IRS Mulls Taxing Work Perks

By William Teach April 16, 2014 – 7:47 am

Perhaps they should start with all the perks elected officials and federal employees are given, starting with any perks IRS workers receive

(Fox News) In competitive job markets like Silicon Valley, companies are doing everything they can to entice the best and brightest — offering freebies that have become the stuff of legend.

Employee perks like free food at lavish cafeterias, laundry and even yoga are not unheard of.

But the taxman could soon crack down.

The IRS reportedly is looking at these perks and seeing if these companies need to start paying up for the free stuff they offer employees.

As the article notes, it comes down to whether any perks are a form of compensation or whether they are a way to get more productivity out of the employee. If it’s the former, then they would be taxable. And, the taxes would mostly be assessed to the employee, not the employer.

The Wall Street Journal (behind a paywall) first reported that the agency is considering whether the freebies like food, shuttles, haircuts and more are really fringe benefits on which workers should be taxed. Some tax experts see the perks as skirting the edges of the law, and warn the companies may be violating it — but also think it would be a very aggressive move for the already-busy IRS to pursue this when they have much more on their plate.

I think we all know that when a federal agency announces that they are considering rules they will most likely implement the rules, especially in the Era Of Obama.

CEO and co-founder (of Clari) Andy Byrne argues that providing good, healthy food is a necessity, not a luxury, and that everyone benefits.

“They win [because] they’re happier, our customers win [because] they get a higher quality product and then our shareholders win because they see our momentum in the market. For a small company like Clari, the idea of taxing the perks would have a devastating effect, not only for the employers who would have to cancel the perk, but also for the workers who would have lower productivity,” he said.

The IRS has already implemented many rules that make perks too much of a pain during the late 2000’s. Giveways from vendors was one of the recipients of the rules, along with from the companies. When I was working in wireless we used to get lots of stuff. There were contests for free wireless phones. When the Motorola RAZR was released virtually every employee “won” one. Bluetooth headsets. All sorts of things. And t-shirts and stuff. Alas, the rules changed that. Any phone you won was really owned by the company, which was letting you use it, and had to be turned back in. Heck, I have a box of phones I won or was given. I find them in drawers all over. Vendors couldn’t give us stuff like before. Even t-shirts. They’d send us these boxes of bluetooth headsets, were considered to be owned by the company I worked for, and you were supposed to return them. Really.

(MoneyNews) “I clearly think it ought to be taxable income,” Martin McMahon, a tax-law professor at the University of Florida, told The Journal. In most cases, the free morsels amount to an element of workers’ compensation, he said.

Even if it is, who cares? There is no reason for Los Federales to tax every damned thing in our life. The IRS is already taxing all sorts of “gifts” from companies, now they want even more of the pie.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Premiums Rising Faster Under Ocare

By William Teach April 15, 2014 – 4:09 pm

Um, surprise?

(Fox News) A recent survey of 148 insurance brokers shows that ObamaCare is sending premiums rising at the fastest clip in decades.

“For the last, about, five years they’ve been doing this survey, so this was the largest percentage increase in any quarter since they’ve been doing (it),” said Scott Gottlieb of the American Enterprise Institute.

“But at 12 percent, 11 percent increase on average across all the states — that puts it at the upper end of any increase we’ve seen for decades.”

That is the national average in a survey done by Morgan Stanley. But in some states, it found rates are soaring.

“There are specific states with exorbitant increases,” Gottlieb said. “Delaware had 100 percent increase, Florida had a 37 percent increase, Pennsylvania 28 percent increase, California had a 53 percent increase in their premiums.”

Fortunately, Obama will wave his magic wand from his unicorn saddle and make your premiums go down $2500 a year…oh, wait, sorry, that was another lie. Here’s something else interesting

Read More »

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If All You See…

By William Teach April 15, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is an awesome carbon friendly bike which is ruined by an evil plastic bag, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Public Secrets, with a post on the Democrats “look at Elvis” strategy.

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Climate Change Is A Crime Against Humanity Or Something

By William Teach April 15, 2014 – 11:22 am

I agree. It’s simply terrible that there has been no statistically significant warming in 17 years and 8 months, despite somewhat rising CO2 levels

Climate Change as Crime Against Humanity

Have you ever found yourself thinking about the fact that climate change is both caused by and benefits a certain class of people, and generally does not benefit – and actually harms – another, far larger, class of people? Have you? And have you ever thought that, just maybe, this is not just a moral or ethical problem but a criminal matter? Something like a reckless or negligent crime against humanity? Have you? Well, maybe you have.

No to all for me, but, then, I’m not an unhinged Leftist.

