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Virginia Hopkins was looking forward to getting her tax refund. And why wouldn’t she be, as Uncle Sam owed the waitress from Cleveland $754.
When she finally received her letter from the IRS, she tour it open and then got the shock of her life. Hopkins was staring at a check for $434,712.
As part of an effort to fight obesity, Darebin Council in northern Melbourne, Australia, is considering a “fat tax” which would impose whopping rate increases on fast food giants like McDonald’s and KFC.
Three years ago, a federal act meant to help reduce the number of people who smoke greatly increased the tax rates for cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, and small cigars, counting on the fact that making smoking more expensive would prompt people to quit.
And while it may have caused some to do so, the move had an unintended effect: sales of pipe tobacco and large cigars, which aren’t taxed quite as harshly, have boomed.
Named for billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has argued that he shouldn’t pay a lower tax rate than his secretary, the Buffett Rule would mandate a minimum 30 percent tax rate for any household which makes over $1 million a year.
But is the rest of country onboard with such an idea?
Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And the two may be even more closely linked than we thought — a new study shows fatal car crashes rise on April’s annual tax deadline day.
Amount of income, number of deductions, total receipts, amount of times you banged your head on the table: April is the month of figures.
If the amount of money in your bank account and number on your tax return are making you crazy, take a break, take a breath and distract yourself with some of these numbers from the IRS.