Internal Revenue Service

A Simple Solution for Mr. Buffett’s Tax Problem

09/20/2011
by Kristina Rasmussen Warren Buffett recently took to the opinion pages of the New York Times to decry America’s unfair tax system. According to his calculations, his effective tax rate is around 17 percent while his the people in his office pay effective rates averaging 36 percent. His solution? Washington should hike his taxes. And yours, while they’re...

Appeals Court Punts on Obamacare

09/09/2011
by Jonathan Ingram Do you think Obamacare should be repealed?  If you do, you’re not alone. Public opposition to Obamacare remains as high as ever. According to the most recent survey by Rasmussen Reports, 57 percent of likely voters favor repealing the law.  What’s more, 54 percent believe repeal is likely, which is the highest level of...

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Down Obamacare’s Individual Mandate

08/12/2011
by Jonathan Ingram Illinois cannot afford Obamacare. The Medicaid expansion in Obamacare is expected to increase Illinois’s Medicaid spending to $10.2 billion by 2030. This represents a 77 percent increase over 2008 spending. Illinois already faces a spending crisis, particularly within Medicaid, and the Comptroller reports even longer delays for payments to doctors and hospitals treating Medicaid patients are...

Nonessential Personnel

04/07/2011
by Mark Cavers In the case of a government “shutdown” the government doesn’t actually shut down. Rather, essential services remain up and running: Military personnel in Iraq don’t suddenly fly home, TSA agents don’t stay in bed, and the IRS doesn’t stop collecting taxes (although, in a particularly cruel bit of irony, they stop sending...

1099 Requirement Makes a Comeback?

01/31/2011
Obama's recently released budget proposal includes a retooled version of the infamous 1099 tax reporting requirement in ObamaCare.

Raising Taxes on Everyone

09/28/2010
by Kate Piercy Here’s an eye-opening breakdown of how possible tax increases coming next year could affect everyone, not only “the rich.” Some potential wallops include: As many as 30 million middle-class Americans could get hit with the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) next year. A school teacher married to a bus driver, with a combined income $120,000 and...

Charting the Illinois Exodus

09/16/2010
by Ashley Muchow Check it out!  The Tax Foundation released a nifty interactive tool showing state-to-state migration data for a range of years between 1993 and 2008. The tool tracks the flow of both people and their income based on IRS tax return data. You can select any state and track the net inflows and outflows to and from...

False Stats to Cause Misery for Small Businesses

09/04/2010
by Ashley Muchow The economy has proved to be the most important topic in politics today.  Rightfully so.  Come the end of last month, U.S. unemployment stood at 9.6%.  Economic activity left much to be desired as GDP rose 1.6% in the second quarter of 2010, compared to a 3.6% increase in the first. Naturally, Washington feels obliged...

Jumping on the Moving Truck

By Chris Andriesen
06/16/2010
An interactive migration map from Forbes helps us understand Illinois's population migration.

2.1 Million, 34% of Tax Filers in Illinois Pay No Federal Income Tax

05/28/2010
by Brian Costin An interesting study from the Tax Foundation released earlier this week showed that 34% of Illinois citizens who filed a tax return paid no taxes on their income, slightly below the national average of 36%. 2.1 Million out of the state’s 6.1 million filers were able to reduce their income tax liability to...