#federal revenue

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Erstwhile Bolsonaro allies had their tax records scrutinized, says report

A former head of intelligence at Brazil’s federal tax authority used his position to illegally access confidential information about ex-allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro, newspaper Folha de S.Paulo has reported.

Ricardo Pereira Feitosa, who served as coordinator-general of research and investigation at the Receita Federal tax authority between May and September 2019, reportedly pulled up income tax records on businessman Paulo Marinho, Gustavo Bebianno (a member of Mr. Bolsonaro’s original cabinet), and former prosecutor Eduardo Gussem on three dates in July 2019, during the first year of the Bolsonaro government.

Mssrs. Marinho and Bebianno had supported Mr. Bolsonaro’s election bid in 2018 but broke with the former president early into his term. Mr. Bebianno briefly served as Mr. Bolsonaro’s secretary-general to the presidency, before being the first cabinet member to be axed in February 2019. He died of a heart attack aged 56 in March 2020.

Mr. Gussem, meanwhile, served as lead prosecutor for the state of Rio de Janeiro between 2017 and 2021, when the state prosecution service began investigating suspicious transactions in the accounts of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president’s eldest son, leading to an investigation into an illegal kickback scheme allegedly carried out when Flávio was a Rio state lawmaker.

Continue reading.

[158590]

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen defended the Internal Revenue Service in a speech Tuesday against repeated threats from Republicans to cut the agency’s funding.

“Playing politics with IRS funding is unacceptable. Cutting it would be damaging and irresponsible,” Yellen said.

The IRS was allocated an influx of $80 billion by the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, which passed last year. The funds are intended to help crack down on tax cheats and improve taxpayer service.

But the funding has become politically controversial.

Most recently, House Republicans voted to rescind $14.3 billion from the IRS to pay for an emergency aid package for Israel in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks, but the bill is unlikely to even get brought up for a vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson said the IRS cuts would offset the spending for Israel, but independent budget experts have repeatedly said that taking money away from the IRS’ enforcement actions will actually add to the deficit. In fact, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last week that cutting $14.3 billion from the IRS would reduce the amount of tax revenue the agency can collect by $26.8 billion over 10 years.

The House GOP has made several efforts to claw back some IRS funds since taking control of the chamber in January, and some Representatives have even called for abolishing the IRS altogether. Earlier this year, Republicans were successful in rescinding $20 billion from the IRS as part of a deal to address the debt ceiling.

Many Republicans claim the IRS will use the money to hound middle-class taxpayers and small business owners, though the Biden administration has said that taxpayers earning less than $400,000 a year won’t face an increase in taxes due to the new funding.

“Let me be as clear as possible. The IRS agenda in using Inflation Reduction Act funds is as follows: If you are middle- or low-income, better service; if you are wealthy, more scrutiny,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel in a speech he gave Tuesday following Yellen’s remarks.

IRS IMPROVEMENTS

The Biden administration is eager to show how the new funding is helping the IRS improve its taxpayer services and ramp up enforcement efforts.

“The new funding is driving change across the IRS, and we are seeing a wave of improvements that the agency hasn’t seen in a generation,” Werfel said.

During the 2023 filing season, the IRS was able to answer 3 million more calls and cut phone wait times to three minutes from 28 minutes compared with the year before after hiring 5,000 new customer service representatives. And by ramping up enforcement on millionaires this year, the IRS has collected $160 million in back taxes.

The IRS has also already met its goal, set earlier this year, to make sure taxpayers can respond to all IRS correspondence online. Previously, there were certain forms that could only be responded to on paper through the mail. As a result of this change, the IRS estimates more than 94% of individual taxpayers will no longer have to send mail to the agency.

The IRS has also put a plan in motion to digitize all paper-filed tax returns by 2025. The move is expected to cut processing times in half and speed up refunds by four weeks.

There are more improvements the IRS expects to roll out next year.

For example, the existing online tool known as “Where’s My Refund?” will be able to give taxpayers more detailed information about the status of their refund after filing their federal tax return, including whether the IRS needs them to respond to a letter requesting additional information.

The IRS is also expecting to provide more in-person tax filing support at its Taxpayer Assistance Centers. Taxpayers can go to those sites to receive free help from trained volunteers. The agency’s goal is to increase the number of taxpayers receiving free tax preparation help by around 50,000 in filing season 2024.

