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Category: Taxes

Kyrillos Demands IRS Probe

May. 31 Abuse of Power, Big Government, Corruption, Ethics, Joe Kyrillos, State Senate, Taxes 6 comments

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Joe Kyrillos at 2012 RNCA New Jersey legislator is calling for a more immediate and thorough investigation into the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its targeting of conservative group and individuals. 

State Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) today accused the IRS of “political spying” and introduced a resolution urgins those with oversight responsibilities to “reveal everyone involved so that they can be held accountable.”

Congress wasn’t in session this week but staffers are reportedly busy preparing for a fresh round of hearings. Kyrillos, for his part, is facing a Republican Primary fight on Tuesday from Lee Ann Bellew and a Tea Party-backed ticket; he undoubtedly hopes base voters appreciate his modest attempt to help keep the story churning.

The text of Sen. Kyrillos’s resolution is below the fold…

CONTINUE READING….

RGA Attacks Buono’s Tax Votes

May. 30 Barbara Buono, Campaign Ads, Chris Christie, Economics, Election 2013, State Senate, Taxes 6 comments

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Screenshot from new RGA TV ad attacking Barbara Buono's record.

Screenshot from new RGA TV ad attacking Barbara Buono’s record.

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is on the air in New Jersey. Virginia won’t get all of the love this year.

Titled “Barbara Buono: Taking New Jersey Backwards,” the roughly 30-second televised spot is a damning summary of the Democrat state senator’s abysmal voting history.

The narrator also (fairly) accuses Buono of being the architect of Jon Corzine’s budgets. Earlier this year, the RGA attempted to pull the rug out from under the N.J. Democrats’ presumptive nominee by pointing out that she was their back up selection after Cory Booker bowed out.

Governor Christie released his own new TV ad on Thursday which also seeks to provide voters with a clear contrast to the pre-Christie years but without mentioning Buono by name.

Christie is the former RGA Vice Chair and he’s raised plenty for the organization and its candidates since taking office in January 2010. Unlike last time around (when Jon Corzine outspent him by nearly 3 to 1), the advertising balance is likely to favor the incumbent straight through November.

I’ve posted the commercial and it’s full script below the fold, Save Jerseyans…

CONTINUE READING….

Buono’s Hypocrisy by the Numbers

May. 21 Barbara Buono, Election 2013, Property Taxes, Spending, state budget, Taxes 8 comments

A Detailed History of How Democrat Governors (and Their Legislative Allies) Destroyed New Jersey’s Fiscal Health

By Joe Sinagra | The Save Jersey Blog

A screenshot from Governor Chris Christie's first 2013 attack ad aimed at Barbara Buono's voting record.

A screenshot from Governor Chris Christie’s first 2013 attack ad aimed at Barbara Buono’s voting record.

Yes, we have the highest taxes due to the last two previous administrations. Have you ever wondered why?

Barbara Buono can spin all she likes! Let’s take our time to examine how we got here, figure by figure, just in case there’s any confusion:

Corzine and McGreevey combined added over 154 tax increases. A budget that was in the toilet, the state was going broke, and Corzine was writing checks knowing the well was running dry. On July 15, 2006, the sales tax was raised from 6% to 7% that was supposed to fund our rebates and the following year there was no rebate. So we funded our own rebate and, the following year, there wasn’t any money as a result.

Tax and spend, spend and tax with Barbara Buono supporting the tax increases all along the way. Now she is running on a platform of. . . cutting taxes?

In July of 2009, Corzine boasted that “13,000 private sector jobs were added last month because of our business-friendly policies,” when in actuality the state lost 3,100 jobs in June of 2009. Jon Corzine claimed he created 13,000 jobs, but his actions after his inauguration proved that facts often speak differently than rhetoric. Faced with an unemployment toll that rose to 9.2 percent, the Corzine administration spin was that the loss of jobs in June was the smallest since the recession began. Yet there were thousands of unemployed who were already standing in line, long before Chris Christie was even thinking of running for Governor.

Corzine extended the 4% corporate tax surcharge and raised taxes by 25 % on liquor. His Lt. Governor pick, Loretta Weinberg, had voted for every tax increase that ex-Governor Jim McGreevey wished for and every tax increase that Jon Corzine proposed; she was never interested in cutting government expenditures or standing up to government unions. Instead, she has consistently supported ever-increasing government expansions.

With the beginning of the recession in December 2007, New Jersey already lost 150,100 jobs…

CONTINUE READING….

Not Just Bad for Business

May. 13 Big Government, Taxes 3 comments

New Internet Sales Taxes Will Grow and Expand the Size of Government, Too

By Scott Alexander | The Save Jersey Blog

Bill Clinton InternetWe stand at a crossroads in America, Save Jerseyans.

