Withholding Tempest in a Teapot Chances are, you’ve read an article recently telling you to be careful about the withholding in your paycheck, to make sure your employer (assuming you have one) is taking out enough money so that you won’t have a big tax obligation come April. This is the result of a big […]
No End Run By now, you probably know all about the so-called SALT (state and local tax) deduction limitations imposed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If your property, local and state taxes exceed $10,000 (couples) or $5,000 (singles), well, too bad. That’s all you can deduct on your federal tax returns. Some of […]
States vs. SALT Each year, thousands of professionals use their creativity and ingenuity to try to figure out the best ways to lower your federal taxes. You know you’re living in interesting times when state lawmakers join that crowd. The reason they’re working so hard is something popularly known as the SALT provisions of the […]
Reclaiming Charitable Deductions You may remember that when the new tax law was debated, there was a lot of chatter around the possibility that Congress would totally eliminate the deduction for charitable contributions. That Republican-backed proposal never made it into the final Tax Cuts + Jobs Act, but in other ways the tax changes may […]
Tax Simplification That Really Is One of the the biggest misnomers coming out of Washington is the idea of “tax simplification,” where Congress purportedly makes it easier for all of us to fill out our tax returns by adding several thousand pages of new rules, rates and lists of things we can and cannot deduct […]
The Long Reach of the IRS You probably don’t spend a lot of time feeling sorry for a U.S. citizen named Meghan Markle, who is about to tie the proverbial knot with Prince Harry of England. But an article in the Wall Street Journal notes that Ms. Markle, and other American citizens who marry foreigners, […]
The Trade War that Isn’t—Yet When most of us hear talk about something described as a “war,” we intuitively recognize that there could be very unpleasant outcomes on all sides. Wars have one thing in common: there is seldom a clear-cut “winner” amid the damage and destruction. So when President Trump declares a “trade war” […]
Another Tariff, Another Downturn Last weeks, stocks went on sale again, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of bargain hunters stepping in to take advantage. The S&P 500 dropped 5.9% over five days, its worst week since January 2016. This follows a by-now-familiar pattern: the Trump Administration announces tariffs—this time on Chinese imports […]
Much Ado About… You may have heard about the “Trump Tariffs;” that is, the proposed 25% surtax on all steel imports coming into the U.S. from foreign manufacturers, and a similar 10% surtax on aluminum. The markets certainly noticed; they fell dramatically after the announcement, as investors feared that the move would spark a global […]
What the Tax Bill Means to You The new tax law hasn’t been formally ratified by the U.S. House and Senate, but all indications are that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will be sent to the President’s desk in the next few days. As you probably know, the House and Senate versions […]
