When the new head of Italy’s tax agency was asked why there was such in large tax gap in the country, she gave a very interesting answer. See this article in Forbes by Kelly Phillips Erb for the story: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/08/22/new-tax-head-says-she-knows-why-italians-dont-pay-taxes-theyre-catholic/ I think saying that people feel they will be obsolved for not paying taxes by God is a little farfetched, but since Italy’s tax debt by percentage is the largest in the world, the tax collectors have to say something. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
Tax Musings of a Burbank CPA: Do tax-free holidays make sense?
Right now there are 17 states that have had or are going to have a sales tax holiday this year(California not being one of them, of course). Is there a benefit to this or is it just a promotional gimmick that politicians can talk about and economists can complain about? See this article in the Christian Science Monitor by Richard C. Auxier, then you decide: http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Tax-VOX/2014/0820/Do-tax-free-holidays-make-sense It looks like a lot of them coincide with sales tax exemptions in the states, or if a state (New York, for instance) wanted to compete with a neighbor state without a sales tax (New Jersey) and there may be other reasons for the holiday (the article touches on a couple of them). It is interesting that few western states have these holidays (New Mexico and Texas are the farthest west.) Overall, I think it depends on the state and what their motivation is to have these holidays. The states that hold them have their own agenda, and since they keep having them it is having the desired effect. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: [...]
Musings of a Burbank CPA: Dying doesn’t make the taxman go away
When someone passes away, the person named executor of the estate has some responsibilities. See this article by Bill Bischoff in MarketWatch from The Wall Street Journal for more details: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dying-doesnt-make-the-taxman-go-away-2014-08-19 If there is a trust involved, the trustee has similar responsibilities to an executor, except a trust income tax return is filed instead of an estate income tax return. In either case, make sure all required returns are filed. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa