IRS expected to target small businesses this year
Americans who get paid in cash and own a small business are at high risk of being audited – especially if they live in wealthy suburbs: the IRS is going after those from which the agency thinks they can get more taxes. “It’s just a matter of them going where they think the money’s at,” Steve [...]
Cypriot parliament approves ‘solidarity fund,’ allows capital controls
In a bid to secure an EU bailout, the Cypriot parliament has adopted laws creating a “solidarity fund” to pool assets as the basis for an emergency bond issue and allowing the government to impose capital controls for the country’s banks. Nicosia introduced emergency legislation in the parliament late on Thursday to secure a bailout [...]
‘Sequester reflects Washington’s ugly political deadlock’
Poor Americans will be the first to suffer from the looming sequester budget cuts, Margaret Bogenrief of ACM Partners told RT. The harsh budget cuts are set to begin in the US on Friday at midnight. The deadlock between the Republicans and the Democrats in the US Congress makes any kind of last-minute deal to [...]
Senators give Big Pharma huge present at taxpayers’ expense
The bill that averted the fiscal cliff included a largely unnoticed section that granted world’s largest biotechnology firm a two-year delay in regulations of its drugs – even though the firm has just pleaded guilty in a federal fraud case. The bill, H.R. 8, was passed with a paragraph that lawmakers included to give the [...]
Senate Deal Keeps Most Tax Cuts
The White House and Mitch McConnell have reached a tentative deal early New Year’s Day. The measure would raise taxes by about $600 billion over 10 years and delay for two months across-the-board spending cuts otherwise set to begin slashing the budgets of the Pentagon and numerous domestic agencies. Highlights: Income tax rates: Extends tax cuts [...]
Worst Congress ever back to Washington to avoid government shutdown
As US lawmakers return to work on Monday after a five-week recess, they will push aside big issues to once again try to avert a government shutdown before Sept. 30, thereby holding off on issues that could trigger another recession. This Congress is one of the most unpopular and unproductive in modern history, reaching an [...]
Secret Service investigates alleged theft of Romney tax records
The Secret Service is up in arms over claims being made by a group that says they have obtained White House hopeful Mitt Romney’s tax records. In a message posted online, the group says they will leak the files if not paid $1,000,000 in Bitcoins. An unidentified group says that they managed to make their [...]
Moody’s says global growth weaker than they thought
Moody’s Investors Service has revised down its growth forecasts for the advanced and emerging nations in the G-20, citing an unfavorable external environment and lower domestic demand. In its latest Global Macro-Risk Outlook 2012-2013 update, Moody’s cut its forecasts for growth in emerging economies to 5.2% in 2012, compared to an earlier prediction of 5.8% [...]
Where’s the gold? NY Fed undergoes first-ever audit
A massive trove of gold kept under lock and key five stories below Manhattan at the New York Federal Reserve has been undergoing its first audit in history. It could put conspiracy theories – for example, that the gold is a sham – to sleep for good. According to the official record, the US government [...]