Five 2014 Tax Law Changes You Need to Know About
Tax law changes every year. Laws are updated, loopholes are blocked and other modifications are generated. A few of these changes affect essentially each of the wage earners while others could impact primarily small businesses or higher-income taxpayers.
Last tax period, many filers experienced a significant decrease in their take-home pay thanks to 2013 tax law changes. This year, the news may not be all negative.
Actually, a couple of impending tax legislation changes will lead to a few taxpayers experiencing actual tax savings. However, other taxpayers of could be facing new penalties due to issues concerning their health insurance status.
New for 2014
FICA and Medicare Taxes
In 2013, many taxpayers saw their taxes increase due to
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The wage base related to FICA is scheduled to increase in 2014, although there is no tax increase. This increase to $115,500 reflects a mere $1,800 rise in the wage base, or maximum taxable Social Security income.
Exemptions and Deductions
The tax code is devised to accommodate fluctuations in the cost of living. Even though many Americans are very wary of rising prices, this kind of change may actually assist taxpayers to economize. Changes ensure that filers find themselves in the proper tax bracket, yet they even affect tax breaks like exemptions as well as standard reductions.
For 2014, these kinds of adjustments might save middle-income married couples $200. Single filers will notice financial savings as well. Personal exemptions are going to be aligned with regard to inflation, as well as limitations for IRA contributions, education and training credits.
A few taxpayers could very well continue to benefit from itemizing their deductions; anyone thinking about doing this should talk about choices and situations with a licensed tax
This is a complex case, involving multiple parties and several variables that need to be examined thoroughly. The parties mentioned include Knarles operator of the facility maintenance company, his son Barkley, their employee, a licensed plumber, and Mr. Chetum. Although in the end Chetum is suing the facilities maintenance firm for a breach of contract, all factors must be examined to determine proper fault.
Whether or not to keep or discard the Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy, give tax breaks to the lowest tax bracket, and even throwing out the entire current tax code and replacing it with a simpler version, tax code and tax law has been a very controversial topic for the past few years. As it stands, the current tax code has over seventy two thousand pages, compared to the four hundred pages it had in 1913. There are many different stakeholders in this debate including taxpayers, corporations, businesses, etc. Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is an organization that was “founded in 1985 by Grover Norquist at the request of President Reagan”(.N.p.). Their goal is to create and advocate for a simple flat tax,“...on the belief that they will provide a strong stimulus to investment, employment, and output” (Stokey 1). They promote their organization and represent taxpayers in all fifty states. Along with tax reform, ATR also advocates for individual health care, free trade, and spending transparency (.N.p.). Using very simple and easy to understand images, ATR is able to convey their goals and get information across to the general audience that visits their website.
Murray reported his employer to the Environmental Protection Agency claiming his employer had been illegally dumping chemicals into a river. Murray’s employer fired him and intentionally attempted to prevent Murray from attaining another job. Murray retaliated by suing his former employer. Murray claimed that his reputation was damaged and he won the lawsuit. Murray received an award for “damages to his personal and professional reputation and for his mental suffering.” Murray makes an argument stating this award is a recovery of his human capital, and a recovery of capital is not income. Will this amount be taxable?
Last weekend, while attending Lexington, KY’s Southland Christian Church, I received an invitation to attend a “Poor Man’s After-Tax Dinner.” Located on a 115-acre plot that occupies a stretch of the rapidly disappearing farmland between Lexington and Jessamine County, Southland will host the gala, which includes a catered meal and a performance by the Dale Adams Band. On the church’s website, an announcement for the event asks, “Did you have to pay when you filed taxes? This month’s Gathering is designed to help you to forget your IRS woes.”[1] The After-Tax Dinner will minister to those still reeling from the April 15th deadline, and, with any luck, it will foster solidarity among Southland’s flock, the majority of whom are members of the tax bracket whose wallets ache most severely after just having rendered unto Caesar the money that belongs to him.
Many debates have been waged over the decades on what will be taxed, on who shall be taxed and how taxes are collected. Since the 16th Amendment was ratified in 1913, the debate has intensified, centering on how high to make the income tax rate. Most Americans were not concerned since the Amendment was sold to them as something that would only affect corporations and the rich. With ever increasing fervor these corporations created lobbyists to convince Congress to exempt them from some or all of the income tax. The big breakthrough in this was taxing the worker directly with payroll taxes during World War II. This method of collecting income tax was sold to Americans as temporary, but Congress has extended it indefinitely and the public has become used to it. The next few decades saw the debate revolve around creating tax breaks for individuals in an attempt to modify behavior or spending. This has resulted in over 67,000 pages of tax code and an entire industry devoted to tax compliance and evasion, with the unintended behavioral change of corporations and the rich parking their money outside of the United States in small island nations to avoid taxation. These offshore accounts are estimated to hold $10 trillion dollars, a number approximate to the national debt. The FairTax Act should be enacted because it eliminates all federal income taxes for individuals and corporations, eliminates all federal payroll withholding taxes, abolishes estate and capital gains taxes and repeals the 16th Amendment; thus eliminating the need for offshore accounts.