While these improvements are intended to give taxpayers fewer reasons to call the IRS, new technology is cutting down on wait times when they have to pick up the phone. The main IRS line now has a call-back option when the expected wait time exceeds 15 minutes. A caller can hang up and receive a call back later.

In addition, the IRS is currently working on building its own free tax filing program, known as Direct File, that will launch as a limited pilot program next year and be available to some taxpayers in 13 states.

[emergingpakistan]

اہم ٹیکس اصلاحات

فیڈرل بورڈ آف ریونیو (ایف بی آر) نے ٹیکس قوانین سے نان فائلرز کی کیٹگری ختم کرنے اور ٹیکس نہ دینے والوں پر 15 پابندیاں لگانے کا جو فیصلہ کیا وہ معاشی چیلنجوں کا سامنا کرنے والے وطن عزیز کیلئے نہ صرف وقت کی ضرورت ہیں بلکہ امور مملکت چلانے کے تقاضوں کا لازمی جزو بھی۔ ریاست ایک ماں کی طرح اپنے بچوں کیلئے اپنے وسائل وقف کرتی اور بنیادی حقوق اور سلامتی سمیت تمام امور کی نگہبانی کرتی ہے تو ان سے ان کی آمدنی اور حیثیت کے مطابق ملکی معاملات چلانے کے لئے ٹیکس کی طلب گار بھی ہوتی ہے جس سے انکار یا ہیر پھیر کا طرز عمل دنیا کے کسی ملک میں برداشت نہیں کیا جاتا۔ کئی ممالک میں تو ٹیکس گریزی یا آمدنی و وسائل کے بارے میں غلط معلومات فراہم کرنے والوں کو سنگین جرم کا مرتکب قرار دیا جاتا ہے۔ جو ممالک آج ترقی یافتہ کہلاتے ہیں، ان کی ترقی و خوشحالی کا ایک اہم عنصر وہاں ٹیکس کی ادائیگی کا کلچر ہے۔ وطن عزیز میں محصولات میں اضافے کی راہ میں حائل رکاوٹوں کے حوالے سے اشرافیہ کے طرز عمل، سرکاری اداروں میں رشوت ستانی، مختلف النوع ٹیکس استثنا اور ایسے عوامل شامل ہیں جن کی آڑ میں ٹیکس گریزی کے عادی عناصر پناہ لیتے رہے ہیں۔

 پچھلے برسوں کے دوران معیشت کو دستاویزی بنانے کے لئے جو ترغیبات دی گئیں ان میں فائلرز کے لئے بعض رعایتیں اور نان فائلرز کے لئے کچھ رکاوٹیں شامل تھیں جن کے نتائج توقعات کے مطابق نہیں رہے۔ اب حکومت نے ٹیکس قوانین میں نئی اصلاحات کا فیصلہ کیا ہے تو کہا جاتا ہے کہ موجودہ فائلرز اور نان کمپلائنٹ شہریوں سے مزید ریونیو حاصل کرنے کے لئے بڑے صنعت کاروں کی حمایت حاصل کر لی گئی ہے۔ تاہم صنعت کاروں کا موقف ہے کہ زراعت پر ٹیکس نہ لگا تو ٹیکس ٹو جی ڈی پی تناسب جمود کا شکار رہے گا۔ اسلام آباد میں صنعت کاروں اور تاجروں سے ملاقات میں چیئرمین ایف بی آر وزیر مملکت برائے خزانہ  نے جو باتیں بتائیں ان سے ظاہر ہوتا ہے کہ پچھلے برس نان فائلرز سے صرف 25 ارب روپے فیس کی مد میں جمع ہوئے۔ اب نان فائلر کیٹگری ختم ہونے کی صورت میں لین دین پر ٹیکس ادا کرنے سے بچنے کے لئے معمولی فیس ادا کرنے کا راستہ بند ہو گیا ہے۔ نان فائلرز کی کیٹگری ختم کرکے ٹیکس نہ دینے والوں پر جو 15 پابندیاں عائد کی جانی ہیں ان میں سے پانچ ابتدائی طور پر لگائی جائیں گی جن میں جائداد ،گاڑیوں، بین الاقوامی سفر، کرنٹ اکائونٹ کھولنے اور میوچل فنڈز میں سرمایہ کاری پر پابندیاں شامل ہیں۔

