a term of twenty years imprisonment to life imprisonment. The other two convicted African-American activist”s death, Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam, denied his murder and got paroled in 1985 and 1987, respectively. “I have deep regrets about my participation (in the murder ). I believe that never should have happened, “Hagan said in court that finally agreed to grant parole, as recorded by the U.S. news channel CNN. In order to win parole , Hagan had to find a job that had to remain “works in the same place for seven years and should keep their children as well as abide by a curfew imposed by the court, conditions that have to continue to play now . Read more…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President, Barack Obama, on Monday launched an initiative to attract voters who gave him the victory in 2008 and boost the Democrat”s campaign against the Republicans ahead of November”s congressional elections. In a video message distributed to his supporters, Obama formally joined the campaign for November elections in which Democrats try to defend their strong majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate United States. The luck was not on the side of Democrats in recent months and most political analysts believe that Republicans are poised to make great strides in the elections. Obama scored a victory in 2008 with the help of millions of people who voted for the first time and had not been involved in politics. The president now seeks to recapture popular support for his party this year, especially reaching young people, African Americans, Latinos and women. Encouraging voters could be a complex step because the name of Obama will not be on the November ballot and participation in years when presidential elections are not carried out is usually much smaller. In the video message e-mailed to 13 million supporters, Obama said that people linked to his party earlier this year asked to assist in setting priorities for 2010 and offer suggestions on what is the best way to win elections. Read more…
With 97.2% of the votes counted, Fidesz seemed to have got 263 seats in the legislature of 386 seats, five more than the 258 needed to control two-thirds of parliament. “Les promise that we will work to deserve this confidence, “said Lajos Kosa, one of the main leaders of Fidesz, a crowd celebrating the victory in the center of Budapest. Fidesz had earned the right to form the next government in the first round of voting on April 11, but two-thirds majority to pass laws will allow without the support of the opposition. The now ruling Socialist Party will have 59 deputies in the next parliament, followed by far-right Jobbik, 47, and a Green Party, Politics Can Be Different, with 16. There shall be one independent deputy. Fidesz, who led the ruling coalition from 1998 to 2002, has promised to cut payroll massive national and local governments to simplify the tax system, allow citizenship to ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries and to halve the number of deputies. Read more…
The map contains measurements taken in the towns of Granville near the dam Paso de las Carretas, San Bernardo and the National Route 7 road to the town of Balde, by the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural and Physical Sciences, Engineering and Social Economic Sciences of th1000e University of San Luis. The project director, Jorge Follari, explained that within the belt that the meters are placed, the strongest winds are located between the city of La Punta and Villa de la Quebrada, at the height of the hills and the Cerro Agua Hedionda Tinajas. “That”s where they could obtain further details regarding wind speeds,” said Telam Follari adding that “the measurements are around 7.5 m /s and 9 m /s” as “San Luis has great conditions for the installation and use of this resource.”
He stressed that “wind energy is now a rapidly growing industry, which supplies electricity to millions of people around the world and unquestionably makes contributions to environmental protection.”
He reported that “several countries have recently installed large wind farms, providing not only clean energy to thousands of homes but also provide other benefits such as creating hundreds of jobs and regional economic growth, without forgetting that is a free resource, abundant and inexhaustible. Read more…
Karadimas, trainer for decades of religious and even five bishops, is investigated from this week in court by the prosecutor of the eastern area of Santiago, Xavier Armendariz, due to four allegations of sexual misconduct, committed for 20 years. Cardinal Errazuriz made the announcement after meeting the letter today, along with the president of the episcopal conference and bishops of Rancagua, Monsignor Alejandro Goic, with President Sebastian Pinera, the palace of La Moneda, a meeting scheduled for three weeks to analyze the effects of the earthquake on February 27. “On the subject I”ll write a letter to parish priests and, therefore, to Christian communities. This weekend you”re going to know, and therefore would not comment further on the issue, “said the cardinal to leave La Moneda. About the time it takes the ecclesiastical investigation about the case Karadimas, Cardinal said the investigation is now in charge of Fermin Donoso “because there was a change of promoter of justice,” the ANSA news agency reported. Priest Donoso told the Chilean newspaper “La Tercera” it expects to close the inquiry this semester. A version of the magazine “Que Pasa” revealed today that victims of abuses by the background gave Karadimas the archbishop of Santiago in 2004 and opened an investigation Errazuriz about in 2006. He said the appellants asked the church on the progress of the investigation and the response was that church does not respond to these inquiries. ” &am1000p;quot; That motivated them to go to court, “the magazine” Que Pasa “.
One of the victims (not identified) told the magazine that “when we felt guilty and thought to talk about what happened, he (Karadimas) told us we would be the hardest hit, because nobody would believe us: we lived in an environment where His image was spotless.”s told us it was our spiritual father. Read more…
PHOENIX (Reuters) – The governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, issued on Friday the toughest immigration law in the United States, which was described by President Barack Obama as an effort “wrong” which highlights the need for reform country. The state police the border with Mexico may from now to determine whether an alien is illegally in the country if there are “reasonable suspicion”, which according to critics of the law opens the door to differentiate people by their racial profiling. Immigration is an issue that has been subject to bitter debates in the United States, where some 10.8 illegal immigrants live and work in the shadows. However, until recently, the issue was overshadowed nationally by other issues such as health system reform and the financial sector, which has angered Latinos for Obama supporters. Thousands of people gathered outside the state capitol in Phoenix to face the announcement of the governor, most of them opponents with posters that read ” We are Human “and” Enough. ” It is expected that the law-passed this week by the Senate, controlled by Republicans and passed by Brewer, a Republican, also generate a legal challenge and it has become a contentious issue in the race for the November elections in the United States. “If we remain free to move at a federal level, efforts will continue to see wrong in the whole country, “Obama said earlier Friday in a ceremony of swearing in new U.S. citizens. Brewer said the new law strengthened to Arizona and keep the state safe from the drug cartels and other threats. “It protects us all, every citizen of Arizona and all those who are legally in our state, and does so while ensuring that the constitutional rights of everyone in Arizona remain solid, “he said. The enactment of the law was not well regarded in Mexico, through its chancellor said the” criminalization is not the way to resolve the migration phenomenon undocumented “. ” (The law) affects the relationship between Arizona and Mexico and forced the Mexican Government to consider the feasibility and utility of the cooperation schemes which have been developed with Arizona ” , Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said Friday afternoon at a news conference. Read more…
The owner of Plaquemines Parish Louisiana, Billy Nungesser,1000the newspaper said, according to reports received, the 126 employees of the platform are safe and sound. In this regard, Coast Guard on Wednesday were trying to verify that all workers were still alive after the accident on the platform located off the southern coast of the United States, which left seven people seriously injured. New Orleans The Coast Guard explained than 22:00 on Tuesday (03h00 GMT) the “monitoring equipment received a message about an explosion and fire at an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. ” We have indicated that 126 people were aboard, “he told AFP Lt. Sue Kerver, Coast Guard spokesman, who also mentioned that” seven were seriously injured “and” eleven or twelve were reported missing. Read more…