July 2022 Newsletter

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THE CBE GROUP has your number if you owe the IRS back taxes. This newly installed collection agency is repeating exactly what failed 20 years ago. At that time, they brought in an outside collection agency to deal with all their delinquent tax clients. Instead of paying them a percentage of the take which is the standard practice, they paid salaries and benefits. The agency was empowered to only discuss payment options with clients. It was closed out when Congress found what the cost was versus the poor results. A client recently received correspondence from these people. When I spoke to them, with a power of attorney, they devised a payment schedule based on my negotiation. When it came time for documentation, signature, and bank account information they advised me they could only talk about it, and that I needed to go back to the IRS to finalize the deal. Oh, my God! We could not get through to the IRS, to begin with, and that was why we were wasting time with these people. They are doomed to failure because they could only talk about the taxes but not do anything to close the deal. History has a bad habit of repeating itself with unlearned lessons.

CALIFORNIA IN THE NEWS over privacy matters. Everybody, even our clients, are required to sign privacy statements that the service you are requesting will respect your privacy and not sell or give your personal information away. On June 27th somebody in the California Department of Justice released [leaked] data on thousands of gun owners from the new Firearms Dashboard Portal to the public. The files contained full names, home addresses, DOB, race, and dates permits were issued. There were 2,890 people listed in LA County alone, so if you need to find where to find your judge, police officers, or other people who carry concealed weapons, this is the place to go. Like the Supreme Court discussions on Roe v Wade, which was leaked before final decisions were announced, there is no privacy in this government or its environs. Article compiled by Targetliberty.org.

CALPERS REPORTS 6% FINANCIAL LOSS FOR THE FYE June 30, as reported in the Wall Street Journal last month. The giant investment pension house lost $60 Billion last year. This truly signals the end of the eleven-year favorable market. Benefits have always outpaced gains in the portfolio while most public pension plans average only 75% of the investment funds they need to utilize for actual benefits. Good times do not last forever.

CALIFORNIA INCOME TAX INCREASE will be on the ballot this November. The bill, titled Clean Cars and Clean Air Act will increase taxes by 1.75%. The high earners making over two million annually will not appreciate that the money will go towards electric car subsidies for low-income buyers. They will need it because Tesla raised the price of the basic Model 3 price by about $10,000 this year. California will pass New York City with the highest tax rate in the Country. Another first for the holders of a 100-billion-dollar surplus this year. Thank the WSJ for this article.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND GREEN NEWS is in the papers every day. The axiom of using fear to get attention seems to dominate the news. Unparalleled costs drive inflation and inefficiency in many green ventures. This leads to greenflation where costs do not matter if a specific earth-shattering objection is reached. An example of this is the zero- emission goal in the name of a pure green world. Low-cost synthetic fertilizer is made from natural gas and has recently been listed as a dreadful thing to be ostracized and outlawed. Even the nitrogen oxide and ammonia expelled from livestock has hit the bad forbidden list. If you think the January 6th riot in Washington was bad, how about 40,000 Dutch farmers demonstrating about a mandated 70-80% government-mandated reduction from their dairy herds. Or the Sri Lanka ban on synthetic fertilizer in April last year. Huge crowds of hungry and outraged citizens overran the presidential palace last month which forced the government to resign en masse after the president fled the country. This WSJ article stated that net-zero emissions globally by 2050 would cost every American over ten thousand dollars each year to accomplish. How is that for a consumption tax? Especially knowing that only part of the world would join in to decimate their economies to accomplish these foolish goals.

THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT OF 2022 is in the works, and it is a little misleading. Firsthand, the half-trillion bill authorized $80 billion to the IRS is six times the annual budget for the most despised agency in the Country. The Act will increase corporate taxes but mostly depends on a flood of audits [especially small corporate and LLC businesses] for increased funding. Be prepared. Their inflation reduction will come from audits and that means a lot of people will be audited and it will suck money out of the economy because these people with small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy. Some of it is overdue because when there are currently no audits--like today, the thing runs away, and people take chances they never would if they had to be responsible. Less than 10% of the new IRS funding is to clear away the backlog of 21 million unprocessed tax returns. Or to answer the 90% of IRS phone calls that are unanswered. The agency is famous for auditing political enemies of ruling political parties, stonewalling political party opposition entities, and releasing personal income tax information of private citizens. All of Billy Clinton’s girlfriends were audited.

On the plus side, there will be huge new credits for buying electric cars since the cost is now prohibitive. Using taxpayer money to subsidize the purchase of cars which will be mandatory for ordinary people does not make economic sense. There will be hell to pay for the convenience of an out-of-control political appetite for spending and dictatorship. All of this under the misnamed title Inflation Reduction.

LASTLY, OPEN CARRY GUNS ALLOWED IN CHICAGO by an article in the Washington Enquirer. Yes, it is true. Although guns are not allowed in Chicago, like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, they are allowed in Chicago. If a person is carrying a pistol in his waistband, the police will not stop him. Not to arrest him, not to see if he is going to kill you or somebody, not for any reason. That is considered dangerous because he will be let go and be waiting for you in a dark and private place afterward. So, by default, the criminals in Chicago have open carry to maintain their crime spree. Ordinary citizens cannot obtain permits because guns are dangerous. But this is the same case as in the other large cities run by criminal politicians in office.

One-third of our client list is now composed of new clients this year. Thank you for your business. We are available 24/7 for our clients and are proud to be here for you.

Phillip B. Chute, EA