The PATH to Reduce Taxes

By thiggins

There is good news for taxpayers and investors. Last December, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, known as the PATH Act. It is one of the few times Congress has accurately described its legislation.

Most of the changes in the PATH Act became permanent provisions of the tax code. The new law offers a number of ways certain taxpayers can reduce what goes to the government and what they can keep to use as they want.

Here are the most significant changes:

  1. The Act allows businesses to deduct immediately up to $500,000 in capital expenditures — tools, equipment and computers.
  1. The tax law permits you to deduct state sales taxes without even showing receipts. You can elect to deduct state and local sales taxes in lieu of state and local income taxes. Figure it both ways and decide for yourself. This provision is especially useful for those who live in states that have no income tax, such as Florida, Nevada and Tennessee. To figure your sales tax deduction, go to the “Sales Tax Calculator” at https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Sales-Tax-Deduction-Calculator. I did it and got a deduction of $2,500!
  1. Allows seniors over 70 ½ years old to make contributions directly from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to a charitable organization without facing taxes. IRAs can be great tax-free vehicles. You get a deduction when you contribute to an IRA, your funds can accumulate without paying taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains and, if you give the IRA funds to a charity, you pay no taxes ever.

I suggest you contact your accountant about these benefits and others before April 15.

One final comment: The PATH Act also now requires the IRS to terminate employees who take official actions for political purposes. After the IRS scandal involving the targeting of conservative political groups, it’s about time!

 

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You Blew It! Why Does the United States Keep Minting Coins that Americans Hate?

From the analyst who beat the market over 15 years...
Dr. Mark Skousen's Top 3 Income Investments for the Next 12 Months

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Starting in 2007, the U.S. Mint was required to create a new series of $1 coins commemorating U.S. presidents. But Americans apparently don’t like the $1 coin, just as they never took to the minting of the Sacagawea dollar, and collectors aren’t especially enamored with the coins either.

Yet despite their unpopularity, the U.S. Mint continues to produce millions of these coins.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, meanwhile, stores 1.1 billion of these unusable $1 coins, despite the government spending $67 million during the past three years on promotions to encourage Americans to buy and to use the coins.

Fortunately, the coin series will end in 2016 with the making of the Ronald Reagan coin.

Meanwhile, the American Eagle silver and gold coin series continues to be very popular. More than 50 million silver dollars were minted last year and were sold out on several occasions. Unfortunately, they too disappear from the public, stuffed in safe deposit boxes around the country.

Do you want the United States to start using the $1 coins? Just eliminate the $1 paper dollar. Years ago, Britain got rid of the one pound note, and substituted the one pound coin, and naturally it worked. The United States may find similar success in using such a move to replace the paper dollar bill with a dollar coin.

In case you missed it, I encourage you to read my e-letter column from last week about an example of the negative impact of value-added taxes. I also invite you to comment in the space provided below my Eagle Daily Investor commentary.

Good investing, AEIOU,

Mark Skousen

From the analyst who beat the market over 15 years...
Dr. Mark Skousen's Top 3 Income Investments for the Next 12 Months

Your email is 100% protected. Read our Privacy Policy.
You'll also receive Dr. Mark Skousen's weekly e-letter, Investor CAFE, at no cost, along with other associated financial content and special offers.

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