Update from Rep. Josh Gottheimer on Charity Tax Credits

By |2019-07-19T17:22:10+00:00July 19th, 2019|Taxes|

Dear Mr. [redacted]:

As your Representative, I have made it my priority to lower taxes for North Jersey families. In New Jersey, we pay some of the highest taxes in the nation. To make matters worse, the Tax Hike Bill kicked us in the teeth by gutting the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT), driving taxes up for many in our District by seven percent and, according to Moody’s, sending our state’s property values down by 7.4 percent.

I have been working with local elected officials in New Jersey to fight back by enabling towns and cities to establish charitable funds to pay for everything from public safety to education. Taxpayers who contribute would receive tax credits applied toward their property-tax bills.

But last month, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a massively overreaching rule that would prohibit states like New Jersey from allowing municipalities to use these charitable funds to offer real tax relief to residents.

That’s why I introduced bipartisan legislation with Representative Peter King of New York to fully repeal the Treasury Department’s prejudicial and politically motivated rule. Simply put, Congress didn’t give the IRS permission to interpret the tax law as they see fit. It’s incredibly clear that this rule is aimed at whacking blue states like New Jersey and all of our hardworking, taxpaying families, and we cannot allow them to target us in this manner.

I have heard from cities and towns across the Fifth District that this Treasury regulatory overreach is stopping them from being able to provide actual tax relief for their residents. My resolution aims to provide much needed certainty and, once and for all, give people the tax cuts they need and deserve. Our families and our businesses simply can’t afford tax increases at any level.

As your Representative, my top priority is lowering taxes for Fifth District residents. If you’d like to contact me about this or any other issue, please email me at https://gottheimer.house.gov/contact/. If you would like to receive regular updates from me, please visit https://gottheimer.house.gov/forms/emailsignup/ where you can sign up for my e-newsletter.

Yours,

Josh

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Where Your Tax Dollars Go: Transparency Update

By |2017-12-27T22:05:54+00:00December 27th, 2017|Taxes, Uncategorized|

Who We Are

At OpenTheBooks.com, we work hard to capture and post all disclosed spending at every level of government – federal, state, and local. We’ve successfully captured nearly 4 billion public expenditures, and we are rapidly growing our data in all 50 states down to the municipal level. We won’t stop until we capture every dime taxed and spent by our government.

As a government watchdog organization, we accept no government funding.

OpenTheBooks.com is a project of American Transparency – a 501(c)3 nonprofit, nonpartisan charitable organization. All donations are tax deductible for federal or state income tax purposes to the fullest extent of the law.

What We Do

OpenTheBooks.com operates under three distinct magnifying glasses.

  1. Current Events
    We follow the national news cycle closely and apply our unique data to breaking news stories. Our data adds to the national narrative and provide a new angle for the country’s most-covered stories.
  1. Oversight Reports
    We publish in-depth oversight reports on the federal, state, and local government entities. Our reports are unique, providing detailed insight to the intricate ways tax dollars are spent.
  1. Unique Database 
    Perhaps our most important microscope for long-term impact, we have worked to make our data easy to use, accurate, and accessible. OpenTheBooks.com is the world’s largets private database of government spending. Our goal is to put every government expense – local, state, and federal – online in real time. The data is accessible via cell phone, iPad, and computer to everyone including public citizens, investigative reporters, academics, think tanks, politicians, and more.

What We Believe

It’s your money, and you deserve to see where every dime is spent! We believe taxpayers have a constitutional right to government oversight. We believe hard data is a game changer. Once citizens are able to see how the government spends their money, it will influence how they vote and how they view their government.

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It’s A VERY BIG Number

By |2017-06-16T01:59:19+00:00June 16th, 2017|Taxes|

If I give you $1 billion and you stand on a street corner handing out $1 per second, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, you would still not have handed out $1 billion after 31 years!

Now read on. This is too true to be funny.

The next time you hear a politician use the word ‘billion’ in a casual manner, think about whether you want the ‘politicians’ spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

1. A billion seconds ago, it was 1959.
2. A billion minutes ago, Jesus was alive.
3. A billion hours ago, our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
4. A billion days ago, no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
5. A billion Dollars ago was only 13 hours and 12 minutes, at the rate our present government is spending it.