Maybe you’ve even thought, as I do now and then, that there’s no reason to hatch up yet another crime, another law – since that’s just what reckless or negligent crimes against humanity would be. To be sure, there are already plenty of laws – prohibiting all sorts of horrible, exploitative, harmful things. They’re just not enforced. So what’s the use? What would it accomplish to frame climate change as a crime against humanity? I mean, you’re not going to drag anyone off to the International Criminal Court, are you? Or maybe you’ll set up your own tribunal, right here in the street. Why the hell not? It might feel good. And you can still boycott the fossil fuel industry – you and Desmond Tutu and so many others. Why not? It’s not as though – for all practical purposes – you’re forced to drive a car – forced to drive a car to get to work to pay the rent and pay for food and pick up groceries…

But let me tell you, as long as we’re discussing food, the meat industry, according to that UN report, is an even bigger climate change causer – or, if you prefer, bigger perpetrator of negligent and reckless crimes against humanity – than even the fossil fuel industry. I mean, that’s just a fact – just as the very air we breathe is the world’s leading carcinogen. And it’s only getting worse. I mean, I know that facts are somewhat unfashionable. Remember that old Mr. Gradgrind? Wasn’t that his name?

In other words, Warmists are supposed to set up climate criminal courts. And meat is super bad, just like fossil fuels.

The point, however, is that if we’re going to meaningfully boycott the fossil fuel industry (which I’m all for, by the way) we shouldn’t stop there. I mean, it makes little sense to boycott one ecocidal industry while perpetuating others. For instance, did you know that the information technology industry is as big a polluter as the airline industry is? Look it up if you don’t believe me…

So, if I’m reading this right, all Warmists should immediately give up fossil fuels, eating meat, and using technology, especially the Internet. Come on, Warmists, get to it. Otherwise you are committing a crime against humanity!

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Gigya Social Media Plugin Disabled

By William Teach April 15, 2014 – 10:47 am

A bit of housekeeping, I’ve temporarily disabled the Gigya WordPress plugin. It seemed to be significantly slowing down the loading of the site, and not just what you see. The admin panel was also really slow, and also created an issue with the “New Post” module, where the Text editor did not provide the buttons, and attempting to add a link using the Visual Editor caused the post to be discarded and a new one started.

I doubt many of you use it, I implemented it to allow people to login using various social media credentials. Interestingly, those buttons still seem to be showing up in individual posts. Could be from something else. Can’t remember. No time to investigate at the moment, gotta run.

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Happy Tax Day! 72% Of Individual Filer Taxes Paid By Those Earning $100k Plus

By William Teach April 15, 2014 – 8:13 am

That’s right, campers, today is the last day to file your taxes. Have you done it?

(CNS News) Taxpayers earning $100,000 or more a year pay 71.6% of the nation’s share in individual federal income taxes, according to the latest data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from 2011.

These data do not include corporate income taxes, or taxes on capital gains or dividends, or payroll taxes for Social Security and other programs.

In 2011, according to the IRS, there were 145,370,240 individual income tax returns filed. Among those returns, 125,914,418 or 86.6%, belonged to taxpayers earning a salary less than $100,000. The remaining 19,455,822 returns belonged to those taxpayers earning more than $100,000, or 13.4% of the total.

While those top earners, earning six figures or more, represented only 13.4% of the total number of individual income tax returns reported to the IRS, they contributed nearly three-fourths of the total amount of federal  tax revenue from individual filers reported for that year.

In 1996 the figure was 51%. Of course, Taker Nation thinks that’s not enough, as Liberals constantly complain that the taxes for “the rich” need to be raised. Funny thing is, these same liberals who are part of “the rich” refuse to pay extra themselves. Look at Mr. Obama: despite being a class warrior and constantly calling for “the rich” to pay their fair share, he and the Mrs. only paid an effective rate of 20.4%. The Obama’s took advantage of every tax “loophole” to minimize their federal tax burden.

52% say they pay too much in taxes, 42% say the taxes are about right. Switching to state taxation, funny thing is, the states with the highest number complaining about state taxes being too high are….mostly Democrat states. Those with the least complaining are mostly Republican states. Americans think the government wastes 50 cents for every dollar they take (which is down from 60 cents in September 2013.)

Fortunately, more and more Obamacare taxes will start kicking in over the next few years.

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Happy #42 Day, You Vile Baseball Loving Racists!

By William Teach April 15, 2014 – 7:36 am

Today, Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson, who debuted for my Dodgers as the squared off against the Boston Braves. But, see, for several years there has been a Big Concern, and USA Today makes sure you know that baseball is raaaaacist. The article starts out by describing a vile letter sent the Atlanta Braves front office regarding Hank Aaron, with hardcore racist (not raaaaacist) language. Hey, there are jackasses of all stripes in the world. That’s not defending the letter, but just noting. Then we move to

On a day where Major League Baseball celebrates Robinson, who broke the color barrier on April 15, 1947 in one of the most momentous achievements of the Civil Rights movement, we have these letters to remind us of the racial hatred that still exists in this society.

As for the sport itself, the evidence mounts that Robinson’s game, for a myriad of complicated reasons, is not the game of choice for African-Americans.

Major League Baseball, which will honor Robinson once again today by having every player wear No. 42, has the lowest percentage of African-Americans in uniform since 1958.

The African-American population in baseball is virtually unchanged from a year ago at 7.8%, according to USA TODAY Sport’s survey of opening-day rosters and disabled lists.