حکومت نے جدید مشین لرننگ اور الگور تھمز کے ذریعے نان فائلرز کی شناخت کا فیصلہ کیا ہے۔ اسٹیٹ بینک کے ساتھ مل کر ایسے افراد کی نگرانی کی جائے گی جن کی آمدن کی سطح ان کے لین دین سے مطابقت نہیں رکھتی۔ چیئرمین ایف بی آر کے مطابق یہ اقدامات ایف بی آر کے تبدیلی کے منصوبے کا حصہ ہیں۔ جسے وزیراعظم کی منظوری مل چکی ہے اور بتدریج نان فائلرز کی 15 اقسام کے ٹرانزیکشنز پابندیوں کی زد میں آجائیں گے۔ جہاں تک مبصرین کا تعلق ہے، ان کا موقف پہلے بھی یہ رہا ہے اور آج بھی ہے کہ مخصوص آمدن سے زائد انکم اور وسائل کے حامل تمام لوگوں کو دیانتداری سے ٹیکس ادا کرنا چاہئے۔ بااثر افراد کے لئے چھوٹ کی گنجائشیں نکالنے سے گریز کیا جانا چاہئے کیونکہ ٹیکس ادا نہ کرنے والوں کا بوجھ ان لوگوں پر پڑتا ہے جو ایمانداری سے ٹیکس ادا کرتے ہیں جبکہ ٹیکس گریزی کےاثرات فلاحی اقدامات کی کٹوتی، غربت میں اضافے اور قرض خواہی کی صورت میں ظاہر ہوتے ہیں۔ توقع کی جانی چاہئے کہ نئی ٹیکس اصلاحات کے نتیجے میں ملکی معیشت استحکام کی راہ پر تیزی سے ا��گے بڑھے گی اور قرضوں کے بھاری بوجھ سے نجات میں مدد ملے گی۔

بشکریہ روزنامہ جنگ

[artisticdivasworld]

Truck Parking Revisited

Every day all over the country, drivers are using their last hour of driving time to try to find a safe place to park their rig.. It’s no secret that the lack of truck parking out there is getting ridiculous. Every day, drivers have to resort to parking in an unsafe place or risk going over their allotted HOS—it’s dangerous for you, your cargo, and other drivers on the road. Some have to park on…

[sarhadkasakshi]

No extension in tax return submission deadline: FBR - SUCH TV

Putting rumours to the rest, the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) on Monday said that the September 30 deadline for the submission of tax returns was not being extended. In a statement issued today, the tax regulatory authority clarified that media reports about extension of income tax returns filing date “are untrue”. “All taxpayers are urged to file their income tax returns immediately to avoid…

[indianahal]

The US. government has placed new generations of Americans in financial peril because of their out-of-control spending.  The congress has crossed over the $33 trillion threshold of debt.  In recent months the debt is accelerating with over $1 trillion added almost every three months.  Spending is out running revenues by such a huge margin that the ratio of public debt to GDP cannot be maintained.  My new video looks at this, and also how the non-stop printing of money is weakening the value of the dollar worldwide.

[nationallawreview]

USCIS Improvements Cut Naturalization Processing Time

USCIS is processing naturalization cases faster than they have in years, and the agency is managing to cut down on its naturalization backlog. Given the current average timing, eligible green card holders who applied early in the summer 2024 might be sworn in in time to vote in the upcoming November elections. Of course, field offices vary in processing times, but USCIS stated it was effectively…

[townpostin]

Supreme Court Empowers Jharkhand to Tax Minerals, Boosting State Revenue

Landmark Ruling Overturns 35-Year Precedent, Granting States Authority Over Mineral Taxation The Supreme Court’s recent decision on mineral taxation has been hailed as a game-changer for Jharkhand’s economic autonomy and development prospects. RANCHI – The financial landscape of Jharkhand and other states has the potential to be transformed by an innovative legal verdict that has granted them the…

[legalattorneyblog]

Nigerian Federal Government Drops Tax Evasion Charges Against Binance Executives

The Federal Government of Nigeria has officially dropped tax evasion charges against two high-ranking executives of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen and head of financial crimes compliance at Binance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan national and regional manager for Africa, were released from these charges after Binance appointed a…

[thetaxplanett]

