Then a Tax is a fine for doing good.
With it being tax day, I did good enough, and as a result had to write a check to the IRS as I under-withheld due to doing better this year than last year.
A pity that Election Day isn't April 16, when everyone's tax returns are fresh in their minds.
Someone might want to remind Gretchen Whitmer that she is still (unfortunately for us) governor of the state of Michigan.
The Detroit News: 'Big Gretch out?' Michigan needs a governor who's still in.
Then again, she may do best running away from her record here rather than running on it.
The results of her governorship makes that rather clear.
In Michigan under "Big Gretch" Whitmer, literacy and education scores have declined, economic growth has gone down, and yet the state budget has steadily increased by 57% during her term in office, far in excess of the rate of inflation.
Now at $88.1 billion compared to the $56 Billion before she came into office, the budget now spends almost $9,000 per resident of this state. Even worse, it now spends around $21,487 per each and every one of the 4.1 million Michigan taxpayers actually paying for it - and not much to show in results for this excess and excessive spending either.
Mamdani's grandiose plan of spending an additional 11 billion dollars to New York City's already grossly inflated budget is running into a brush with reality.
He can't fund it without raising taxes, and he'd prefer that other people do the tax raisin' and get other people's money to pay for it.
New York Post: Zohran Mamdani unveils record $127B budget — fueled by proposed NYC property tax hike
So, in searching for other people's money to fund this insane spending spree, he demanded that the New York governor increase everyone's taxes to pay it, which is going as well as can be expected: IJR: Tax War Erupts Between Mamdani And Hochul.
With this budget, NYC will spend $127 Billion for the government of a single city.
The government for the entire State of Michigan by contrast, has a Budget of $88.1 Billion, even after the budget has been bloated over 50% by Governor Whitmer's increases over the course of her governorship.
Of course, the proposed speeding is chock-full of DEI and make-work jobs for his supporters, while defunding the police, even as the budget grows by 11 Billion. Fox News: Mamdani plan pours millions into ‘racial equity’ offices and six-figure diversity jobs, cuts 5,000 NYPD jobs
New Yorkers are about to get what they wanted, good and hard.
A Democrat proposing a tax reduction?
Well, yes, but more as a political ploy: The Detroit Free Press: Whitmer budget to propose $90M property tax break for Michigan seniors
Now, property taxes aren't levied by the state here in Michgian. This proposal instead allows a favored group of some seniors to pay lower property taxes with the state making up the shortfall to the local governments for doing so - and it would be a property tax credit only.
Not all Michigan homeowners, nor even all seniors, would benefit from such a tax credit which of course will be income adjusted to disappear as you earn more (and likely pay more property taxes), thus benefiting few.
Democrats here really hate broad-based tax reductions where everyone who pays taxes can benefit. Instead, they like convoluted tax reductions that can benefit their voters and supporters or that sound good but in actuality reduce very little in actual taxes paid by most people in this state - even going so far as to sue to prevent a reduciton int he state's sales tax.
This is more media gaming on Whitmer's part as she pivots towards a higher office and most likely a White House run.
Mexico is concerned that remittances from the USA might be taxed.
Yahoo News: Claudia Sheinbaum denounces proposed US remittance tax as ‘unacceptable’
El Paso Times: "This is worrying": Remittance tax would take money needed to support migrant families
The tax of 3.5% (and it should be more, the originally proposed 5% would have been a decent start) would hit the $64.7 billion sent to Mexico from the USA and raise two and a quarter billion dollars to the treasury, helping defray some of the costs imposed by illegals.
This was one of Trump's failures in his first term - had he pushed for, and imposed a tax on remittances then, Mexico really would have paid for the wall.
The remittance tax needs to become a law.
This is the day where the IRS demonstrates it's got what it takes to take what you got.
I wish today was also Election Day so people could reflect and vote on whether they were getting their money's worth from the taxes they pay. Politicians are too smart to do that.
I've already completed my taxes and filed my business and personal returns. Not enjoying the, in my view, rather excessive amount I'm paying to both the state and the feds, that's for sure.
For those of you who haven't, it's time to get it done or file an extension quickly.
