Tag: taxes

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Burger Kings says headquarters isn’t moving to Canada

As Burger King’s plans to evade paying taxes in the US and move to Canada (by buying coffee and donut maker Tim Horton’s) drew ire, Burger King issued this statement on their Facebook page:

We hear you. We’re not moving, we’re just growing and finding ways to serve you better.

As part of the announcement made today, both Burger King Corp. and Tim Hortons will continue to operate as independent brands. We’ll just be under common ownership. Our headquarters will remain in Miami where we were founded more than 60 years ago and business will continue as usual at our restaurants around the world.

The decision to create a new global QSR leader with Tim Hortons is not tax-driven – it’s about global growth for both brands. BKC will continue to pay all of our federal, state and local U.S. taxes.

We’re proud of the heritage of Burger King and will maintain our long-standing commitment to our employees, franchisees and the local communities we serve.

The WHOPPER isn’t going anywhere.

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Alaska Supreme Court rules state tax law discriminates against same-sex couples

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled today that the state unconstitutionally discriminates against same-sex couples by denying them equal access to a property tax exemption for senior citizens and disabled veterans.

The rules were challenged by the ACLU of Alaska, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on behalf of three couples who were denied full access to a $150,000 property tax exemption that Alaska makes available to opposite-sex married couples. Because same-sex couples cannot legally marry in Alaska, the state treated them as roommates rather than as families and let them get the exemption for only half of the value of their homes.

“Families in Alaska deserve better than a second-class system of laws for same-sex couples who are just as committed to each other as heterosexual couples,” said Joshua Decker, executive director of the ACLU of Alaska. “Our senior citizens and veterans should not have to pay more taxes just because they happen to be gay or lesbian.”

The lead plaintiffs, Julie Schmidt, 71, and Gayle Schuh, 66, have been partners for 36 years, and moved to Alaska from Illinois after retiring from careers in education.

“Gayle and I built a home and a life here because we loved what Alaska had to offer,” said Schmidt. “It hurt that the state that we loved so much treated us like strangers. It is gratifying to have our relationship recognized.”

(via ACLU press release)

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Lauryn Hill sentenced to 3 months prison for tax evasion

Ahh, I hate stories like this.  And for responsible adults who enjoy amazing success, there’s really no good reason. Makes me sad.

Grammy award-winning singer Lauryn Hill was sentenced Monday to three months in federal prison for failing to pay taxes on more than $2 million in earnings during a five-year period.

From NBC Entertainment News:

Lauryn Hill was sentenced to three months in prison during a hearing at a Newark, N.J., federal court on Monday, May 6, despite paying off her long-overdue taxes just ahead of her court appearance.

According to The Associated Press, Hill will not only serve time behind bars, but will also be sentenced to three additional months of home confinement. During the hearing Monday, the singer reportedly reiterated her intentions to pay off her debt.

Hill, 37, shelled out more than $970,000 to cover the three years’ worth of taxes that she owed in both state and federal taxes, her attorney Nathan Hochman told the Associated Press in an email Monday. The singer still faced up to a year in prison for each of the three tax evasion counts despite meeting the deadline, however.

In a courtroom statement, the 8-time Grammy Award winner said she had always intended to pay the overdue taxes, but found herself unable to raise the money during a period when she had dropped out of the music business.

Hill won fame as a member of the Fugees, and then launched a solo career that included the blockbuster The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. She pleaded guilty last year in the tax case.

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Congress passes "fiscal cliff" package by vote of 257 /167

According to the Associated Press, legislation to block the “fiscal cliff” is headed to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature.

The bill will avoid, for now, the major tax increases and government spending cuts that had been scheduled to take effect with the new year.

The legislation will raise tax rates on incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. That was higher than the thresholds of $200,000 and $250,000 that Obama campaigned for. But remarkably, in a party that swore off tax increases two decades ago, dozens of Republicans supported the bill at both ends of the Capitol.

The Senate approved the measure on a vote of 89-8 less than 24 hours earlier.

The measure split the upper ranks of the Republican leadership in the House.

Speaker John Boehner of Ohio voted in favor, while Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia opposed the bill. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the party’s 2012 vice presidential candidate, supported the measure.

Final approval came in the House on New Year’s Night. The vote was 257 to 167.

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Mitt Romney’s tax returns allegedly obtained and held ransom

According to Mashable, Mitt Romney’s tax returns are in the hands of hackers who plan to release them to the public unless $1 million ransom is paid.

The group allegedly obtained the files from PricewaterhouseCooper’s Tennessee office on Aug. 25, in what was described on PasteBin as a Mission Impossible-like caper:

Romney’s 1040 tax returns were taken from the PWC office 8/25/2012 by gaining access to the third floor via a gentleman working on the 3rd floor of the building. Once on the 3rd floor, the team moved down the stairs to the 2nd floor and setup shop in an empty office room. During the night, suite 260 was entered, and all available 1040 tax forms for Romney were copied. A package was sent to the PWC on suite 260 with a flash drive containing a copy of the 1040 files, plus copies were sent to the Democratic office in the county and copies were sent to the GOP office in the county at the beginning of the week also containing flash drives with copies of Romney’s tax returns before 2010. A scanned signature image for Mitt Romney from the 1040 forms were scanned and included with the packages, taken from earlier 1040 tax forms gathered and stored on the flash drives.

The files are to be released to the public on Sept. 28, according to the PasteBin document.

The hackers apparently are asking for the $1 million ransom be paid through Bitcoins, which makes tracing the funds extremely difficult.

Read more at Mashable.

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Poll: Majority of Americans agree wealthy should pay more in taxes

The Pew Center has released the results of a new poll that shows 58% of Americans feel the wealthy should pay more in taxes.

In addition, Pew adds “Even among those who consider themselves upper or upper-middle class, fully 52% say upper-income people pay too little. Only 10% of this group says upper-class adults say people pay too much in taxes.”

Other results of the poll show that 63 percent of those surveyed said the Republican party favors the rich. Nearly 70 percent said the Democratic party favors either the middle class or the poor.

However, it is worth noting that the vast majority of middle class respondents – 92% – say they admire the rich who get wealthy through hard work.

More results here.

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Is it possible that Mitt Romney may not have paid taxes for 10 years?

The Huffington Post is reporting that, according to Senator Harry Reid, Mitt Romney may not have paid any taxes for ten years and that may be the reason why Romney has only released one complete year of taxes.

According a Bain investor, Reid charged, Romney didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years.

Saying he had “no problem with somebody being really, really wealthy,” Reid sat up in his chair a bit before stirring the pot further. A month or so ago, he said, a person who had invested with Bain Capital called his office.

“Harry, he didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years,” Reid recounted the person as saying.

“He didn’t pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that’s true? Well, I’m not certain,” said Reid. “But obviously he can’t release those tax returns. How would it look?

If this is true, it’s no wonder Romney wouldn’t want to release his tax returns. It’s kind of hard to relate to middle America if you don’t pay any taxes at all.

Read more at the Huffington Post

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Why is Mitt Romney hiding his tax returns?

The answer is Mitt Romney knows his tax returns show how he used the system – albeit legally – to avoid paying fair tax rates the way middle-class Americans do.

He will look out of touch with most Americans by using tax shelters that really only apply to the super rich.

His campaign says Romney paid the same taxes whether his money was in Switzerland or the US. If that’s true, then why did he deposit his money in Swiss accounts and the Caymans?

Things that make you go “hmm…”