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2012 Tax form headaches:

Bottom Line:  I’ve heard rumblings from tax pros that we could have delays for would be January tax filing.  Yesterday I received a note from a CPA who was frustrated that there was still no indication as to when 2012 tax forms would be made available so he could start the early work for quick filing next year.  Upon review – there isn’t much of a choice.

The IRS has indicated that it won’t release 2012 tax forms until January.  While the fiscal cliff issue pertains to 2013 tax policy – the IRS is waiting until the end of the year incase there is another 11th change to something affecting this tax year before Dec. 31st.  The end result will be no tax forms being made available by the IRS until January. 

http://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/draftTaxForms.html

 

Mortgage interest deduction in the cross hairs of fiscal cliff talks:

Bottom Line:  The possible elimination of the mortgage interest deduction first was brought into the conversation during Romney’s proposal to potentially limit deductions to $25,000 per household.  The biggest deduction that many families have is the MID.  You may not being hearing about the deduction being limited or brought to an end but it has come up in “closed door meetings” during the fiscal cliff discussion.  So let’s take a look at the implications.  You may be surprised (I was).

Everyone who has an interest in real-estate would / will cry fowl if the deduction is limited or eliminated but only 26% of American might actually care or notice.  

Only 26% of Americans claim the mortgage interest deduction on their taxes and in Florida – it’s even lower at just 19%.  If that sounds surprisingly low it’ll make sense by the time you consider all of the groups that don’t use the deduction:

  • Renters
  • Home owners who don’t itemize
  • Home owners that don’t have a mortgage

Given the demographics of Florida it makes sense that we have fewer users of the MID than average.  These numbers aren’t lost on politicians.  At a time in which tough decisions on tax loop holes need to be made this could be an easy choice for politicians to consider since only a quarter of Americans use it.  As for my view…

I’ve long been an advocate of a flat tax with no deductions.  While I’m a strong advocate of home ownership I fundamentally believe that we should not use the tax code to choose winners or losers in business or everyday life or influence life decisions we make.  Part of the reason we never make progress with the tax code is that so many groups and organizations benefit from pieces of it and lobby politicians accordingly.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/12/04/fiscal-cliff-mortgage-deduction/1737611/

 

Companies racing to avoid the Dividend cliff:

Bottom Line:  For those who will argue that the looming fiscal cliff hasn’t / isn’t affecting business activity.  Here’s the latest demonstration of how the policy mess in Washington is greatly impacting everyday business decision making… 

Special Dividends (non-regularly scheduled dividends) are up more than 300% so far in the 4th quarter over last year.  All told $22 billion in special dividends have been declared and have been or will be paid out before Dec. 31st.  The reason is the increase in taxation on investment that I’ve been warning about for months. 

The tax consequences are crystal clear in the dividends that are being paid out.  The tax bill on the $22 billion in dividends is $3.3 billion.  If President Obama has it his way?  It would be over $9 billion in taxes on those dividends.  And where would that money come from?  Well investments of course & this is the result:

  • Less investment in American Business
  • Less Business expansion due to less investment
  • Less hiring because of slower expansion
  • Slow or no upward mobility for people currently in the work force
  • Slow or no income growth because of the above issues

To put it another way plainly.  If you raise my nominal tax rate I’m going to be unhappy but I’ll still come to work tomorrow.  If you triple my tax rate on investment I will (and already have) make vastly different investments to avoid those taxes because the risk / reward ratio isn’t worth the investment in taxable accounts.  It’s quite sad really.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100275303

 

Want to stream Disney?   You’ll need Netflix:

Bottom Line:  A big win for Netflix and if you’re a parent of a child under ten – this is for you… 

Netflix signed an exclusive deal with Disney to stream their library of content.  This is a near must for parents of small children.  Maybe you’ll be lucky and they won’t watch the same two Disney movies every day…

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100276798

 

Updated Gmail app for iOS:

Bottom Line:  The G-Mail app for your iPhone just became more functional.  The 2.0 update that’s now available, will include Calendar functionality (much like Microsoft Outlook).  This is helpful to keep one integrated calendar for your personal and professional affairs.

http://mashable.com/2012/12/04/gmail-ios/

 

Finding new business in your back yard:

Bottom Line:  Sometimes the biggest new business opportunity is the least visible.  Federal, State and local Governments post tasks / services they need and are ready to fund as a matter of routine.  Many of them are very specified and few companies would qualify too participate in the bidding process…  But not all of them. 

Looking at Palm Beach County 66, opportunities currently exist for companies to bid on.  Some have been open for months.  Need for Food & Golf services among other contracts are open and available for bidding.  Here is the link for you to explore:

http://www.findrfp.com/service/search.aspx?s=palm+beach+county&t=FL&is=0