Taxes

The Internal Revenue Service’s investigations into alleged tax violations by two Minnesota-based churches have been thwarted by procedural problems. Those cases highlight the special tax-exempt status churches receive under federal law, but also problems at the IRS. While reforms are underway, the religious right is planning to take advantage of a neutered IRS by encouraging a mass law-breaking day when churches endorse candidates from the pulpit.

A new Gallup Poll, released two days before today’s tax day “Tea Party” protests, finds that 48% of Americans say the amount of federal income taxes they pay is “about right” — “one of the most positive assessments Gallup has measured since 1956,” according to the polling firm. Those saying taxes are “too high” [...]

A definitely-not-safe-for-work video from “Teabag Central” acknowledges that April 15 teabag parties — named after tax protesters who dumped tea into Boston harbor in 1773 — could’ve been better named. The term “teabagging” refers to “putting your testicles in someone’s mouth,” says the video’s narrator, who urges Tea Party attendees next Wednesday to refrain from [...]

Is it just me or are some of the slogans suggested for Tax Day Tea Party banners far from…. revolutionary? Attendees at next Wednesday’s Capitol rally are encouraged to download banners or make their own bearing mottos like:
“The sleeping giant is now awake”
“I’m sorry I didn’t do more to stop the madness”
“Sleep? I’ll Sleep When [...]

Tim Pawlenty’s lead anecdote in today’s State of the State address featured a Minnesota governor who sought national office only to be sent home empty-handed. The tale wasn’t autobiographical (good thing, because the man, Gov. John Johnson, died shortly after returning to Minnesota, Pawlenty said). But its inclusion might suggest that Pawlenty, short-listed as John [...]

The House Appropriations Committee released details Thursday about an $850 billion stimulus package crafted by congressional Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama. The package includes a hefty bit of infrastructure spending as well as relief for taxpayers earning under $200,000 a year. So, what might it mean for Minnesota?

A KSTP/SurveyUSA poll conducted last week found that a plurality of Minnesotans want a combination of budget cuts and an increase in taxes to fix the historic $4.8 billion deficit now facing legislators and the governor. What’s more, Minnesotans said they’d like wealthier taxpayers to shoulder the burden.

Call it a Christmas present for gay and lesbian couples. President Bush signed the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (WRERA) two days before Christmas. The new law makes it mandatory for businesses to roll over retirement benefits to a same-sex partner in the event of the employee’s death.

Republicans may have done crack oppo-research on Al Franken, but they couldn’t have also arranged for uncannily targeted third-party ad buys on local TV news … could they?

On WCCO-TV’s 10 p.m. news Wednesday, Amelia Santaniello teased there’d be a story on Al Franken’s tax woes after a commercial break. First ad up (watch it here) [...]

Minnesota’s tax code just might be the holiest in the country.

That’s the finding by Susan Pace Hamill, a University of Alabama law professor whose expertise comes in the field of taxation — and divinity. She wrote a wrote a book about state tax policies and how closely those policies match the Judeo-Christian standards. As Certain [...]