Our current system of taxation is a varied rate percentage based on different income brackets. Many say that it violates our constitutional rights through unequal taxation. Multiple deductions, loopholes, special rates, and a complex system of regulations all characterize our Federal Income Tax System, prompting many to question why it is still being used (Peters, 2013). The current system although bringing in over $3 trillion, taxes income multiple times, and includes the taxing of estate, labor, savings, and investments (National Priorities Project, 2013). The system itself is complex with over 20,000 pages of regulations, requiring a massive filing system, which is set up and maintained by an even larger IRS, requiring over $225 billion in compliance costs (Hall, 2001). One can be hard pressed to find an advantage in the current system, other than the fact that it provides the government with an enormous amount of funds, and it has...
To understand this compromise, there needs to be a basic understanding of the United States current tax code, more specifically in this situation the federal income tax code. The income tax makes up 46 percent of the federal governments three trillion dollar internal revenue, that is 1.38 trillion dollars (.N.p.).
Nearly every aspect of law enforcement has a court decision that governs criteria. Most court rulings are the result of civil lawsuit towards a police officer and agency. However, currently, there is no law that mandates law enforcement driver training. When it comes to firearms, negligence by officers has resulted in a multitude of court rulings. Popow v. City of Margate, 1979, is a particularly interesting case that outlines failed firearms training by an agency. In this case, an officer chasing a suspect during a foot pursuit fired at the suspect, striking and killing an innocent bystander (Justia.com, 2017). The court ruled that the agency was “grossly negligent” of “failure to train” (Justia.com, 2017). As a result, nearly every agency requires annual firearms training and has written policy concerning the same. Officers must show proficiency in firearms use every year to maintain their certification. Many states even impose fines on officers for
Given the situation, as manager of the office, Sara must talk to Nell and tell her that she can not allow her to stay doing her work because she is not fit to comply with them due to her drunken state. However, you must ask her to leave the office and return the next day when she is already sober to talk about the particular situation.
Taxes in relation to the new healthcare reform is a prominent topic when one examines the supporting and opposing sides of the law. New taxes on businesses producing medical equipment and new Medicare taxes on investments have been established. For individuals and businesses choosing not to participate in purchasing health insurance there will be a penalty called a "shared responsibility" tax. The accrued money from these taxes is being used, among other things, to provide low-cost insurance plans on the marketplace and to create subsidies for those purchasing the plans. Through these subsidies, "any individual making up to $45,960 or a family of four with household income up to $94,200 is eligible" ("Obamacare tax guide") to qualify and get assistance at the end of each year to off-set the cost of the insurance even more...
This component is a good way to cut down on discretionary spending and save the country billions of dollars but it will a lot hurt the economy in a lot of ways. We need to elaborate on the reform, and not completely ignore the reform like Obama has been doing for the last three years.
Blaise M. Sonnier, J.D., DBA. (2012). Circular 230: Its Day-to-Day Impact on Tax Practices. Retrieved October 12, 2016, from http://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2012/feb/tpr-feb12.html
Because all economic brackets are taxed equally under a flat tax, earning more money is no longer discouraged. Because there are no more marginal tax rates, people will have incentive to work more without worrying that the extra money they make will be taxed higher. It is said that the economy would grow by 5.
In this scenario, I am an English teacher and a novelist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The sales tax in this state is 7%. My gross income is $55, 050 with my teaching job. This number was reached because it was the national average income of a high school teacher in 2012. With this number, I fit into the tax bracket of “over $36, 900 but not over $89, 350.” With this tax bracket, an individual deducts $5,081.25 plus 25% of the excess over $36, 900 (IRS tax brackets, 2014). With these stipulations, the amount deducted from my annual paycheck was $9, 816, leaving my net income at $45, 432 annually. When the number was divided into the 12 months, it left $3, 786 dollars to work with each month.
When it comes to federal taxes they mostly stay the same but the one tax that does change is state taxes. Some businesses look to the states with the lowest tax rate to open their business. When you have short-term investments, you will pay short-term capital gains tax and long-term investments you pay long-term capital gains. When the investments are held longer they tend to a lower rate. Business owners have to worry if politicians raise or cut the tax rate. If a business doesn’t know what their tax rate will be they tend not to expand or hire (Sherman, para