Eating at the Trough – California Pension, Healthcare and Other Benefit Costs Are Strangling The Economy

March 6th, 2010

With conservative estimates of unfunded public sector pension and healthcare liabilities topping a quarter of a billion dollars, and growing at a rate of $17 billion annually, Orange County Supervisor (and one of the very few to predict the O/C bankruptcy back in 1994) discusses the extreme danger to cities, counties and the state of California – and the real possibility of a California default:

http://www.calwatchdog.com/2010/02/23/new-pensions-push-state-to-insolvency/

Katy Grimes shines a light on the chasm between public and private sector vacation and sick day payouts which are coming to light as state employees head for the exits.

http://www.calwatchdog.com/2010/03/02/public-versus-private-different-sets-of-rules/

For an excellent website covering these public pension issues, bookmark the following site:

http://www.pensiontsunami.com/

Related Twitter:

http://twitter.com/pensiontsunami

Supervisor Moorlach’s webpage:

http://egov.ocgov.com/ocgov/Government/Elected%20Officials/Supervisor%20John%20M.W.%20Moorlach%20-%20Second%20District/Biography

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Finance/ Retirement, Healthcare, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

Government Debt Loads Continue to Pile Up

March 6th, 2010

According to the Washington Post, the Administration’s current policies will add $9.3 Trillion to the national deficit over the next decade.  This is a 14% increase over the White House’s previous projection of $8.5 Trillion.  The largest component of the increasing deficits is being caused by President Obama’s mid- and low-income tax cuts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030502974.html?hpid%3Dtopnews

For an eye-opening look at the U.S. and world debt landscape, below are two very useful interactive links to evaluate worldwide and U.S. public debt loads now and in the past.

http://buttonwood.economist.com/content/gdc

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/federal_debt_chart.html

Current record levels do not bode well for interest rates and financial stability.

California’s $20 billion budget deficit and long history of high taxes, unfunded pension obligations and massive entitlement plans has creditors worried.  Recent debt downgrades and political gridlock will likely drive up future borrowing costs:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/californias-debt-now-risk_n_481058.html

http://www.treasurer.ca.gov/

 

To save some of your hard-earned taxes, check out tax planning strategies at: www.blakechristian.com

Also, for daily tax and financial updates, please follow me: http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Finance/ Retirement, International, Politics, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

$15 Billion Jobs Bill Passes House

March 4th, 2010

Today the House passed a Jobs bill that Credit, is one-tenth the size of the bill introduced late last year.   However the Senate is still pushing forward on their own $15o Billion Jobs bill.

The house bill includes a Democratic drafted provision which allows for a payroll tax “holiday” for hiring previously unemployed workers.  Ironically the $1,000 to $5,000 hiring credit considered earlier in the process was removed from the final bill.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/04/AR2010030402757.html?hpid=topnews

The Senate bill is much larger in scope and cost since it includes various “extenders” of existing tax breaks, state medicare “gap” funding and other individual benefits such as unemployment compensation.

 http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100303-716657.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

For information on existing federal and state hiring credits, pleas click on the following:

www.blakechristian.com

Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

CNN Local Videos – Long Beach Tax Credits/ Green Jobs/ Port Expansion/ Card Check

March 2nd, 2010

For daily tax and economic updates, please follow me on Twitter @:

http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

Media Links

To download, click on the hyperlink below and choose Save

 Blake E. Christian

Access all my CNN Local Videos: 

http://www.hcvt.com/resources-links/media-links.html

Available Topics (please click on link above):

Blake Christian CNN inverview – Local Eco Credits / Green Jobs [36.0 MB] February 2010

Blake Christian CNN interview – California Tax Overhaul Proposal [41.1 MB] October 2009