There are 67 black players in the major leagues, with three teams not represented by a single African-American player – the San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals. It’s a dramatic change from 1972-1996, when African Americans represented at least 16% of the game’s players, according to Mark Armour of the Society of Baseball Research (SABR) – with a high of 18.7% in 1981.

Could it be that Black youth isn’t interested in playing baseball? Supposedly, 78% of NBA players are Black, with only 17% white, 4% Latino, and 1% Asian. Is it racist that there are no white cornerbacks in the NFL? How about that hockey is primarily a white man’s game? No. You can’t force people to play a game. MLB is attempting to increase the numbers by hitting the urban areas, but, perhaps Black youth are more interested in playing basketball and football.

There are other things to consider: for opening day 2013, over 28% of MLB players were foreign born. 27.3% were of Latino background. The percent of Asians is increasing. Yet, less than 4% are Canadian, Asian, or European. Perhaps they aren’t that interested in playing baseball? Interestingly, many of the players being considered Latino are of African descent, but not counted as Black.

Perhaps it is because baseball has “become a bastion of the rich“? Who knows? It’s not racism, because no one is stopping Black players from playing because of their skin color. That would be racism. Blacks not playing baseball themselves is a personal choice, not racism.

“To make the game as diverse as it is,” Manuel said, “we kind of strayed a bit (at) home. We’ve got to get it back home. We did not take advantage of what we did in my generation. We did not see it as a serious issue until it was too late.

“Now, we’re staying with this thing, I think you’ll see a turnaround. I really believe change is coming.”

You can’t force kids to play, just like you can’t force Americans to love soccer. When Hank Aaron trotted out his theory that every Republican opposes Obama because they’re racists, that was guaranteed to bring out the real racists. But Aaron’s statement was itself racist.

Anyhow, there are lots of reasons why Blacks might not play baseball. But, it is not racism. The race-hustlers can’t help themselves in ginning up a kerfuffle, though.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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UN Report Says To Give All Fossil Fuels Or Doom

By William Teach April 14, 2014 – 3:06 pm

Here’s the nutty 350.org’s take on the wacky UN IPCC report

350.org Australia welcomes the release of the latest IPCC report, to be launched in Berlin today, which shows there is no excuse for funding new coal and gas projects.

The report highlights the need for a drastic transition from carbon polluting fossil fuels to a clean renewable energy system if the world is to remain below the two degree global warming limit agreed by world leaders. To fund the transition, the IPCC said at least USD30 billion per year would need to be divested from dirty energy over the coming decades, while investments in renewable power would need to double.

“The latest IPCC report confirms what we’ve known all along – The answer to climate change is simple: stop funding new fossil fuel projects and invest in renewable energies,” said Blair Palese, CEO of 350.org Australia.

Funny how these same people use quite a bit of fossil fuels themselves, but want to restrict it for Other People. A common theme amongst today’s posts, much less almost a decade worth of posts. Another theme is that Warmists want these restrictions enforced by Government. Oh, look, more wackadoodles

“Everything we have and are is at threat from climate change. Most terrifying is the threat of losing our Islands to sea level rise,” continued Lutunatabua.

“Already villages are being located – from Papua New Guinea to Fiji. Many of us are coastal peoples, and the sea level rise we have seen in recent decades has been enough to put hundreds of villages around the Pacific Islands on a knife-edge. Unless we stop polluting the atmosphere with greenhouse gasses, and rapidly phase out fossil fuels, then it becomes entire islands that we will lose,” concluded Lutunatabua.

Yes, these islands are in danger from anthropogenic causation, but it’s not “climate change” that is the danger. I wonder if these islanders will refuse to allow tourists to fly in on fossil fueled planes?

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If All You See…

By William Teach April 14, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil canine using up all the resources of the earth causing temperatures to spike sometime in the future, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jo Nova, with a post on climate change making fish reckless.

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Bummer: Climate Catastrophe By 2050 Unless Someone Does Something

By William Teach April 14, 2014 – 11:26 am

Unless Warmists take over and force everyone else to comply, of course

Scientists warn of catastrophic climate change by 2050

Top global scientists are at their wits’ end on how to make world leaders realize that the Earth is on the brink of a climate catastrophe if they do not cooperate in cutting down their gas emissions before mid-century.

Despite the agreement entered among nations last 2009 to put a stop to global warming by limiting the rise in temperature of the Earth’s climate system, efforts have not been enough to arrest the continuing rise of mean temperature.

Latest reports from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), presented at a meeting in Berlin, said there is still time for these countries to avert the impending catastrophe if only they will aggressively decrease the concentration of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel, cement production and deforestation.

The earlier post highlighted that there has been no warming for 17 years and 8 months. Let’s look at another chart

So, that’s how well their computer model prognostication has worked out. Why should we listen now?

The IPCC report warned global leaders of the imminent danger countries worldwide will face if collective and definitive actions to combat global warming are not made before 2050.

The scientists said among the grim consequences nations face by the end of the century are higher flood levels, frequent and prolonged snowstorms, and rapidly melting ice caps.

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