Maybe I am the only one who sees it this way, but the Federal Government is poised to grow State Government by seeking to expand taxation of internet sales. The Senate recently passed the Marketplace Fairness Act bill [S-743} by a vote of 69-27 and it is now going to the House. It should be renamed the Government Unfair Act of Expansion. President Obama supports the bill, too.

This is the way I see it: you can pick any U.S. state but let’s take New Jersey as an example. The 2013 proposed budget for New Jersey is $32.1 billion. We have taxes and other revenues equal to that amount to create a balanced budget. If we were to add in $212 million in unrealized internet taxes from 2012 for example, we would grow the budget 6.6%.

In other words, we would grow New Jersey state government by 6.6%.

CONTINUE READING….

Charity Meets Fiscal Sanity

May. 06 Jay Webber, State Assembly, Taxes 5 comments

Bill Designed to Improve Charitable Giving Clear Assembly Committee

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Jay WebberWe talk so much about what’s wrong with Trenton that it’s sometime easy to forget that there are a few people fighting for worthwhile ideas. Occasionally.

Well, a solid bill got out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Monday, Save Jerseyans. So let’s acknowledge it.

Our friend Asm. Jay Webber’s new legislation (A-3860) “would establish that a contribution from an out-of-state resident to a New Jersey-based charitable organization cannot be used as a factor for determining whether that individual is subject to the State income tax” according to an Assembly GOP release. Hence, if this bill makes it through the legislature and past Chris Christie’s desk, the New Jersey Division of Taxation will cease considering an individual’s charitable contributions in determining his or her domicile for taxation purpose.

Private charity. Fiscal sanity. Perfect together.

Take note liberals…

The Anti-Small Business Tax

Apr. 29 Economics, Taxes 12 comments

OPINION: the Self-Employment Penalty is a Barrier to Economic Growth

By Jordan Rickards | The Save Jersey Blog

money - liberty coinI don’t suppose any American looks forward to April 15.  This was especially true for me this year, because I knew my tax bill was going to be a bit stiffer than in years past.  I wasn’t complaining though.  I run my own law office, and the fact that I would have to pay more in taxes was a result of having done more business in 2012, and that’s always a cause for celebration.

Because I am self-employed, I am required by law to pay taxes on a quarterly basis in amounts designed to approximate that year’s expected tax liability, using the previous year’s earnings as a guide.  Since I had earned significantly more in 2012 than in 2011, I knew my withholdings would not cover the entirety of my tax liability, such that when my accountant called on the morning April 15th, I was fully prepared for him to tell me that I owed extra money.

But I wasn’t prepared for the amount.

It seems that in my mental calculations I had forgotten to factor in the bane of all small business owners, the dreaded “self-employment penalty,” which more than doubled my tax bill.  It’s actually called the “self-employment tax,” but it’s a penalty.  One of the most basic principles in economics is that you get more of what you subsidize, and less of what you tax.  Ergo, because a tax serves to discourage the activity to which it applied, in plain English that means it’s a penalty.

And the message this penalty sends is clear enough: the government would rather have me looking for a job instead of creating one for myself and others.

CONTINUE READING….

“Proven to be Liars” (VIDEO)

Apr. 26 Chris Christie, Election 2013, Taxes 1 comment

Christie Declares Another Summer of Tax Cut Warfare

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

As the Buono campaign desperately searches for an issue or angle upon which to hang its electoral hat, Save Jerseyans, Governor Chris Christie made it painfully clear during this week’s “Ask the Governor” appearance that he intends to focus on one topic this summer besides Sandy recovery: elusive tax relief for the Garden State.

The relevant clip just ICYMI:

We Can’t Afford Not to Do It

Apr. 25 Chris Christie, Property Taxes, Taxes 12 comments

Attention Trenton! We need a Tax Cut ASAP

By Scott Alexander | The Save Jersey Blog

ScissorsWhat we need in this state more than anything else is a tax cut, Save Jerseyans.

Deep property tax cuts would be ideal but until that occurs, income tax cuts will work. Governor Christie is proposing an income tax credit up to a $10,000 limit based on 10% of your property taxes paid and phased in over 4 years. In addition, there is an earned income tax provision of his plan. The Democrats say we can’t afford it but I say we can’t afford not to figure out how to make it happen.

What we need to get our economy going is a strong housing market. A strong housing market increases sale prices, cash flow and revs up the economy. A stronger economy helps to generate jobs. The lynch pin is property taxes since they greatly influence the housing.

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