The US has launched an inquiry into Panama Paper-related tax schemes. The US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, wants to speak with an employee of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists about the law firm data leak behind the Panama Papers.
Alexander Hamilton will remain on the ten-dollar bill. Perhaps thanks to the hit Broadway musical, Treasury announced yesterday that the front of the bill will continue to feature Hamilton, though the back will picture key figures in women’s suffrage. Meanwhile, Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the front of the twenty-dollar bill. Jackson will be moved to the back.
Speaking of money, Chicago Public Schools could use a whole lot of “Tubmans.” The district is short an additional $23.5 million because the state of Illinois incorrectly distributed personal property tax revenues from businesses to local governments. That misallocation is part of a $168 million state goof affecting 6,500 taxing districts in Illinois. Department of Revenue Director Connie Beard said “We will be working with the impacted taxing districts to establish a plan to recapture the funds over an extended period of time.”
Three days were not enough. On Tax Day, this year on April 18 instead of April 15, more than 363,000 people visited the IRS website in order to learn about or to file extensions. Eighty million people visited IRS.gov over the last 30 days.
On the Hill. Yesterday the Senate Finance Committee decided it didn’t want competent tax preparers. It rejected an amendment introduced by Democrats that would have allowed the IRS to set minimum standards for paid preparers. It would have been attached to the bill the panel did approve, which is intended to prevent identity theft and tax refund fraud.
Vive la France, but death to the wealth tax? Emmanuel Macron, France’s Economy Minister, says that the 35-year-old Solidarity Tax on Wealth is insufficent, and ought to be replaced with a higher tax on inheritance. He also wants to reverse France's “exit tax,” levied since 2011 in an effort to dissuade companies from moving out of the country. He thinks that the tax “encourages young people to establish business abroad from the beginning.” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls was not amused.
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