Discover The Tax Planet, the ultimate resource for federal income tax in the USA and the key to hassle-free filing and financial success! Our skilled staff guarantees a stress-free tax season by providing exceptional insights and assistance for maximum financial success. We ensure a seamless filing process catered to your specific requirements, making it easier than ever to navigate the complexity of federal taxation. The Tax Planet can simplify the complex world of income tax by providing thorough information and committed help. Join us on the path to financial well-being, where convenience and competence come together for a profitable future.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Opinion | The GOP tax plan is to let the rich pay less and make you pay more

By Jennifer Rubin

President Biden, consistent with his idea of building an economy from “the bottom up and the middle out,” has tried to get the rich and big corporations to pay more taxes. The MAGA GOP, abandoning all pretense of populism, has a scheme to junk the progressive tax code and replace it with a national sales tax, with devastating results for the middle class.

That tells you a lot about the contrasting visions of the two parties. One still fights for the little guy in practical, concrete terms while the other proposes one harebrained scheme after another with no regard to the needs of average Americans.

Biden’s American Rescue Plan expanded the child tax credit for a year and permanently made it fully refundable, meaning that parents receive the money regardless of how much they owe in taxes. Keeping his promises not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year and to get businesses to pay more, Biden raised $300 billion in revenue in the Inflation Reduction Act by placing a new tax on stock buybacks and enacting a minimum tax on big corporations. To the chagrin of tax cheats (and their sympathetic Republican politicians), the law also boosted funding for the Internal Revenue Service to crack down on tax evaders.

None of these were radical changes in the code. More far-reaching plans to increase the individual top marginal tax rate, to boost the corporate tax rate, to equalize tax treatment of capital gains and ordinary income for those making more than $400,000, and to eliminate the step-up basis for the estate tax never passed.

The principle underlying all of these measures, which would be comparatively small adjustments that would not hit the vast majority of Americans, was simple: The rich have made out very well and should pay more taxes; working- and middle-class taxpayers shouldn’t.

“Over the past 40 years, the wealthy have gotten wealthier, and too many corporations have lost their sense of responsibility to their workers, their communities and the country,” Biden said in a speech in September 2021. “CEOs used to make about 20 times the average worker in the company that they ran. Today, they make more than 350 times what the average worker in their corporation makes.” He added, “Since the pandemic began, billionaires have seen their wealth go up by $1.8 trillion. That is, everyone who was a billionaire before the pandemic began, the total accumulated wealth beyond the billions they already had has gone up by $1.8 trillion.”

That grotesque widening of income inequality offends most Americans, who consistently tell pollsters the rich should pay more.

GOP politicians and their wealthy donors see things differently. The first tax measure proposed by the MAGA House was to try to take back funding for the IRS to chase down tax cheats.

“The debate should focus on one accurate and alarming number: the IRS has 2,284 fewer skilled auditors to handle the sophisticated returns of wealthy taxpayers than it did in 1954,” Chuck Marr of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities wrote. “The decade-long, House Republican-driven budget cuts have created dysfunction at the IRS, where relatively few millionaires are now audited.”

But allowing tax cheats to avoid paying what they legally owe is not the sum total of the GOP thinking on taxes. “As part of his deal to become House Speaker,” Semafor reported, “Kevin McCarthy reportedly promised his party’s conservative hardliners a vote on legislation that would scrap the entire American tax code and replace it with a jumbo-sized national sales tax.”

A mammoth 30% sales tax would be grossly regressive, socking it to the same working- and middle-class families Republicans ostensibly worry are paying more at the pump and grocery store because of inflation.

You know the idea is rotten when Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform, blasted the move. He told Semafor: “This is a political gift to Biden and the Democrats.” Even Norquist knows that because the poor and middle class spend a much higher percentage of their income on necessities such as food and clothing, the impact would be devastating.

Unsurprisingly Democrats leaped at the chance to blast the scheme. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted:

Biden also hammered Republicans: “National sales tax, that’s a great idea. It would raise taxes on the middle class by taxing thousands of everyday items from groceries to gas, while cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans.”

The GOP plan boils down to this: Let rich tax cheats get away with not paying what they owe while redoing the entire tax system so the overwhelming burden will fall on those less able to pay. Genius! Well, if you are a Democrat running in 2024.

The plan is unlikely even to get a vote. But it is indicative of the utter lack of seriousness that pervades the GOP. They throw out one boneheaded idea after another, hoping to please some segment of their base or donors, with nary a care in the world for the needs of their constituents nor for the actual challenges we face.

