Taxes

Legalizing Sports Betting

by

For a long time I have wondered here and elsewhere why there is no state sanctioned sports betting. It isn’t like gamblers aren’t betting on sports in areas where there is no legal way to do so.

From what I have heard, you can simply walk into pretty much any bar and get “parlay cards“, or bet on games online.

Since these activities are already going on, why have states been so anguished about setting up organized betting for them? We all pretty much have lotteries where we can bet on RANDOM numbers, so why not on sports games? Vegas has dialed in the sports betting ratios and how to run a sports book long ago; there aren’t any real secrets in that realm. Set the spread so you get half the bets on one side, half on the other and collect the “juice” or “vig“. Simple as that.

Read more

Federal Tax Credits For Energy Efficient HVAC Equipment

by

President Obama signed the “stimulus” package into law on February 17.   I prefer the term “porkulus”.

Embedded in that garbage legislation are a mind boggling array of things that really have not much of anything to do with reviving our economy.   Pretty much everybody knows that.

There is a small piece of the “porkulus” that may help you if you are needing to update the mechanical systems of your domicile.

Read more

California Confiscates Tax Refunds

by

I would wager that those who withheld more than they owed on their State of California taxes didn’t think that they would be making a zero interest loan to the state.   I would be absolutely furious.   I am thinking that many will never see their refund, as California  appears to be  on the precipice.  

California has had no money in its general fund for the past 17 months, and has been paying its bills by borrowing from Wall Street and special internal funds.

If the state’s legislators and governor do not reach a budget agreement that brings immediate funds into the state’s coffers, the state’s borrowed funds will be entirely exhausted at the end of February, according to the controller’s office.

I would also wager that workers will be making a lot of changes to their withholding so as not to be owed any refund at the end of next year.   Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…

Then again, the feds could come to the rescue and print some money for Cali.   Good luck with your bond rating, California municipalities and (insert project here) districts.

Some muni bonds are actually paying very good rates right now.   As I was sitting across the table from a financial advisor we discussed the rates that some municipalities and state agencies in California were paying and then we both laughed out loud and moved on to looking at munis from more stable cities and states.   I am thinking that this conversation has been played out millions of times at brokerage desks across the nation.

Garbage In

by

You all know more about finances, taxes, etc. than I do. All I know is what I learned from 13 years running a small business that used seasonal contract labor (typing during term-paper season). The Geithner case is a perfect example of why people don’t trust the government. My business offered neither the monetary help nor the repeated warnings that apparently the IMF did. Every year, however, those workers got 1099 forms and every year they paid their taxes. They didn’t try to see what they would get by with. They didn’t “forget.”

It isn’t fun to pay taxes. It isn’t always easy. But they did good work and they were honest. I don’t figure anyone is too brilliant for character to matter – not when it comes to determining policy that apparently others will be expected to follow and setting up debts that others will be expected to pay. (Geraghty – thanks to Instapundit – has been doing blog research: responses from accountants, users of Turbotax, etc. Of course, no matter what the system or who the accoutant, garbage in leads to garbage out.)

Obama, the Democrats, and the Economy–continued

by

(This is a continuation of my post on the election and the economy from several days ago. At that time, I focused on energy and trade; in this update, I also talk about small business, the demonization of entire industries, the micromanagement of innovation, the proposed elimination of the secret ballot in union elections, and corporate tax policy.)

Read more