We are charged:
· Stamp Duty
· Tobacco Tax
· Corporate Income Tax
· Income Tax
· Council Tax
· Unemployment Tax
· Fishing License Tax
· Petrol/Diesel Tax
· Inheritance Tax (tax on top of tax)
· Alcohol Tax
· G.S.T.
· Property Tax
· Purchase Property Tax
· Tax on Title Searches
· Tax on Building Inspections
· Tax on supplements
· Taxes on various food items
· Taxes on Dining out
· Tax on all utilities – Phone, hydro, water, waste disposal
· Service charge taxes
· Social Security Tax
· Vehicle License / Registration Tax
· Vehicle Sales Tax
· Workers Compensation Tax
· And now Carbon Tax

AND I’m sure you can think of more……

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 60 years ago, and our nation was one of the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt.

We had the largest middle class in the world. A criminal’s life was uncomfortable. What on earth happened?
I hope this goes around CANADA, the USA and beyond 1 billion times!

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Letter to Sen. Steve Oroho on New Gas Tax

By |2017-06-04T01:20:21+00:00June 4th, 2017|Taxes|

June 2, 2017

Senator Steve Oroho

24th Legislative District Office
1 Wilson Drive
Suite 2B
Sparta, NJ 07871

Senator Steve Oroho,

You fail to mention your love of tax increases. The monies you claim we are benefitting from the gas tax would have been available without the tax. We, the public, have more sense than you’re giving us credit! Also how many towns in Sussex County are affected, minus the ones that DID get something? Funny how that’s not mentioned either.  I can see your voting record online. It’s not hidden sir. Your actions speak much louder than your words! So once again you say you’re promoting the truth but you’re not telling the truth!!  This continues to be so insulting to our intelligence!

I also find it deplorable that you continue to mention the POTUS and his plan for infrastructure. I thought the gas tax increase was for infrastructure?  Perhaps the state should be advised that you are already collecting for it.

Very Truly Yours,

xxxx

Cc: www.WeThePeopleOfTheUnitedStates.org

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Tax Return Accuracy

By |2016-11-11T00:13:58+00:00August 2nd, 2016|Taxes|

Accuracy is very important. This example shows the importance of accuracy in your tax return. The IRS has returned the Tax Return of a man in New York City after he apparently answered one of the questions incorrectly.

In response to the question, … “Do you have anyone dependent on you?” the man wrote: …

“16 million illegal aliens, 1.1 million crack-heads, 4.4 million
unemployable scroungers, 80,000 criminals in over 85 prisons, plus 450
idiots in Congress and a group that call themselves Politicians.”
The IRS stated that the response he gave was unacceptable.

The man’s response back to the IRS was….”Who did I leave out?”

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Open Letter to the IRS

By |2016-11-11T00:14:02+00:00May 4th, 2016|Economics, Taxes|

xxx, Director
Internal Revenue Service headquarters
1111 Constitution Ave., NW;
Washington, DC 20224

Re: My Refund on 2015 return for (number redacted)

Dear Mr. xxx:

On March 23, 2016, I contacted the IRS & spoke with an Agent xxx 100323xxxx who was pleasant and switched me to a refund department in Pittsburgh under a transfer pin # (redacted). The agent that responded most rudely was Ms. xxx 10002xxxx. She started by asking my name and specifically said “don’t spell it”. Everyone gets my name wrong and usually want to reverse it, so why wouldn’t I spell it? This woman had a real attitude problem. She also put me on hold for over 20 minutes reviewing my 2015 return. She could have taken my number & called me back.

She then came on and said something about the 12 week or May 7th. I wasn’t certain what she was saying and since she was so nasty, I didn’t want to ask her to explain or repeat herself, I simply wanted to get off the phone with this evil sounding woman.

I waited until last week on April 27, & attempted to try again. The agent was Miss xxx badge # 272xxxx. The phone call began at around 10am and concluded at 1:10 pm. That alone should make anyone become frustrated and annoyed, but I proudly kept my cool although once again I had a real nasty person. Although I explained the refund that I was entitled to which was long overdue since my accountant filed my 2015 return electronically on February 27, 2016, she said it would be 9 weeks from March 28 or the end of May. I asked her to explain why & she refused to explain the reason so I requested to speak with her supervisor & Miss xxx became belligerent and hung up on me. If it was an accident she should have called me back or have had her supervisor do so.

I find it upsetting that any tax payer has to be confronted by agents that fail to be friendly & responsible to the citizen/taxpayer that is in reality paying their salary. There is no excuse for this type of behavior & there is no surprise why so many people are scared of your agency.

I’ve been told by others that their refunds took 2 weeks. I find that difficult to believe, but then maybe I was being discriminated because I dared to challenge an IRS agent on 2 occasions and was penalized for contacting the IRS on 2 different occasions.

Very truly yours,

xxx
Addresss
Phone Number

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