Many of us are slaving over taxes–gathering those elusive receipts, adding up deductions, buying a do-it-yourself tax prep program like Turbo Tax or making an appointment with a tax preparer, and sweating over what we’ll end up owing. Take a break and enjoy this cartoon. You know you’ve always thought it.
You may want to give in to charitable appeals for recent tragedies, like mass shootings, earthquakes, and fires. But don’t just follow your heart–engage your brain. Be sure those donations do some real good for real people rather than enriching scam artists or CEOs. Clark Howard offers some tips:
And here’s one of my own: Check to see how much of your donation will go to charitable work as compared to administrative costs (including CEOs) and fundraising costs. Look them up at www.CharityNavigator.org or the Better Business Bureau site www.BBB.give.org.
For more tips on donating, check out Clark’s Donation Guide.
Will you be driving to the post office just before midnight tonight? Facing a long line of traffic at the drop-off box? And everyone grumbling and complaining? In honor of TAX DAY, this week I move my Thursday Thought quote to Monday, April 15. It’s a gentle reminder of what we’re paying for.
“I like to pay taxes. With them I buy civilization.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
In light of Airbnb’s possibly being able to get around taxes and regulations imposed on others, the Economic Policy Institute has released a report, The economic costs and benefits of Airbnb, that’s worth reading. It answers questions like benefits vs. economic costs (and who gets richer and who suffers the loss), affects on housing availability and prices, the effect on local businesses, and other issues.
It really does affect all of us, whether we use Airbnb or not. How does it affect you? Read the report.
Now I’m getting offers for a “Home Equity Conversion Mortgage,” although it sure seems like a “Reverse Mortgage” to me. Rules are the same. If you’re considering one, figure out if you can live with those rules (from AAG mailing):
By the way, you still pay interest, because it’s still a loan. And your income taxes get complicated.
Pass on this information to all your older friends and relatives before they sign on to one of these “fantastic deals”!
Go ahead and let other people tell you what to do and run your life. No? Don’t want to? A whole bunch of people are doing just that. Look at these figures:
If you fall into one of those two groups, you are letting others make big decisions for you–like taxes, healthcare, housing, citizenship, transportation costs, and who represents (or fails to represent) you.
Every vote does matter, because each one adds to another which adds to another…. Coming up shortly, SOMEONE will decide many major issues. There are 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats to be decided, plus governors, school boards, city councils, district attorneys, and judges in YOUR state and city.
I ask Are you registered and will you vote? If not, you can’t complain when people are elected and laws enacted that make your life miserable.
Think about it.
If you tried to put your taxes together yourself, you’ll appreciate this one. If you went to a tax service, see how much fun you missed? Happy Tax Day!
IF THE IRS MADE A GPS
AT&T will give one-time $1000 bonuses--and no wage increases–but to a maximum of 200,000 employees (how many will really get it, and will they be mainly everyday workers?). Meanwhile, they’re laying off 600 workers (to start with?).
Comcast says it, too, will give %1000 bonuses, to “eligible frontline and non-executive employees.” Sounds like the worker bees will be getting the money, but do they fall into the undefined “eligible”?
By the way, both AT&T and Comcast have already announced broadband and cable TV price hikes for us starting soon.
Others who have announced coming $1000 bonuses (without much detail) include Bank of America, Nationwide Insurance, JetBlue Airways and US Bancorp. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon in light of their corporate tax cut from 35% to 21% under the new tax plan. These, too, are one-time bonuses, not the pay raises that proponents of the plan promised would result.
Then there’s Walmart. They’re raising pay to $11 per hour and giving bonuses to some of its workers–and laying off thousands of workers as it closes 63 Sam’s Clubs. And they’ve just announced layoffs at their Walmarts.
Note that these bonuses cost the corporations far less than pay raises would over time. This year, they’re a boon to the worker, although he’ll be taxed on the bonus, and a tax write-off for the companies. The following years the companies continue to enjoy their decreased tax burden, but what about the worker, who doesn’t see another bonus or pay raise?
Is this really a beneficial result of the new tax plan or actually a PR sleight-of-hand?
Today’s Thursday Thought responds to tax-weary people who don’t have kids but have to pay school taxes.
I’m really, really trying to evaluate both sides of the tax cuts. I’m so hopeful that they really WILL help struggling families without dragging our country into an impossible-to-climb-out-of debt hole. Of all the experts I’ve “consulted” (read, listened to), Tom Steyer (billionaire business leader/investor) crystallizes it for me in 3 short minutes. Take a listen.