[reasonsforhope]

"The Biden administration on Thursday [August 15, 2024] released prices for the first 10 prescription drugs that were subject to landmark negotiations between drugmakers and Medicare, a milestone in a controversial process that aims to make costly medications more affordable for older Americans. 

The government estimates that the new negotiated prices for the medications will lead to around $6 billion in net savings for the Medicare program in 2026 alone when they officially go into effect, or 22% net savings overall. That is based on the estimated savings the prices would have produced if they were in effect in 2023, senior administration officials told reporters Wednesday.

The Biden administration also expects the new prices to save Medicare enrollees $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs in 2026 alone.

“For so many people, being able to afford these drugs will mean the difference between debilitating illness and living full lives,” Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, told reporters. “These negotiated prices. They’re not just about costs. They are about helping to make sure that your father, your grandfather or you can live longer, healthier.”

It comes one day before the second anniversary of President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act, which gave Medicare the power to directly hash out drug prices with manufacturers for the first time in the federal program’s nearly 60-year history.

Here are the negotiated prices for a 30-day supply of the 10 drugs, along with their list prices based on 2023 prescription fills, according to a Biden administration fact sheet Thursday.

What Medicare and beneficiaries pay for a drug is often much less than the list price, which is what a wholesaler, distributor or other direct purchaser paid a manufacturer for a medication before any discounts...

The administration unveiled the first set of medications selected for the price talks in August 2023, kicking off a nearly yearlong negotiation period that ended at the beginning of the month.

The final prices give drugmakers, which fiercely oppose the policy, a glimpse of how much revenue they could expect to lose over the next few years. It also sets a precedent for the additional rounds of Medicare drug price negotiations, which will kick off in 2025 and beyond. 

First 10 drugs subject to Medicare price negotiations

Eliquis, made by Bristol Myers Squibb, is used to prevent blood clotting to reduce the risk of stroke. 

Jardiance, made by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, is used to lower blood sugar for people with Type 2 diabetes. 

Xarelto, made by Johnson & Johnson, is used to prevent blood clotting, to reduce the risk of stroke.

Januvia, made by Merck, is used to lower blood sugar for people with Type 2 diabetes.

Farxiga, made by AstraZeneca, is used to treat Type 2 diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease. 

Entresto, made by Novartis, is used to treat certain types of heart failure.

Enbrel, made by Amgen, is used to treat autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. 

Imbruvica, made by AbbVie and J&J, is used to treat different types of blood cancers. 

Stelara, made by Janssen, is used to treat autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s disease.

Fiasp and NovoLog, insulins made by Novo Nordisk.

In a statement Thursday, Biden called the new negotiated prices a “historic milestone” made possible because of the Inflation Reduction Act. He specifically touted Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote for the law in the Senate in 2022.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said in a statement that she was proud to cast that deciding vote, adding there is more work to be done to lower health-care costs for Americans.

“Today’s announcement will be lifechanging for so many of our loved ones across the nation, and we are not stopping here,” Harris said in a statement Thursday, noting that additional prescription drugs will be selected for future rounds of negotiations."

-via CNBC, August 15, 2024

[artisticdivasworld]

How to Upgrade Your Truck Without Breaking the Bank: A Guide for the Individual Trucker

The new EPA regulations are probably the last thing you want to hear about right now. It feels like every time we turn around, there’s another rule or restriction. And honestly, it’s frustrating! But before you throw your hands up in anger, let’s talk about how these changes could actually work in your favor and, more importantly, what options are out there to help you upgrade your trucks without…

[nerdwelt]

LOLEK-Administrator verhaftet - Unterstützung der Netwalker-Ransomware-Bande Verbesserte Schlagzeile: LOLEK-Administrator verhaftet für Netzwalker-Ransomware-Unterstützung

Verbesserter Titel: LOLEKHosted-Administrator verhaftet wegen Unterstützung der Netwalker-Ransomware-Bande Verbesserte deutsche Schlagzeile: LOLEKHosted-Administrator aufgrund von Unterstützung der Netwalker-Ransomware-Bande festgenommen Update 11.08.23: Aktualisiert mit Informationen des DOJ über eine mutmaßliche Beteiligung an Netwalker Ransomware. Die Polizei hat den…