Interview – Pros and cons of a national sales/flat tax [lieu of current fed. tax system] [40.3 MB] September 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – The U.S. Tax Gap [40.5 MB] September 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Swiss and U.S. at (Tax) War [40.6 MB] September 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – $9 Billion of New California Taxes [40.5 MB] June 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – POLB Middle Harbor Project [40.5 MB] May 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Tax Planning in a Recession [40.5 MB] May 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Enterprise Zone Credits “Green Jobs” [40.5 MB] April 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Affect of Budget & Stimulus on Business [40.4 MB] April 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Employee Free Choice Act [40.4 MB] April 2009

Check out the full library of  tax and economic articles @: www.blakechristian.com

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Climate Change/ Global Warming, Finance/ Retirement, Green/ Eco Credits, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

California and Federal Tax Refunds Overlooked by Many

March 1st, 2010

In today’s challenging economic period, business owners are looking for every way to reduce costs and increase cash flow and profits.

We continue to see businesses and their CPAs overlook extremely valuable tax breaks, including:

- Federal and State Hiring Credits ($500 to $15,000 per employee)

http://www.blakechristian.com/hiring_tax_credits.html

http://www.blakechristian.com/california_tax_incentives.html

- Federal and State Eco/ Energy/ Green Credits (10% to 50%)

http://www.blakechristian.com/energy_tax_credits.html

- Use of Interest Charge DISCs for Export Sales

http://www.alliantgroup.com/_ag/index.cfm/our-services/export-incentives/interest-charge-domestic-international-sales-corporation-ic-disc1/

- Evaluation of Compensation Structure Options to Minimize After-Tax Cash Outflows.  This includes taking advantage of the lucrative and flexible qualified retirement plan rules.

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2008/CorpTax/Compensation.jsp

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2007/CorpTax/Services.jsp

- Re-Evaluating Legal Structure of Business Operations to Minimize Taxes

http://www.taxguideonline.com/hcvt/

There is still time to claim many of these tax benefits on your 2009 tax returns. 

www.blakechristian.com

For Daily Tax and Economic Updates, please follow me on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

 

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Finance/ Retirement, General Business Matters, Green/ Eco Credits, International, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

Iceland’s Financial Meltdown Overshaddow’s U.S. – and The World

February 28th, 2010

The international banking crisis which climaxed in 2008 hit the island nation of Iceland harder than any other country.  The EU member bailout of IceSave Bank left the 325,000 Icelandic residents with a whopping burden of $5.3 billion.

Home defauls, business failures and general economic chaos has been felt by every resident – and despair has turned into anger on all sides.

Iceland residents will vote this week whether they will opt to pay back these amounts to the EU nation which bailed them out, or default on the obligations.  Recent polls show a 60% disapproval rate of paying back these amounts.

 

Read more in these Financial Times links:

Iceland Voters Set to Reject EU Member Payback : http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fc525532-21ae-11df-acf4-00144feab49a.html

Bullying Iceland:  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e69c686a-20e4-11df-b920-00144feab49a.html

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Posted in Finance/ Retirement, General Business Matters, International, Politics | No Comments »

Tax Haven Audits – IRS Foreign Bank Account Reporting (FBAR) Update

February 26th, 2010

For Daily Tax Updates – Follow Me On Twitter: 

http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

Please click below to view a 5 minute CNN Local interview (2009) covering the IRS/ Swiss tax battle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouAcmqHkvZE&feature=youtube_gdata

 

Significant civil and criminal penalties can be imposed on taxpayers having signature or other financial interests in foreign bank accounts.

The ongoing privacy and tax collection battle between the IRS and  Switzerland, as well as other countries, highlights the need for taxpayers to not only report their worldwide earnings, but also file various Treasury disclosures (Form TD 90-22.1) in order to avoid these very onerous penalties.

Read the linked AICPA articles to learn more about recent developments and the billions of dollars at stake:

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2010/CorpTax/FBAR_Reporting.jsp

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2009/CorpTax/Tax_Officials.jsp

 

Click below for a Financial Times article on Swiss Banking:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/501901c4-140e-11df-8847-00144feab49a.html

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Posted in Finance/ Retirement, International, Politics, Tax - General | No Comments »

Obama Updates His Healthcare Plan – Third Time’s The Charm?

