Posts tagged with: "fiscal cliff"
Results 1 - 20 of 180
Sorted by Relevance
|
Sort by Date
1 Jan 2013, 12:17 pm
Breaking Update (1/2/12): House Passes Fiscal Cliff Bill, Extends Mortgage Debt Relief Act
Fate of Tax Forgiveness for Short Sales, Loan Modifications Remains In Limbo
As reported by the National Association of Realtors, short sale agents and sellers should breath a sigh of relief, but keep their fingers crossed with respect to the fate of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, which was set to expire as part of the pending Fiscal Cliff. The “American Taxpayer Relief Act of… [read post]
30 Dec 2012, 2:26 am
This week’s Guest Dispatch post comes from Arthur Freyre, an attorney and conservative activist in South Florida. Next week the 112th Congress will tackle its last item of legislative business, finding a solution to the fiscal cliff that, if there is no agreement between the political parties, will result in mandatory federal [...] [read post]
17 Nov 2012, 9:06 pm
After months of bitter campaigning, Democrats and Republicans in Congress finally seem to agree on something: closing tax loopholes. The idea is appealing as a way to reduce the deficit and avoid the fiscal cliff by increasing revenue without actually increasing tax rates. What’s more, as the prospect of “closing tax loopholes” gains traction in [...] [read post]
3 Jan 2013, 9:32 am
President Obama and Congress forged a plan to control middle-class taxes and help financial growth in the U.S. The January 1, 2013 agreement was designed to avoid the 2012 year-end "fiscal cliff" heard so much in the media.
This agreement, however, is only a temporary fix, as more negotiations must occur by late February to raise the debt ceiling. The final agreement, called an "across the board sequester", still does the job of avoiding middle-income tax increases. Below lists the terms important… [read post]
13 Dec 2012, 12:43 pm
Watch out for the tempation to underwithhold .
Most people I talk to have not heard of the “fiscal cliff.” Those who have believe it will not affect them. This includes someone I met with yesterday. But when I ran the numbers, based on a November 1st article in Forbes, between him and his wife their paycheck withholding should go up by about $438 per month. Since they are absolutely in denial about the prospect and not expecting anything to change,… [read post]
2 Jan 2013, 5:20 am
It’s a Done Deal: Tax Forgiveness for Short Sales, Loan Modifications Remains In Effect Through End of 2013
Well, that didn’t take very long. Within 24 hours of the Senate’s 2AM New Year’s Eve passing of their Fiscal Cliff bill, House Republicans caved, and passed the Senate version of the Fiscal Cliff bill, which extends the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 through the balance of 2013.
As originally reported by the National Association of Realtors, short sale agents and… [read post]
12 Dec 2012, 2:34 pm
Fiscal cliff budget negotiations are ongoing through the end of this year. Republican House Speaker John Boehner put forth his proposal this week: cutting 600 billion from federal healthcare programs over the next ten years via raising the Medicare eligibility age and moving to a chained CPI (Consumer Price Index)for Social Security. Meanwhile the White House has asked for some sizable revenue increases through tax rate increases and tax reform.
CPI is an inflation benchmark used for costs… [read post]
9 Dec 2012, 11:56 am
High Anxiety Heading Into 2013
The term Fiscal Cliff should be as ubiquitous as “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” through the year-end, especially if President Obama and Congress cannot work out a deal to resolve the more than $500 billion in tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to take effect after Jan. 1, 2013. If there is no deal, and the country goes over the fiscal cliff, the consensus is that it will have quite a negative effect on the… [read post]
28 Nov 2012, 6:53 pm
The media tends to run in packs. And on this whole matter of the long-awaited sunset of the Bush tax cuts combined with the earlier-negotiated package of budget cuts (including a much needed start to cutting back on that bloated soaker of 60% of all federal expenditures, the military), the media really can't seem to think for itself.
So we keep hearing about how we should worry about the "fiscal cliff". Even though for some reason bond traders aren't. Even though people are still… [read post]
30 Nov 2012, 3:22 pm
Paul Krugman, Class Wars of 2012, New York Times (Nov. 30, 2012).
When Mitt Romney disparaged ordinary Americans, it was visible, obvious, and clearly an indication of the lack of esteem he held for ordinary Americans. The same arrogance is at work in the class warfare that the radical right is waging against the social programs that have been partof the great stabilization of the middle class and a singular pathway to a more sustainable lifestyle for those who are underprivileged in… [read post]
5 Dec 2012, 2:18 pm
Some in the GOP have realized what progressives have been saying all along--that by winning the election, President Obama is in a much better negotiating position on taxes and spending than before, and the GOP really doesn't have many hands to play.
The trouble is, the GOP thinks if it "gives" on any tax increases on the wealthiest Americans that it should have the "right" to a "balanced deal" and get the Dems to go along with the decimation of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. This is… [read post]
4 Dec 2012, 3:08 am
Over the last five years our national debt has gone up by $7 trillion with annual budget deficits in excess of $1 trillion every year. That means that over the last five years our government has spent $7 trillion more than it had to spend. Obviously, some significant percentage of that amount would have to be spending on new stuff… as in, stuff we weren’t spending on before, right?
The latest debate in Washington, however, appears to be over raising taxes on the top… [read post]
30 Nov 2012, 9:49 am
From Investors Business Daily:What could go wrong?LINK [read post]
16 Nov 2012, 11:24 am
By Christine L. Owens, Executive Director, National Employment Law Project
With the election behind us, the looming fiscal cliff has now moved front and center in our national debate. The stakes are enormous, though as many note, the “cliff” is really a “slope,” with the effects of going over it more gradual than immediate and remediable by future action. But for one group of Americans -- the long-term unemployed -- Congress’s failure to meet an end-of-year deadline means a catastrophic… [read post]
9 Nov 2012, 8:55 am
I’d be interested in hearing people’s thoughts about whether we are going over the “fiscal cliff.” Are they going to put some pillows down in the canyon for us to land on, or are we just going to go SPLAT?
I don’t think I’d want to go over this one. [read post]
29 Jan 2013, 8:00 am
After the fiscal cliff deal, the Roth IRA just keeps getting better and better for more and more people. First, however, you need to understand what the Roth IRA is, how to use it, and most important, how to know if it is right for you. [read post]
4 Jan 2013, 8:13 am
IRS issues new updated withholding requirements for employers. See http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Provides-Updated-Withholding-Guidance-for-2013
[read post]
1 Jan 2013, 9:18 pm
Congress has passed legislation to address the “fiscal cliff” and the President is expected to sign it. If you are interested in the details of what stayed in and what was left out, a link to the text of the bill that was passed by the House today is below.
Read the text of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 here:American Tax Relief Act of 2012
[read post]
27 Nov 2012, 2:55 am
It is probably true that most Americans would like to see some kind of deal struck in Washington which would allow the country to avoid slipping lemming-like over a so-called 'fiscal cliff'. It is less clear whether the general consensus to be for that deal to include provisions leaving current federal employee benefits untouched... [read post]
28 Jan 2013, 10:01 am
There is much confusion and misinformation about the impact of the “fiscal cliff” tax law on charitable giving. Witness this tweet from Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President George W. Bush, quoted in an article he wrote that was published in The Wall Street Journal on Friday, January 4:... [read post]