DATE: March, 2003
The following is intended as general information and does not represent legal or tax advice. Individual circumstances vary - please consult your legal and tax advisors about your specific situation. As a monthly news souce, some information may be remain on this page for several weeks.
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NEWS SOURCES | ARCHIVES OF PAST MONTHS
About Scams, Tax Cheats and "Phony" Charities
CHICAGO - The telemarketer's pitch is familiar: Please give money to help a deserving charity. But when all but 15 percent of the money goes to the telemarketer itself, is it really charitable? The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case tomorrow in which the state of Illinois sued a telemarketer that kept 85 percent of the money it raised on behalf of a veterans organization.
"That's fraud," Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said. "This has crossed the line."
The problem is, the line has never been explicitly drawn. The charity in the case, VietNow, had an agreement with Telemarketing Associates Inc. in which the charity got 15 percent of the money and the fund-raiser kept the rest.
WASHINGTON - In an update of an annual consumer alert, the Internal Revenue Service urged taxpayers to avoid falling victim to one of the "Dirty Dozen" tax scams. In the new 2003 ranking, several new scams have reached the top of the consumer watch list, including offshore banking and identity theft schemes.
"With the tax season in full swing, we're seeing the traditional upswing in tax trickery," said IRS Acting Commissioner Bob Wenzel. "Year after year, con artists across the nation try pulling a fast one on honest taxpayers with different types of miracle tax solutions. Don't be fooled by the 'Dirty Dozen' and other misleading scams. There is no secret way to get out of paying taxes."
The IRS and other federal agencies are aggressively pursuing and successfully prosecuting promoters of these schemes and many of their clients for fraud and tax evasion. These can result in imprisonment, fines and repayment of taxes owed with interest and penalties. Even innocent taxpayers involved in these schemes can face a staggering amount of back interest and penalties.
Taxpayers who suspect tax fraud can report it to the IRS at 1-800-829-0433. For a list and description of the "Dirty Dozen," go to http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=107493,00.html.
"The best advice for taxpayers is to remember the concept of 'buyer beware,'" Wenzel said. "Think carefully before paying for services or signing important documents. And don't be fooled by outrageous promises. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Report backs overhaul of executive pay, evaluation systems
The current pay and benefits system for senior executives does not properly compensate the government's top career leaders for outstanding performance, concludes a new report from the National Academy of Public Administration.
"Compensation and benefit incentives are not structured properly to reward executives for the risks they are expected to take and the performance they are expected to achieve," said the NAPA report, which the Office of Personnel Management requested.
Under
federal law, salaries for the SES are capped at the third-highest
pay level on the Executive Schedule, the five-level schedule in
which salaries are set for members of Congress and executive branch
political appointees. About 60 percent of the SES is paid at the
current cap--$142,500.
By Kellie Lunney Govtexec.com
Attorney General Lockyer Warns Seniors about "Living Trust Mills" and Annuity Scams
(SACRAMENTO) CA Attorney General Bill Lockyer today warned California consumers to be on the lookout for "living trust mill" con artists who fraudulently sell trusts and annuities to senior citizens.
Sales agents for these scam operations often misrepresent the disadvantages of seniors' current investments and the advantages of the investments the agents are selling. They may even make seniors believe their bank accounts are less safe than the annuities or other investments they want seniors to buy. To give themselves a cloak of legitimacy, these sales agents pretend to be experts in living trusts. They often work in assisted living centers, churches and other places where seniors gather, hooking elderly victims through free seminars and other sales presentations.
"Consumers, particularly seniors and their families, should be wary," said Lockyer. "We believe there are living trust mills violating the law -- and the trust placed in them by seniors. We are determined to investigate and punish fraudulent conduct, but we also want to help seniors avoid becoming victims."
Consumers who feel they have been victimized by a living trust mill, or annuity or promissory-note fraud, should report it to their local district attorney and the California Department of Insurance. Consumer complaints also may be filed online at the Attorney General/s Website at http://www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/mailform.htm.
Census data show drop-off in volunteerism
As President Bush pushes for more Americans to volunteer, a new national data book shows what looks like a sharp drop in adult volunteerism between 1998 and 2000.
The nearly 1,000-page Statistical Abstract of the United States for 2002 released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau, indicates that 44 percent of U.S. adults provided volunteer services in 2000, down from 55.5 percent two years earlier.
More encouraging
was the findings that the 44 percent who did volunteer in 2000 contributed
an average of 15.1 hours per month, compared with 14 hours in 1998.
taken from an article By Joyce Howard Price THE WASHINGTON
TIMES
Care Act Senate Committee Report - Excerpts
The Senate Finance Committee has released its committee report to accompany S. 476, the CARE Act, which would provide incentives for charitable contributions by individuals and businesses.
The Committee recognizes that the Administration believes that providing a charitable deduction for taxpayers who do not itemize deductions will result in an increase in charitable giving. In addition, the Committee appreciates that the charitable deduction is an important part of the President's faith-based initiative. The provision is for a two-year period.
The provision
provides an exclusion from gross income for otherwise taxable IRA
distributions from a traditional or a Roth IRA in the case of qualified
charitable distributions. Special rules apply in determining the
amount of an IRA distribution that is otherwise taxable. The present-law
rules regarding taxation of IRA distributions and the deduction
of charitable contributions continue to apply to distributions from
an IRA that are not qualified charitable distributions.
Taken from the Senate Finance Report
Introduced On February 27, 2003, the "Jobs and Growth Tax Act of 2003" that enacts the proposed Bush tax cuts was introduced. The Senate sponsors of S. 2 are Don Nickles (R-OK) and Zell Miller (D-GA). The House bill (H.R. 2) was introduced by Ways and Means Chair Bill Thomas (R-CA).
With the fall in consumer confidence due to the impending war in Iraq and the increased cost of gasoline, the public support for the Bush tax cut has fallen to 42%. To move the major tax cut plan forward, President Bush and Treasury Secretary John Snow are actively meeting with Congressional leaders and encouraging support for the plan.
The
plan would accelerate the income tax reductions, eliminate the marriage
penalty, increase the child tax credit to $1,000, increase expensing
for small businesses to $75,000 per year, increase the AMT exemptions
to $57,000 joint or $39,750 single, and eliminate taxes on corporate
dividends.
Taken From GiftLaw
Rosa Alexander led life of hard work, philanthropy
Alexander, of Chesapeake, represented much more to the community than being one of Hampton Roads' most successful black business owners. Alexander, who died this week at 74 from natural causes, epitomized generosity.
At her funeral in Norfolk, more than a thousand people came, many with their own stories about how Alexander had touched their lives -- the funeral for a relative that she paid for, the Thanksgiving dinner she would cook annually for tenants, the land she bought and donated so a church could be built.
"She cared more for human nature than she cared for making that dollar,'' said daughter Nathalin Carey. "Every dollar she made, she helped someone with it."
"When my brother asked how many people in the church she had helped, 90 percent of the people in the church raised their hands.''
She faithfully gave to Norfolk State University over the years, once giving $50,000 for football scholarships. And in 1983 a women's dormitory -- Rosa M. Alexander Hall -- was built.
Alexander never attended college, but realized the importance of an education not only for her seven children, but her 20 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren.
Alexander
was instrumental in raising the funds for the Martin Luther King Jr.
monument, an effort started by the late Joseph A. Jordan Jr.
Taken from an article By TONI GUAGENTI, The Virginian-Pilot
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Revised: April 2, 2003 14:29.