For those of you who think there's some magical incantation in the tax code that can let you out of filing, you're sadly wrong.
Anybody who tells you not to file on the basis that: the tax system is "voluntary"; that you're a state citizen and not a United States citizen; that you're not an "individual"; that wages are not income; or that Section 869 of the tax code says you don't have to pay taxes is setting you up for a really bad fall.
This fall can include not just penalties and interest on top of the taxes you owe, but also possible misdemeanor and felony convictions for being a dumb-ass and willfully failing to pay your taxes and/or filing false returns.
There is no magical incantation or distorted, partial, and out-of-context reading of the tax code or portion of a case that lets you out of filing and paying taxes on income. It doth not work that way.
The IRS has pages and pages devoted to taking apart these scams, along with the cites to the court cases demolishing them: The Truth About Frivolous Arguments.
It's a very extensive series, as it's impressive as to how many dumb arguments are out there and how they've been shot down.
Short of permanently moving out of the United States and renouncing your citizenship while doing so and never working in the USA again, which I wouldn't recommend, you're going to have a very hard time coming up with a valid argument as to how income you receive is somehow not subject to income taxation.
If you want to stop filing taxes and paying income tax then stop having an income -- which is kinda hard.
Or, you can spend your time working on campaigning and voting for politicians who will end the income tax, which is also rather hard if not well nigh impossible. Indeed it is much harder than simply falling for a fake don't-pay-your-taxes scheme, but at least it doesn't result in interest, penalties, and a criminal conviction, so it has got that going for it, at least.
Michigan Counties, most notable Wayne County in which Detroit is sited, were stealing money from people in foreclosure for not paying their property taxes by selling the homes and keeping not just the property taxes owing but all the equity in the house that resulted from the sale.
The Michigan Supreme Court finally and property put an end to this practice.
So of course, progressives state that making the counties give back their ill-gotten gains to the homeowners is bad.
The Detroit Free Press: This Michigan Supreme Court ruling could help speculators, not homeowners
Much hand-wringing ensues, with the article claiming that many of the homes foreclosed on for lack of property taxes were owned by "speculators" and not "home owners", as if that is a reason why the government should not disgorge its ill-gotten gains that it got in these sales.
Then the argument is that giving the money back to the owners is too complicated.
Indeed, if anyone but a government did this they would be charged with theft, and they wouldn't get away with failing to pay it back by saying it is too complicated.
An interesting look at the progressive mindset: Theft is good, so long as it is the government that is doing it.
Democrats do love their toy trains.
I've blogged quite a bit on the Q-Line, a private-public partnership with losses socialized and profits (which don't exist) privatized, producing a train in Detroit that moves at the speed of a walk for 3.3 miles and costs millions to operate.
Now the State of Michigan is stepping in to forgive a 3.5 million dollar loan to keep the Q-Line in the black in return for . . . advertising rights on the side of the Q-Line streetcars. Oh joy. This is on top of another $85 million in taxpayer subsidies given to the Q-Line courtesy of Governor Whitmer.
This is being done as the non-profit operating the Q Line gets folded into the Regional Transit Authority. So, moving forward, the entire region including Macomb and Oakland Counties and not just Detroit can be on the hook to pay for this streetcar to nowhere.
The Detroit News: State forgives $3.5M loan for Detroit's QLine in exchange for ad rights on street car
Just more choo-choo cronyism at work, paid for with your tax dollars. Note that its the taxpayer and not the users that pay for the Q-Line as the rides are free as people won't pay to ride it.
So, of course, Biden is going to push for them, of course starting them out to first to be imposed on the wealthy.
The Detroit News: Biden: Ban deductions for firms paying executives more than $1 million
This would be on top of the already existing rule that bans the deduction for amounts over 1 Million. Or, maybe, Biden et al don't even know what the current law even is right now. Or, they decided to push for some class warfare knowing most people don't know about the current law either.
Look, if a company wishes to pay its execs over a million dollars, that's up to them. The company believes that those execs are providing more than their salaries back to the company as value. If they're wrong then the company's owners can fire them or revisit such salary decisions.
