Because of the delicate, private, and proprietary nature of information provided by individuals and businesses to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on tax returns, audits are an inherently governmental function that should be conducted solely by government employees. This confidential process should not be handed over to outside individuals or organizations. However, that is exactly the situation that Microsoft Corporation found itself in May 2014, when the IRS decided to hire an outside litigation firm to conduct an audit of the company’s international division, and then proscriptively issued regulations allowing the agency to take such action.
Reduce Regulatory Burdens Instead of Increasing Fees
Innovative technology has become the foundation for performing mundane tasks, such as vacationing, buying groceries, and even catching a ride, in new inventive ways. The sharing economy is on the cusp of such a revolution, using mobile apps to offer consumers new ways to connect with the services they want to use. However, as noted […]
Rethinking Refundable Tax Credits
Over the course of the past 40 years, members of Congress have created refundable tax credits (RTCs), which have become ubiquitous in the tax code. RTCs are available for everything from employment to education to having children. However, mismanagement and a lack of oversight by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Congress have enabled RTCs to become a multibillion dollar source of wasteful spending.
Second Hand Smoke
The California Assembly proposed Senate Bill 1400, introduced by Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont), which would have limited the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to specified “tobacco stores,” that prohibit customers under the age of 21 and generate more than 60 percent of their annual revenue from tobacco. Sen. Wieckowski has said that the […]
The Needy, Greedy City
Mayor Jim Kenney was elected last year with a promise to bring universal prekindergarten to Philadelphia. With no way to pay for it, the Mayor needed a solution. So now, the City of Brotherly Love has implemented the soda tax. Originally proposed at 3 cents-per-ounce, the city council passed a tax half of that amount […]
Next on Hotel Hell: City of Baltimore
For eight consecutive years, the city-owned and operated Hilton Baltimore has lost money, $5.2 million in 2015. Baltimore’s economy has not been strong recently, and the riots following the Freddie Gray incident haven’t had a positive impact on the city’s tourist business. However, the Hilton was losing money well before the recent troubles. Instead of making $7 million a […]
The Marlboro Man and the Blue Light
The vapor product known as electronic cigarettes, “e-cigs,” first appeared on the market in 2007. Although the e-cig market is still smaller than traditional cigarettes, sales grew by 23 percent in 2014 and are expected to surpass the cigarette market within the next decade.
Running Down the Clock on Internet Taxes
Nothing like waiting until the last minute to do something important. That is exactly what is happening on the Hill this week. The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) is set once again to expire at midnight on December 11, 2015. Since 1992, when the general public was given access to the Internet, the use of […]
Congress Impounds Obama’s Cadillac Tax
Yesterday in the Senate, legislators voted 90-10 in support of the Heller Amendment that would preemptively repeal the so-called ‘Cadillac Tax’ on employee health plans. CAGW spoke out in November on some of the unfair taxes on individuals and families in the ACA. The Cadillac tax is a 40% tax on health insurance plans over […]
IRS Commissioner Impeached by House Committee
Since the U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1789, the House of Representatives has filed articles of impeachment just 17 times and only eight times did the Senate convict. Alexander Hamilton wrote that impeachment should be reserved for “those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust.”