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I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

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11–20 of 73 posts

Re: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

#12
post #3
post #2

> New York recently began allowing taxpayers to convert local property taxes into charitable contributions, which are fully deductible from federal taxes. Other states, like New Jersey and Connecticut, have been moving forward with similar plans to reclassify state taxes as charitable contributions. If they consider their taxes a charitable contribution I should be able to decide to not pay it. I know a lot of charit…

Wait, property and state taxes are already deductible on federal 1040, right? So why are the states even doing this? The article is paywalled so surely I’m missing some info here.

The tax reform hit many places hard. You can only deduct the first $10,000. Every suburb of NYC has an average property tax of over $10k, plus most people pay state income tax. These people are doubly impacted by the higher standard deduction, which makes it difficult for all but the wealthy to deduct.

Re: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

#13
post #2

> New York recently began allowing taxpayers to convert local property taxes into charitable contributions, which are fully deductible from federal taxes. Other states, like New Jersey and Connecticut, have been moving forward with similar plans to reclassify state taxes as charitable contributions. If they consider their taxes a charitable contribution I should be able to decide to not pay it. I know a lot of charit…

> If they consider their taxes a charitable contribution I should be able to decide to not pay it You still owe regular property taxes, with all the standard penalties for non-payments. What these laws do is give "municipal and county governments and school districts the legal authority to create special charitable accounts" and then let "local governments offer residents who contribute to the new accounts a nearly d…

I would be surprised to see a judge take kindly to that type of nonsense.

Re: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

#14
post #9
post #2

> New York recently began allowing taxpayers to convert local property taxes into charitable contributions, which are fully deductible from federal taxes. Other states, like New Jersey and Connecticut, have been moving forward with similar plans to reclassify state taxes as charitable contributions. If they consider their taxes a charitable contribution I should be able to decide to not pay it. I know a lot of charit…

https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/bill_russell_once_le... Charles Barkley: "Bill Russell called me one time… He says, “Charles Barkley.” I said, “Yes, sir, Mr. Russell.” “You grew up in Alabama. Right?” I said, “Yes, sir.” He says, “Did you go to public school?” I said, “Yes, sir.” He says, “Did the cops ever come to your neighborhood?” I said, “Yes sir.” He said, “Any of the houses ever on fire and the firemen…

I doubt those on the receiving end of the bombs share Holmes's sentiment.

Re: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

#15
post #9
post #2

> New York recently began allowing taxpayers to convert local property taxes into charitable contributions, which are fully deductible from federal taxes. Other states, like New Jersey and Connecticut, have been moving forward with similar plans to reclassify state taxes as charitable contributions. If they consider their taxes a charitable contribution I should be able to decide to not pay it. I know a lot of charit…

https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/bill_russell_once_le... Charles Barkley: "Bill Russell called me one time… He says, “Charles Barkley.” I said, “Yes, sir, Mr. Russell.” “You grew up in Alabama. Right?” I said, “Yes, sir.” He says, “Did you go to public school?” I said, “Yes, sir.” He says, “Did the cops ever come to your neighborhood?” I said, “Yes sir.” He said, “Any of the houses ever on fire and the firemen…

That people who complain about taxes get some utility from the government activities funded by these taxes does not imply that they are better off with the combination of the services and the taxes than without. If this argument is meant to show that people should not complain about taxes, then it is invalid.

Re: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

#16

Enough of a push for some states to grow a backbone, stand up for their citizens, and work towards expelling this ever-consuming totalitarian USG? Nah, probably not.

Some states often stand up for their citizens, and with a Democratic NY governor versus Trump and the GOP, I have zero doubt NY will fight this to the extent the laws and courts allow. Trump is strongly and actively disliked in his home state.

Re: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

#17
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/bill_russell_once_le... Charles Barkley: "Bill Russell called me one time… He says, “Charles Barkley.” I said, “Yes, sir, Mr. Russell.” “You grew up in Alabama. Right?” I said, “Yes, sir.” He says, “Did you go to public school?” I said, “Yes, sir.” He says, “Did the cops ever come to your neighborhood?” I said, “Yes sir.” He said, “Any of the houses ever on fire and the firemen…

That people who complain about taxes get some utility from the government activities funded by these taxes does not imply that they are better off with the combination of the services and the taxes than without. If this argument is meant to show that people should not complain about taxes, then it is invalid.

in another analogy, we should not praise the house robber for re-arranging our funiture after stealing our valuables

Re: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

#18
post #2

> New York recently began allowing taxpayers to convert local property taxes into charitable contributions, which are fully deductible from federal taxes. Other states, like New Jersey and Connecticut, have been moving forward with similar plans to reclassify state taxes as charitable contributions. If they consider their taxes a charitable contribution I should be able to decide to not pay it. I know a lot of charit…

> If they consider their taxes a charitable contribution I should be able to decide to not pay it You still owe regular property taxes, with all the standard penalties for non-payments. What these laws do is give "municipal and county governments and school districts the legal authority to create special charitable accounts" and then let "local governments offer residents who contribute to the new accounts a nearly d…

This would be a quid pro quo contribution, already prohibited by the IRS. It's hard to see this "charitable conversion" nonsense as anything other than (potentially criminal) tax evasion.

https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/substantiating-cha...

Re: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If they consider their taxes a charitable contribution I should be able to decide to not pay it You still owe regular property taxes, with all the standard penalties for non-payments. What these laws do is give "municipal and county governments and school districts the legal authority to create special charitable accounts" and then let "local governments offer residents who contribute to the new accounts a nearly d…

I would be surprised to see a judge take kindly to that type of nonsense.

[deleted]

Re: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If they consider their taxes a charitable contribution I should be able to decide to not pay it You still owe regular property taxes, with all the standard penalties for non-payments. What these laws do is give "municipal and county governments and school districts the legal authority to create special charitable accounts" and then let "local governments offer residents who contribute to the new accounts a nearly d…

I would be surprised to see a judge take kindly to that type of nonsense.

> I would be surprised to see a judge take kindly to that type of nonsense

We're a nation of laws. Not taking kindly to a case isn't justification for a ruling. The tax law was haphazardly drafted and written specifically to increase wealth transfers from surplus states (e.g. Delaware, Minnesota and New Jersey) to deficit states (e.g. New Mexico, Mississippi and West Virginia) [1]. I see valid arguments for both sides.

[1] https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2011/08/01/the-red-...

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