February 22nd, 2010

$950 billion over 10 years, imposition of excise tax on “Cadillac” medical plans (excluding dental and optical), and expanded Social Security taxes on wages, rent and interest income (yes you heard right) for taxpayer making more than $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (joint).

Read the Heritage Foundation’s summary of the major tax provision:

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/02/23/obama%E2%80%99s-health-plan-has-dangerous-new-taxes/

In preparation for the bi-partisan healthcare conference later this week, President Obama released his revised healthcare proposal, which incorporates portions of both the Senate and House versions passed late last year.

With the recent pick up of a key seat in the Senate (Scott Brown- – MA) by the GOP, the Democrats are scrambling to either win over some Republican votes – or resort to the nuclear option of Reconciliation.

The following link from WSJ summarizes the key points of the latest $950 billion proposal:

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/WHhealth20100222.pdf

The Democrats are threatening the use of the ”Reconciliation” procedure to avoid additional House and Senate debate and votes.  Read about the history and the Reconciliation procedures: 

http://www.rules.house.gov/archives/bud_rec_proc.htm

As reflected in the attached articles, there are a number of hurdles to overcome for the two parties to get beyond the current impasse and President Obama’s legacy and the mid-term elections hang in the balance.

Obama’s weekend healthcare video laying out Thurday Summit’s objectives:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9NMc3gOBr8

Feb. 22, 2010 Washington Post (Blog) – Obama is the Real Obstructionist:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/02/obama_is_the_real_obstructioni.html

 

From the U.K. side of the Pond – President Obama Doubles Down on Healthcare:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/586131b2-1fdf-11df-8deb-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss

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Posted in Finance/ Retirement, General Business Matters, Healthcare, Politics, Tax - General | No Comments »

California Veterans Get Business Lift From the State

February 22nd, 2010

California has a very large percentage of military veterans (over 2.1 million) and over 10% suffer from some form of physical or mental disability.  Projections indicate a big spike in these numbers for California in coming years.

The state of California, as well as numerous other states, have a variety of programs to provide a helping hand to these service-disabled Vets.

As discussed in the link below, Los Angeles Times’ business reporter Cyndia Zwahlen provides a summary of the ways California is taking care of these business owners – including striving to allocate at least 3% of the $9 billion of government contract and purchasing commitments to businesses owned by disabled Vets.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-smallbiz-vets22-2010feb22,0,7826455.story

Also read more about the valuable state and federal tax benefits available for employers of Vets in this 2009 AICPA article.   Veterans receiving food stamps, or those who have been discharged and unemployed during the last year can generate tax credits from $2,400 to $4,800 for a future employer – making Vets an attractive solution for hiring needs.

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2009/CorpTax/HireVeteran.jsp

Additional hiring credit information is also avaialable at:

www.blakechristian.com

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits, Uncategorized | No Comments »

UN Attacks Livestock With “Gas” Tax

February 18th, 2010

“Gas” Tax Proposed by UN  -  Eat More Chicken

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/38154ea0-1cb2-11df-8d8e-00144feab49a.html

The UN has rolled out their latest (but not greatest) cap and trade plan.

The current plan is to penalizethose filthy cows, pigs, sheeep and other livestock and tax their owners based on the relative amount of methane gas they expel.    The UN will apparently use statistical averages rather than installing individual monitoring systems on each animal.

Intersting times…….

UN Climate Change Head Change

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a481e00e-1c8e-11df-8456-00144feab49a.html

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f612e228-1cbc-11df-8d8e-00144feab49a.html

 In a related development, the UN Climate Change Chief – Yvo de Boer has abruptly resigned his post and plans on heading up international accounting and consulting  firm KPMG’s environmental practice.  Mr. de Boer did not cite the aforementioned gas tax as a reason for his exit.

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Posted in Climate Change/ Global Warming, Green/ Eco Credits | No Comments »

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