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First the $1.9 Trillion Stimulus, now for the $2 Trillion dollar Tax Increase

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, first the $1.9 trillion stimulus package ,now for the $2 trillion dollar tax increase . Democrats have been meeting this week to figure out how to pay for their multi-trillion-dollar avalanche of federal spending. Another $2 to $3 trillion may be in the works for the green new deal and infrastructure projects.

Continue reading First the $1.9 Trillion Stimulus, now for the $2 Trillion dollar Tax Increase

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The Tax Foundation Rates New Jersey Worst State Business Tax Climate Again!

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the staff of the Ridgewood

Ridgewood NJ, The Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index enables business leaders, government policymakers, and taxpayers to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much is collected in taxes by state governments, the Index is designed to show how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.

No surprise here, for the 7th consecutive year New Jersey has ranked dead last in the Tax Foundation ‘s annual State Business Tax Climate rankings. High business taxes (49th place), individual taxes (50th place) and high property taxes (46th place) continue to chase business out of New Jersey.  https://statetaxindex.org/state/new-jersey/

Continue reading The Tax Foundation Rates New Jersey Worst State Business Tax Climate Again!

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Democrat N.J. Senate President wants to increase in the state’s corporation business tax rate

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March 7,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, New Jersey suffers from the worst business climate in the United States . If not for the close proximity to New York in the north and Philadelphia in the south there would be virtually no business here at all . Jobs and companies have fled the Garden State non stop since the Kean Administration and yes it can only get worse. Democratic state Senate President Stephen Sweeney said on Tuesday that state coffers can get the money they need by enacting a 3 percent surcharge on corporate income.

The increase in the state’s corporation business tax rate from 9 percent to 12 percent on businesses with more than $1 million in income is the Democrats’ latest counterpunch to federal tax reform that slashed taxes on corporations but limited the state and local taxes residents can deduct.

It seems New Jersey Democrats will not rest until the very last business has left the state .

In 2017 the Tax Foundation rated New Jersey’s Business Climate the worst in the nation. The Tax Foundation said “New Jersey, for example, is hampered by some of the highest property tax burdens in the country, is one of just two states to levy both an inheritance tax and an estate tax, and maintains some of the worst-structured individual income taxes in the country.”

In the 2017 Tax Foundation State Business Tax Climate Index , New Jersey scored and Overall Rank of 50 (Dead Last) Corporate Tax Rank 42, Individual Income Tax 48, Sales Tax 45 , Unemployment Insurance Tax 25,Property Tax Rank 50 (Dead Last again) .

So it is no surprise to everyone except New Jersey Democrats , the when moving company United Van Lines released its 36th in 2014 annual study of customer migration patterns, analyzing a total of 125,000 moves across the 48 continental states in 2012. The study provides an up-to-date, representative snapshot of overarching moving patterns in the U.S., and reveals a mass exodus from the Northeast. At No. 1, New Jersey has the highest ratio of people moving out compared to those moving in. Of the 6,300 total moves tracked in the state last year, 62% were outbound.

In 2016 the same annual moving survey from United Van Lines reveals the states where the most people move from and again for 2016, New Jersey holds the top honor in the latter category for the fifth year running.
Far be it from us to speculate, but CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey suggests the exodus may be related to “common complaints from state residents about high property taxes, the recent gas tax hike and the poor conditions of state roads.”

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The Tax Foundation Looks at Trump’s Tax Return

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Five Facts About the Trump Tax Return Disclosure

October 02, 2016
By
Joseph Henchman,
Alan Cole

The New York Times reports that it has obtained pages from Trump’s 1995 state tax returns. The Times reported late Saturday night that it had received an envelope containing the first pages of Trump’s alleged 1995 state tax returns in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The documents were mailed to the Times from New York City; the return address claimed it was sent from Trump Tower. Last week, the Times showed the documents to Jack Mitnick, who in the mid-1990s was Trump’s accountant and was listed on the New Jersey return as the preparer. He said the documents appeared to be authentic.

The documents indicate Trump had enormous business losses. The documents indicate Trump (and his then-wife Marla) earned wages and salaries of $6,108; interest income of $7,386,825; dividend income of $26,051; business gains of $3,427,092; real estate losses of negative $15,818,562; and “other income” of negative $915,729,293. This is almost certainly what is known as a net operating loss (NOL) carryforward, given the amount and the line of the form (although the document references an explanatory statement that remains undisclosed).

Net operating loss carryforwards are not a loophole, but a standard feature of an income tax that discourages tax avoidance. If a business makes $50 in June but loses $100 in July, we call that a $50 loss. A business that makes $50 in December but loses $100 in January is fundamentally the same thing, but straddles the tax year. Net operating losses (NOLs) allow businesses that lose money in one year and make money in another to smooth those ups and downs. We tax income (profits) not losses, and do so somewhat arbitrarily based on the calendar year. Otherwise, a taxpayer would have to pay income taxes despite not earning income, and would have an incentive to manipulate gains and losses to make them happen in the same year. Any taxpayer with business losses can take NOLs, and in 2014, 1.2 million taxpayers reported NOLs on their federal income tax form.

Why Trump had such a large net operating loss carryforward is not known from the documents made available. The documents are just the first pages so they are incomplete, and Trump’s campaign has not released any other information that can explain the $915.7 million business loss reported on the 1995 tax return. The Times notes that several Trump ventures had faltered in 1991-92 (the Trump Taj Mahal and Castle casinos in Atlantic City, the Trump Shuttle airline, and the Trump Plaza hotel), resulting in four of the six bankruptcies in Trump’s business record. As part of the bankruptcy settlements, Trump gave up stakes in these properties to creditors in return for debt write-downs. Generally cancellation of debt is taxed as income, except when discharged as part of a bankruptcy proceeding in which case any NOLs are reduced by the debt discharged. Without further documents or clarifications by the campaign, these are guesses.

The Times may face legal troubles for their article but can mount a First Amendment defense. Trump’s lawyer, contacted for comment by the Times, threatened “prompt initiation of appropriate legal action” if the Times published their article on the documents. The Trump campaign’s response referred to the document both as “alleged” and as “illegally obtained,” and in listing all the taxes Trump pays, did not list income taxes. Unauthorized disclosure of federal tax returns is prohibited by 26 U.S.C. § 7213(a)(3), punishable by a $5,000 fine and 5 years imprisonment, but in this case only state tax returns were disclosed. New York punishes unauthorized disclosure of tax return information with dismissal if the party is a state employee (N.Y. Tax § 314) and a criminal misdemeanor (N.Y. Tax § 1825); I couldn’t find information on imprisonment length for this offense. New York further authorizes civil damages of up to $1,000 or actual damages, plus punitive damages and court costs, for unauthorized disclosure of a state tax return (N.Y. Tax § 3038). Connecticut allows for punishing a state employee that violates tax return disclosure laws to be fined no more than $1,000 and imprisoned for no more than a year (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-15(g)). New Jersey punishes unauthorized tax return disclosure as a “crime of the fourth degree,” punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine (N.J. Stat. § 54:50-8(b); N.J. Admin. Code 18:7-11.14). Criminal actions require the state governments to begin legal proceedings, not Trump or his lawyers. In mid-September, New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet said he would publish Trump’s tax returns even if it risked jail time, and I would expect them to raise a First Amendment defense to their publication. In 1971, the Times and the Washington Post won a First Amendment defense against a government order to cease publication of the Pentagon Papers, a collection of classified documents explaining how America became involved in the Vietnam War.

https://taxfoundation.org/blog/five-facts-about-trump-tax-return-disclosure?mc_cid=643099cf09&mc_eid=c834f22e2e