Tax Docket

When you step up to order your cheeseteak at Pat’s King of Steaks, you order it “wit or wit out” onion. Well, for bloggers in Philly, they can only maintain their blog wit a tax. According to multiple articles, Philadelphia imposes a $300 “business privilege license” tax on local bloggers in addition to city wage taxes and taxes on net profits earned from blogging.

NBC Philadelphia: Pay Up or Shut Up: Bloggers Charged $300 For Their Thoughts
Washington Examiner: Philly requiring bloggers to pay $300 for a business license
Mashable:Philadelphia Tax Code Sparks Big Controversy with Small Bloggers

From Forbes, Did Tax Ploy Help Saints Win Super Bowl?

In a just-filed U.S. Tax Court lawsuit, the partnership owning the Saints acknowledges that it didn’t treat an $8.5 million annual payment from the state of Louisiana as income and therefore didn’t pay taxes on the sum. Rather, the team said the money was an addition to “working capital” and a nontaxable transaction.

……..

According to the lawsuit, the $8.5 million was one of a series of “inducement payments” starting in 2001 for 10 years to keep the National Football League team in New Orleans. The lawsuit says, the money was to be used, among other things, to “acquire additional and higher-priced player contacts” to make the team “more competitive in the NFL.”

Just before the next season of MTV’s The Jersey Shore premieres, one of the show’s cast member’s Snooki took some time to vent about the new federal health care law which imposes a tax on tanning beds. As reported by CNN’s Marquee Blog, Snooks, in the show’s 10 minute preview stated that,

“I don’t go tanning tanning anymore, because Obama put a 10 percent tax on tanning. I feel like he did that intentionally for us. McCain would never put a 10 percent tax on tanning. Because he’s pale and he would probably want to be tan.”

McCain responded via tweet “@Sn00ki u r right, I would never tax your tanning bed! Pres Obama’s tax/spend policy is quite The Situation but I do rec wearing sunscreen!”

Here is a previous post about the tanning tax Tax on Tans Coming Soon: Fist Pumps Will Remain Tax Free

Today Washington State introduces three new taxes including one on candy. The candy tax doesn’t apply to candy with flour content in it. On NPR’s Morning Edition, there was an explanation of what is or isn’t candy for purposes of the tax (including an interview with some children on what they think candy is).

Seattle Times: Sorry, sweetie: Candy tax kicks in Tuesday

LeVar Burton known for his role as Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge on Star Trek Generation: The Next Generation and my personal favorite Reading Rainbow owes about $34,000 in state taxes according to Tax Watchdog. The report states that state of California has filed a lien against him and his wife with the Los Angeles County Recorder of Deeds on March 25.

If you are interested in taking a trip down memory lane, play the music track below. Its the Reading Rainbow theme song!

From NBC Washington:

The D.C. Council has voted to extend the District’s 6 percent sales tax to include sport drinks like Gatorade, energy drinks like Red Bull and soft drinks, including diet soda.

The tax was approved Wednesday as part of next year’s city budget.

Beverages like water, coffee, tea, milk and juice will be excluded from the sales tax. The tax is expected to generate $7.9 million next year.  The Council is planning to use the money on school programming promoting health.

Below is a trailer for an online “reality TV” series called ‘The IRS Hitman’. Enjoy!

In response to a question in an interview with the Wall Street Journal regarding ‘MacGruber’s’ (Will Forte) specific hairstyle and look, Will Forte responded:

We made the movie in Albuquerque, so part of the [tax break] deal is that you’re supposed to use a largely New Mexican crew. But the [MacGruber] wig is an unruly little creation, so Betty Rogers, who’s the head of the hair department at SNL, came to make sure it was tamed every day. She is so good at what she does. So it was basically her and a bunch of great people from New Mexico.

The “tax break” that Forte is referring to “Movie Production Incentive (MPI)” which is in the form of a tax credit. In New Mexico, productions including feature films receive a 25% tax rebate on “direct production expenditures” (an expenditure subject to tax in New Mexico). Further, paying New Mexico residents qualifies as a direct production expenditure subject to the tax rebate.

Below is an animated map of states that currently have similar MPIs. Click the map to enlarge it and see all the states that have an MPI. Click here for a special report from Tax Foundation regarding MPIs.

Alright. Enough about tax. Here is a clip of one of my favorite ‘MacGruber’ SNL skits. It features Jonah Hill who ‘MacGruber’ accuses of talking “smack” about him to Hill’s friends. MacGruber starts lashing out at him in a paint factory that is about to explode. I think you all know what happens next. Enjoy!

The following is a report from the Denver Daily News which describes a recent Rassmussen poll which found that 49 percent of Colorado state voters say marijuana should be legalized and taxed:

According to a recent Rassmussen poll, in the same week that Colorado lawmakers approved a bill increasing regulations on medical marijuana dispensaries, 49 percent of the state’s voters say the drug should be legalized and taxed. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of likely voters shows that 39 percent do not think marijuana should be taxed and legalized in Colorado. Another 13 percent are undecided. Men in Colorado are much more supportive than women of legalizing the drug. Most Democrats and voters not affiliated with either major political party support legalizing and taxing marijuana. Most Republicans do not. Support for this legislation in Colorado is almost identical to results found in California. A year ago, 41 percent of voters on the national level supported legalizing and taxing marijuana to help solve the nation’s fiscal problems. Colorado has allowed the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes for several years, and polling on the national level shows 63 percent of Americans believe patients should be allowed to smoke marijuana if it is prescribed by a doctor. Fifty-one percent of adults nationwide say alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, while 19 percent disagree and say the opposite is true.

In an article by Laura Sanders of the Wall Street Journal, she notes five tax breaks that are here to stay– at least for now.

1. Tax Exemption for Employer-Provided Cellphones and Smartphones. According to the article, a bill containing this exemption was passed by the House of Representatives and is before the Senate now.

2. The “Masters exemption.” Homeowners who rent out their property for 14 or fewer days a year may pocket the income tax-free. This break has given homeowners near the Augusta National Golf club a sweet deal on income over the years, in some cases up to $20,000, from short-term rentals during the Masters tournament each April.

The property doesn’t have to be a first home, but the exemption can be taken only once a year, says CPA Douglas Stives of Monmouth University. It can be taken on more than one property, according to the IRS.

3. Employee awards. Employers can make awards to workers valued as much as $400 a year for good attendance, safe driving, years of service and so on. The criteria must be objective and fair, but the awards aren’t taxable to the employee and are fully deductible by the employer.

4. Gift-tax exclusion. One of the best estate-planning options remains the $13,000 annual gift-tax exclusion. Anyone may give anyone else up to that amount per year in cash or property, free of gift tax. One partner of a married couple can double the gift and the exemption. So a couple with three married children and six grandchildren could give away over $300,000 a year, tax-free.

This provision has some twists. Donors to 529 college-savings plans may bunch up to five years of annual gifts—as President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, did for their daughters a few years ago. If circumstances change, the donor can withdraw the money with little or no penalty, says Donald Tobin of Ohio State University.

5. Frequent-flier miles. If you earn frequent-flier miles on a ticket you buy, the miles aren’t taxable. But miles earned for business travel should be, in theory. After a 2002 brouhaha, the IRS said it wouldn’t tax miles unless taxpayers convert them to cash. Ever notice how perks important to Congress escape the tax man’s heavy hand?