Tech Friday: Big Tech’s data access knows no bounds … and neither do some politicians and government agencies

| September 6, 2024

Europe and their big government overreaches in restricting personal liberty by American standards, but that same heavy handedness often does more that the U.S. to protect an individual’s privacy from Big Tech and their sweeping data collection machines.  Ever since social media and cloud-oriented companies desired to take ownership of their users data, it has […]

Ogling the 2024 IRS Federal Income Tax Tables (2023’s too)

| December 29, 2023

The IRS has set the new tax brackets to adjust for inflation beginning in January 2024. The update is to shift higher by 5.4%, but for 2023 taxes that most of us will be filing before April 15 and saw even more “bracket creep” due to the previously year’s inflation.   Here are the changes […]

With ridiculously old IT, where is the IRS spending most of their new $80 BILLION dollar taxpayer funded windfall?

| April 18, 2023

Yup … ENFORCEMENT. … hundreds of IRS applications have been around for at least 25 years and dozens that have been in existence for more than 50. There were also pieces of software running 15 updates behind the current version. Fifteen! That’s like using a new iPhone with the iOS from the original iPhone …  […]

TRILLIONs more in spending? IRS tracking at the $600 level? Where are the sensible leaders in our Federal government?

| October 9, 2021

If you think about it, the IRS will probably need far more than another $80 BILLION tax dollars to hire enough agents to track and follow up on every American who has a bank account or transaction over $600? A major component of President Joe Biden’s plan to raise revenue to pay for his trillions […]

Wishing it away. Unfortunately the 3-mo delayed Tax Day is today

| July 15, 2020

The pandemic delayed April 15th Tax Day for Americans’ 2019 taxes is now upon us and for those who have not filed, you have until 11:59 tonight to do it … unless you request an extension until October 15th. We can try to wish it away like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, but as […]

Which corporations stand to benefit the most with a 20% tax rate?

| October 4, 2017

A little bit of research highlights which of the Dow 30 companies benefit from corporate tax reform and which one are currently better at working the existing complex tax code. Company Ticker Median effective income-tax rate – past five reported quarters UnitedHealth Group Inc. US:UNH 40% Home Depot Inc. US:HD 36% Verizon Communications Inc. US:VZ […]

A quick look at the new Trump Admin tax reform plan

| September 28, 2017

President Trump will roll out his administration’s tax reform plan on Wednesday, seeking reductions in both the corporate and individual income tax rates, while doubling the standard deduction. The plan would cut corporate taxes from 35% to 20%, while dropping the top individual tax bracket from 39.6% to 35% and collapsing the current seven brackets […]

A three day reprieve on Tax Day, but …

| April 18, 2017

… the IRS bite feels just the same.

It is time to get serious about working on and filing taxes

| April 2, 2017

The beginning of April is one of my least favorite times of the year … tax time … but for a couple reasons, next year should be better. This is the last FULL year to file for MomH and her trust return. We should see lower tax rates for 2017 (if retroactive?) Republicans are advocating to simplify […]

So much for economical tax preparation software this year

| March 26, 2017

Two years ago, Intuit’s Turbo Tax software tried their "money grab" in attempted to strong-arming their long-time and new customers into paying substantial more to use their software to file their 2014 taxes. The CEO took to the Internet and made an apology and stepped up to Intuit’s greedy "mistake." One would think that competitors […]

Federal Income Taxes – what changes are in store for 2017?

| February 16, 2017

Unless you’ve had your head in the sand pile, you know that there is a shake-up happening in Washington DC since the election of President Donald Trump and his taking office less than 1 month ago. Much of the economic optimism seen by new records on Wall Street, job incentives and both interest rates and […]

Phone scams, Do-not-call lists and IRS fraud

| October 4, 2016

Mail fraud and phone scams are ongoing problems if you live in the U.S. unless you are lucky enough to exist under a rock. Throughout the years I’ve been targeted by shady hoodlums looking to make a quick buck using fraud and deceit as a way to access money or more information. Likely these criminals […]

Is there enough outrage over IRS targeting conservatives?

| May 22, 2013

I’m sure that I’m not the only one hesitant to voice my thoughts about the IRS targeting conservative groups like the Tea Party and pondering the wisdom of even chiming in. Normally I favor the “keep quiet” approach and avoid even the thought of commenting on an agency with the power of the Internal Revenue […]

Didn’t think I’d go without an April 15 TAX day post, did ya?

| April 15, 2010

This content is restricted.

Fresh squeezed OJ – the best way to start a tax preparation day

| April 12, 2010

As a morning routine, I’m a coffee and anti-oxidant grape juice drinking kind of guy, but since we had a few extra oranges left over I’ve been fresh squeezing them for a morning citrus treat. Mmm … sunshine and fresh squeezed OJ … breakfast doesn’t get much better than this! Speaking of ‘the day’ – […]

How upset with the bank and the IRS does one have to be?

| February 23, 2010

I don’t pretend to understand how a man concludes that crashing an airplane into an IRS building is justified, but I know that stress can push reasonably sane people into saying and doing some pretty radical things. I get pretty worked up over government waste and irresponsible spending, but can’t imagine striking back at innocent […]

New vehicle purchase sales tax deduction for 2009 taxes

| April 1, 2009

If you are in the market for a new car or truck this year, the IRS will assist by at least making the “sales tax” deductible.  There are a few caveats, which includes a short window since the car, truck, motorhome or motorcycle needs to be purchase between February 16, 2009 and January 1, 2010 […]

Diesel BMW 335d and X5 xDrive35d tax credits

| February 6, 2009

A couple nice looking BMW diesels recently available in the U.S. look to be edible for tax incentives this year. They have been added to the IRS list of cars using technology helping promote more fuel efficient vehicles. The new 335d sedan and X5 xDrive35d SUV fit the IRS Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicle Tax […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog