Congress is back, with Ukraine and COVID-19 funding on its plate. Lawmakers are likely to consider bills to provide more aid to Ukraine as well as an Administration request for up to $22 billion for pandemic testing and drug therapies. Will they get combined? Democrats continue quiet talks on social spending, climate, and tax increases. Other pending tax issues include new retirement savings incentives and expiring corporate tax breaks.
What you can learn from doing volunteer tax prep? TPC’s Richard Auxier describes what he learned helping low-income households with their tax filing. His big take-away: Pandemic relief was very helpful for these families but it made tax filing needlessly complicated.
Coloradans can count on TABOR tax refunds this summer. Single filers will receive $400, and joint filers $800 in August or early September. Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) requires excess revenue to be refunded to taxpayers. Officials estimate rebates will go to 3.1 million Coloradans through a temporary income tax rate cut, property tax relief for senior and veteran homeowners, and sales tax rebates.
Missouri House approves state tax rebates. The chamber approved non-refundable rebates of up to $1,000 to married couples and $500 to individuals who paid state income taxes. The bill now heads to the Missouri Senate.
Kansas lawmakers revisit tax cuts. Lawmakers reconvened this week, but Republican legislators and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly disagree on how to cut taxes now that Kansas has extra cash in its coffers. Lawmakers need to agree on a $22 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
In March, Arizona collected more tax revenue from marijuana sales than alcohol and tobacco. The Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee reports the state collected $6.3 million in taxes on medical and adult-use cannabis compared to $5.4 million from tobacco and alcohol sales. So far this fiscal year, Arizona has collected $149.7 million in marijuana tax revenue.
European Central Bank sets sights on crypto assets. An executive board member of the bank, Fabio Panetta, called for taxing crypto assets, especially if they have a high carbon footprint. Politico Europe reports on his speech yesterday at Columbia University, where he said, “Taxes should be even higher for those cryptos that run on blockchain technologies known as Proof-of-Work, which require specialized computers that consume a lot of energy to process and record transactions. The most famous example is Bitcoin."
A promise to replace the “non-dom” filing status in the UK. The Labour Party has promised to repeal non-domicile or “non-dom” tax status after controversy surrounding the finances of the spouse of finance minister Rishi Sunak. Residents of the United Kingdom whose permanent homes are abroad are exempt from UK tax on their overseas income for up to 15 years.
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