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TAX CHEATING OPPORTUNITY GREATER THAN EVER
With an estimated loss to tax frauds and scams reaching as high as $300 billion a year, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials admit that the opportunity to cheat and get away with it has never been greater.
How does the public feel about it? Money magazine reports that more than four of 10 surveyed approve of some type of cheating on income taxes.
Here are the rankings for various types of cheating:
• 21 percent claim personal automobile use for business
• 15 percent hide some cash income
• 11 percent write off vacation as business expenses
• Six percent inflate donations to charities
INTERNET SALES TAX NEARER
Collecting sales tax on Internet commerce now seems inevitable—later if not sooner.
A bevy of tax collectors and powerful offline retailers are gearing up in support of the multi-state Streamlined Sales Tax Project. They would have participating states agree on a single plan, which also would affect mail-order business. Currently, online merchants are not always required to collect sales taxes in states where they have no physical presence such as a store, office or call center.
To facilitate collection, some advocates urge a flat federal sales tax instead of taxing purchasers based on their state of residence.
NEW BANKRUPTCY LAW WOULD HIT SMALL BUSINESS
A proposed new bankruptcy law would penalize small business, according to the almost unanimous opinion of analysts.
Filing for Chapter 11 reorganization, small businesses would have less time and face stiffer requirements. The result would be more owners pushed into liquidation.
Harvard University professor Elizabeth Warren says it's the "first legislation in U.S. history that will discriminate directly against small business."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the changes would help small businesses when they are the creditors.
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