This may also cause top execs to go to other countries like in Europe where they can be compensated more. So, let's get a brain drain going 'cause that will sure help the economy. Not.
We will also note that some non-profits have also paid their top execs over $1 million as well, and since they don't pay taxes at all, one would think that would be more offensive.
On top of proposing to pass an already existing law, there's going to be even more class warfare being pushed:
Biden is going further in his calls to tax the wealthy, endorsing a new minimum tax proposal on corporations and a new tax on corporate jet travel.
Well, get ready for more unemployed jet pilots and aircraft companies if he punishes corporations for using corporate jets to get their people to places more efficiently.
Class warfare and damage to the economy the Democrat way - great for the progressive base, not so good for anyone else.
That sucking sound you just heard is $700 million in taxes being pulled out of your wallets for more Democrat government spending.
The Detroit Free Press: Michigan's income tax rate can rise in 2024, judge says
A Court of Claims judge this week dismissed a lawsuit from Republican state lawmakers and business advocacy groups asking that the default income tax rate in Michigan remain at 4.05% instead of 4.25%.
Barring a successful appeal, that likely clears the way for the state's income tax rate to return to 4.25% for the 2024 tax year, a change expected to bring about $700 million more into Michigan's general revenue fund.
That was Judge Elizabeth Gleicher, who tends to rule for the Dems, and here she nullified one of the words in the statute, making the tax decrease for one year only rather than it properly being the baseline under the law subject to being raised by further legislation.
But not to worry, that revenue will be used to bribe you to buy electric cars and to benefit Democrat-supporting unions in this state:
Yahoo News: Michiganders could save up to $2,500 on a new car under Whitmer rebate proposal
Whitmer's latest proposal for a state tax rebate lowers cost based on the type of vehicle purchased:
$2,500 for a new battery electric or hybrid vehicle made in a unionized facility
$2,000 for a new battery electric or hybrid vehicle made in a non-unionized facility
$1,500 for a new internal combustion vehicle made in a unionized facility
$1,000 for a new internal combustion vehicle made in a non-unionized facility
So a nice boost to push people to buy union-made cars, and electric ones as well, and a rebate to new car buyers at the expense of, and paid for, by everyone else in this state that likely would have preferred top keep their money in their pocket rather than for these Democrat-agenda-driven rebates.
A $700 million tax increase is quite the Grinch move there.
You never have to say you're sorry, so long as there's still other people's money available.
The Detroit News: Highland Park, GLWA strike deal trying to buy time for final settlement
The tentative deal comes as state lawmakers have attempted to provide bailout money. The Senate Appropriations Committee last month approved a $35.4 billion budget for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services that includes $20.3 million for Highland Park to use to repay the estimated $24 million with interest it owes the Great Lakes Water Authority for years of unpaid drinking water bills.
You see, the City of Highland Park doesn't just owe $24 million in unpaid water bills, they owe tens of millions more in unpaid water bills. Their current annual property tax revenue - $9.6 million. That's a problem. But now thanks to the Michigan Democrats, it won't be the city's problem and there will be no consequences to it and it's leadeship for this rather bad decision.
After all, there's tax money available from the rest of the state's taxpayers to be diverted.
The fun question is what was the city government of Highland Park doing with all the water payments made by residents there to the City all that time when they weren't paying it to GLWA?
A more pressing question is why should everyone else in the state be bailing them out for their deliberate decision and failure to pay for their water bills?
Our Dear Governor Whitmer is stating she will send a check for $180 to each taxpayer - thereby reducing the budget surplus in order to avoid the automatic tax cut to be applied to ALL taxpayers of Michigan should the biudget surplus remain as it is.
Except she actually isn't even going to send a $180 check to each Michigan taxpayer.
The Detroit Free Press: Gov. Whitmer proposal: A $180 check for each Michigan taxpayer
She's claiming she will do it, but the details of this part of her plan deliberately shafts quite a few Michigan working taxpayers - namely married ones:
One check would be issued for each income tax filing in 2023, so a couple filing jointly would receive one $180 check, not two, a spokesman said.
