As you prepare your tax returns for 2012, be warned: A number of states have made or are considering big changes to their state income taxes. With some of those changes already having taken effect, you need to know whether you're in the line of fire -- or in line for a tax break.
Whether negotiated in a rush before the new year or left for early January, the fiscal deal President Barack Obama and Congress cobble together will be far smaller than what they initially envisioned as an alternative to purposefully distasteful tax increases and spending cuts.
Lawmakers of both parties are hunting for ways to raise tax revenue as part of a deal to avert the fiscal cliff. But they should stay away from touching the mortgage interest tax deduction, warns the U.S. housing industry, lest they throw a wrench the long-sputtering economic recovery.
The federal budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year. But a modest improvement in economic growth helped narrow the gap by $207 billion compared with last year.
Mitt Romney says the key to getting America's growth back on track is cut taxes even further on the wealthy. But would cutting taxes on "job creators" actually do that? No -- at least not according to the data compiled by nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
Mitt Romney has been taking some flak for saying the he's not going to try to win votes among the 47% of the populace that pays no federal income tax -- nor try to convince them to "take personal responsibility and care for their lives." But he should look more closely at who's in that group.
Mitt Romney is promising to reduce taxes on middle-income Americans. But how does he define "middle income"? The Republican presidential nominee defined it as income of $200,000 to $250,000 a year.
Republicans in Congress already love Paul Ryan's budget proposals, and now that he's on the presidential ticket, we can expect his fiscal ideas to hold even more sway in a Romney administration. So how would his proposals affect the average U.S. family? Would you be better off in a Romney-Ryan America?
Even before Mitt Romney picked him as his running mate, Paul Ryan was a Tea Party star, a fiscal-policy super-wonk and author of the GOP House's budget proposal. Here's a look at some of the ways Ryan's fiscal ideas contrast with President Obama's:
The economy is rumbling along, out of control. Straight ahead, the road abruptly ends, yet the horses show no signs of slowing. Next stop: the fiscal cliff! Here's how the looming crisis will affect the average American family.
The Senate is bracing for a tax-cut showdown that is all about Democrats and Republicans showing voters their differences over taxing the well-off while accusing each other of threatening to shove the government over a fiscal cliff.
Former President Bill Clinton offered up some wide-ranging prescriptions for curing the nation's ailing economy in a speech at the National Retail Federation's annual convention Monday, from investing in new sectors for job growth to cutting taxes on business.
With the 2012 election season looming, the retail sector is getting vocally political for the first time. The National Retail Federation has launched "Retail Means Jobs," a year-long, $10 million advocacy campaign designed to push for retail-friendly policies in Washington.
America has always had a love/hate relationship with its wealthiest citizens, and the Great Recession has only made it worse. The trouble is, while everybody knows that "the rich" are the enemy, it's hard to determine where exactly the line lies between salt-of-the-earth members of the middle class and the bloated plutocrats.
Getting even a tentative handle on the multi-trillion dollar federal budget is no easy matter. Still, as the debate surrounding U.S. spending, taxes and the looming debt ceiling continues, it's worth asking: Exactly how does America spend all that cash, and what do the choices being debated really mean?