Moving and Retirement
Get Ready, Drivers: New Higher Tolls For 2018
With infrastructure crumbling, budgets teetering on the edge of being in the red in many states, and the growing popularity of fuel-efficient cars, which means gas taxes generate less revenue than they used to, officials are looking to tolls. Giving a boost to the efforts, President Donald Trump’s initial infrastructure proposal also called for widespread use of tolling on interstate highways, which now are limited by federal regulations to certain stretches of road. more »
A Christmas Eve Surprise: A Stack of Love Letters
Sonya Zalubowski writes: A little gold ribbon each side, the hinges I remembered. More gold squiggles printed on the cover inside, the regal stamp of British royalty, two lions flanking a crown."By appointment. Yardley London." Not even a faint smell of lavender anymore. Something much better. Those envelopes. I took the top one out, addressed to Miss Helen Romer in Seattle, Washington. The postmark Kenosha, Wisconsin. The postage just three cents. The date Sept 8, 1939. Now, as an adult, I realized what they represented, love letters from Dad to Mom at the start of their relationship. more »
Cost Estimate for the Conference Agreement on H.R. 1; Estimated Budgetary Effects
Title I would amend numerous provisions of U.S. tax law. Among other changes, the bill would reduce most income tax rates for individuals and modify the tax brackets for those taxpayers; increase the standard deduction and the child tax credit; repeal deductions for personal exemptions; repeal or limit certain itemized deductions; and increase the exemption amounts for the individual alternative minimum tax. Those changes would take effect on January 1, 2018, and would be scheduled to expire after December 31, 2025. The bill also would permanently repeal the penalties associated with the requirement that most people obtain health insurance coverage (also known as the individual mandate). more »
FactCheck: Trump Likely Benefits from Tax Bills
Estate tax. The clearest benefit for the Trump family would be the tax bills' changes to the estate tax, which falls on estates worth more than $5.49 million (nearly $11 million for a couple). The House bill would repeal the estate tax entirely in 2024. As we’ve written before, that would save Trump’s estate $564 million, according to a Bloomberg estimate, based on a net worth of $3 billion. Trump has said his net worth is $10 billion, and if so, the savings to his estate from a repeal of the tax would be $1.9 billion. more »