So sorry married workers, if both of you work and pay taxes, one of you doesn't count. Thus Gov half-Whit can't even tell more than a half-truth about her plan to dole out your tax money.
But wait, no need to worry there government-jilted spouse, your $180 will go to someone else, someone who doesn't even pay income taxes!
Also, those eligible to file income tax returns but who do not owe any taxes to the state would still be eligible for a check, a spokesman said.
Read that again, if you're married and you both pay taxes, only one of you will get the credit, but if you're single and you don't owe any income taxes, you can get $180 just by filing.
Why Democrats like to penalize marriage so much is a mystery, isn't it?
Why they like to give money away to their stalwart supporters is not.
Meanwhile her proposal also moves to exempt public pensions from being subject to income tax, to further reward her support base of public employees versus others with 401Ks, and some private pensions.
Picking winners and losers indeed, rewarding her base, and stopping universal tax relief for all Michigan taxpayers - that's her plan.
So much so, that she and the state Democrats are now busy scheming to try and prevent the state income tax cut mandated by law due to excessive taxes being collected.
The Detroit News: Looming automatic tax cut has Michigan Democrats studying optionsA proposal to redirect income tax revenues to avoid the potential income tax cut has been floated by Democrats privately in Lansing, in recent days, according to two sources with knowledge of the discussions who were not authorized to speak on them publicly. The possibility comes as state lawmakers look for ways to fund a program aimed at attracting large job-creating projects and as they prepare bills to provide targeted tax relief by decreasing taxes on retirement income and boosting a credit for low-wage workers.
Meanwhile, higher-than-expected tax revenue could trigger a cut in Michigan's personal income rate from 4.25% to 4.05%, or somewhere within that range, under a 2015 law, according to the nonpartisan House and Senate fiscal agencies.
Yep, they're trying to do some accounting gimmicks and stuff a crony slush fund to try and prevent the tax cut for all.
Simply pathetic.
Pathetic yet understandable.
After all, it's hard to grift and trade favors when the tax cut applies equally to all, rather than just going to favored Democrat voting groups.
Gov Whitmer of course, doesn't want this $9.2 Billion in excess state revenues going back to the taxpayers, especially not to those who paid the brunt of it.
The Detroit News: Michigan surplus balloons to $9.2B as 'mild recession' looms
To be fair, some of it is also your federal tax money getting doled out to the states along with money borrowed and part of the federal debt that you are on the hook for paying back eventually.
After all, that surplus could be around a $900 check sent to every single Michigan resident whether taxpayer or not. It would also be a lot higher if it went to taxpayers alone and would mean the cash back check to tax payers would be around $2,250 to each taxpayer, which is not chump change at all.
But, instead of giving it back to taxpayers, or using it to, you know, "fix the damn roads", Whitmer and the Dems want it to go to the tax-takers, of course.
On the upside, given the numbers, all Michigan citizens should see some minor tax relief as by law our state income tax due to this windfall should drop from 4.25% to 4.05% - be interesitng to see if the Democrats interfere with that existing law now that they have the state house, senate and governorship.
Of course, at the same time there is a surplus, they are also now cheerfully predicting just a "mild recession" this year. This means you better start battening down the hatches now as their predictions tend to be shall we say, a tad optimistic? After all, as the saying goes, when the USA catches a cold, Michigan tends to catch the flu.
While a fine is a tax for doing bad, a tax is a fine for doing good.
If that's truly the case, we were rather good this year. As a result, we're paying for it. Between the two of us this year, we paid more in state and federal income taxes than the salary from my first full time job. Ouch. We won;t even discuss property taxes, sales taxes, cell phone taxes, and gas taxes . . .
Elections really should be held the day after Tax Day when people realize how much of their money they're giving to the government and they can consider what they and the nation receive in return.
Reason: Not enough opportunities for graft and government spending if you provide relief to all the people of Michigan rather than the Democrat's favored few and using the money to buy votes.
The Detroit Free Press: Whitmer vetoes GOP Legislature's plans to cut taxes on personal income, fuel
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday issued a double-barreled veto, nixing a massive tax cut passed by the Michigan Legislature and promising to reject a pause in the state gas tax.
