| Mortgage insurance not deductible yet
Q: A mortgage broker recently told me tax laws changed for 2006 and private mortgage insurance can now be deducted on tax returns. I have not been able to find documentation confirming this. Do you know if this is true? I have already filed my return. Would it be worth filing an amended return? A: Relax. You haven't missed anything. It's true that private mortgage premiums will be income tax deductible, but that's only for new mortgages placed in 2007. And unless it's later extended, the deduction will apply only to 2007. Q: My uncle recently had a severe heart attack. Fearing that he would die soon, he was advised to give his daughter a quick-claim deed to his house to avoid probate court. A friend told him, however, that because of not inheriting the house through a will, his daughter would have to pay capital gains tax based on the original basis of the home rather than the stepped-up basis afforded a house at inheritance.
This Isn't the Way Taxes Should Be
A citizen is obligated to pay for her nation's reasonable operating costs. A nation is obligated to collect the revenue in the fairest and least painful way.
Americans have met their side of the bargain.
America has miserably failed.
As you do your taxes, remind yourself that this is not the way it ought to be. Ninety-four years of federal income taxes have numbed us to the outrageous reality of the filing process, the trivial tyranny of forms, schedules, instructions and exemptions.
Today, no matter what your politics, wake up and meet your inner Steve Forbes (the best-known advocate of tax simplification).
I'm not anti-tax. I'm anti-confusion, and Congress has made tax laws so confusing that even the Internal Revenue Service doesn't understand them.
American Samoa Chamber of Commerce argues for revamp of tax laws
The President of the American Samoa Chamber of Commerce feels confident that the chamber's efforts to revamp the territory's tax laws has the governor's support. David Robinson, who met with the governor last week, says Governor Togiola Tulafono looked carefully at the chamber's recommendations on restructuring corporate tax laws to make them more conducive to attracting non-US companies to invest in the territory. "The first one is the regular corporate tax that we all have to pay and that's on a sliding scale depending on how much money a company makes and that can, in fact, go up to 44 percent, if you're one of those fortunate companies who make a lot of money." Mr Robinson says companies also have to pay a 30 percent dividend witholding tax and could also be liable for a further 30 percent, for what is known as an interest witholding tax.
Native rights claimed in tax sale lawsuit
ANNAPOLIS ROYAL — An Annapolis County man is claiming native treaty rights in a lawsuit against the county for selling his property at a tax sale. In a statement of claim and amendment filed with Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Annapolis Royal, Joseph Daniel Landry of Wilmot says he made an aboriginal land claim, which has not been negotiated, for the Station Road property in Wilmot in 1993 and that the municipality was aware of the dispute over non-payment of taxes, failed to negotiate the matter and sold his property illegally. He said the county is violating his treaty and aboriginal rights by "taxing me and not allowing me to live in peace and harmony, free from hindrance." He is asking for the tax sale to be reversed and for a property tax exemption for the property and $1.6 million in damages.
Here illegally? Tax due anyway
Among those lining up inside Latin & American Services for help filing their taxes ahead of Tuesday's deadline: illegal workers. Like others, undocumented workers want their refunds, said Eneida Orama, owner of the business nestled among Latino shops and eateries in east Charlotte. But mostly her clients, Orama said, file taxes to stay right with the law. Many illegal immigrants hope filing taxes regularly will help them to become legal citizens if there is a future amnesty. "The majority look at it as, `If I do my taxes ... this will help me get legal standing in the U.S.,' " said Orama, 41, who grew up in New Jersey but whose family is from Puerto Rico. For the estimated 7 million undocumented workers in the U.S., there's irony in the annual task of settling up with Uncle Sam.
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