Both moves were expected.
Whitmer is instead calling for more targeted tax relief, such as a repeal of the state pension tax and a tripling of the state Earned Income Tax Credit for low income earners.
Michigan be sure to remember this come November.
As I suspected and expected, Governor Whitmer has never seen a tax she didn't like, nor any legislation that would prevent her from tinkering with taxing and spending to buy votes.
The Detroit News: Michigan gas-tax suspension bill could be headed for veto
Instead of broad-based relief, Whitmer wants targeted tax breaks to those most likely to vote for her and not for all the citizens of this state who she is supposed to represent.
The lovely double standard of requesting federal broad based abatement of the federal gas tax while refusing to do the same that is in her power at the state level is truly excellent,
If it wasn't for double standards, Gov. Whitmer would have none at all.
The Michigan Republicans better capitalize on this veto, her refusal to provide real relief and her ongoing double standard that sticks it to every Michigan resident in the election campaign.
Democrats are looking at the polls, looking at the price at the pump, looking at the upcoming mid-terms, and getting really nervous.
How do we know? Because of stories like this:
The Detroit Free Press: Whitmer joins other governors, calls on Congress to suspend federal fuel tax
Whitmer has never heard of a tax she didn't like, has attempted to increase Michigan's gas tax multiple times, and her now asking the Feds to quite taking taxes out of the cost of gas is a rather shameless ploy on her part.
Why? Because federal gas taxes come to 18.3 cents a gallon.
Michigan's gas tax, which she is not offering to stop collecting to bring relief to Michigan drivers - something she could do right now on her own - is a bit over 27 cents per gallon.
She could offer more relief immediately than what she's asking from the Feds, but will not do so, and then she'll try to look good by claiming she tried to have the feds reduce the tax.
Yes, it's the season for tax fraud yet again.
The Detroit Free Press: Scammers go after lucrative tax credits, use new tricks to file fake tax returns
As noted in the article, the IRS has unfortunately made it even easier for fraudsters this year.
They did so by removing one safeguard: if you're one of those whose 2020 return is still not processed by the IRS you can place a 0 on your return for the prior year to prov e you identity. Unfortunately, anyone else can do that just as easily rather than a fraudster actually having to know your last year's income to use your ID to steal a tax refund under your name. Nice way to open the door wide open there.
Add lots of refundable credits including for people who don't need to show any income at all, and you get some of the scams in the article, such as someone stealing an identity and then claiming to have 13 kids to get thousands of dollars in unearned tax credits sent right to them.
Of course, the IRS keeps it easy by allowing fraudsters to get money in an easy and untraceable way:
Many times, the refund cash is to be deposited onto a prepaid debit card so that crooks have easy access to the money.Allowing refunds on anonymous debit cards rather than to only the actual bank accounts or a check made out in the name of the filer is ridiculous. I'm almost surprised the IRS doesn't allow a refund to go to an anonymous digital coin account.
I guess the IRS has gotta allow the "unbanked" and illegals and of course the legion of fraudsters to get their (and other's) refunds without any need to prove their identity, right? Of course, this is at the expense of much easier fraud against the rest of us and the Treasury itself.
Maybe the IRS should take a real step to cut down on fraud and stop issue tax refunds on debit cards, and require it to go to bank accounts where the name on the account at least matches the filer's name.
Mr. B. looked with some dread at the question: How much of the US economy is fake?
If you consider US state and federal government going to waste and fraud, the answer is a heckuva lot.
US Government Accountability Office puts annual fraud in US government programs at 233 Billion to 521 billion per year.
Elon Musk had an estimate of annual fraud in US federal government spending at 1.5 trillion – equivalent to slightly over half of all the 2.5 trillion dollars in taxes collected from American individual taxpayers per year.
In other words, if we got rid of the fraud at the federal level, we could pay half the federal income taxes we pay now with the exact same results.
This isn't even touching wasteful government spending at the Federal and State level.
At the State level, there's quite a lot going on as we saw in Minnesota and California which ranges into the billions of dollars.