2026-05-25 23:13:17
Interesting look at who pays what amount of taxes.
#wisconsin
Interesting look at who pays what amount of taxes.
#wisconsin
Sen. Bernie Sanders has co-sponsored a bill that would cut taxes on families making under $92,000 and increase taxes on the wealthy.
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, two pillars and allies of the progressive movement, are in disagreement.
Democrats have in recent months proposed a variety of tax cut proposals, seemingly in response to President Donald Trump’s popular “no tax on tips and overtime” policies.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen wants to eliminate inco…
Jeff Bezos dismisses AI job fears, defends billionaires against "vilification", proposes eliminating income taxes for low earners, and praises President Trump (CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/20/jeff-bezos-taxes-ai-corporations-trump.html
Good morning! Time to file my taxes!
"Overall, more than 104,000 highly-paid tech employees have been shown the door in the last four months. Microsoft is offering a buyout to 7% of its workforce (8,750) while GoPro is dumping a quarter of its employees, Oracle is taking the hatchet to as many as 30,000 of its staff, Intel is getting rid of 24,000 and Amazon’s head-rolling count could end up being over 25,000."
.... ouch
Guess how much those tech companies pay in taxes? ....
makes one take up arm…
How many times must I tell #microsoft no? I have said NO several times before and it is still NO!
After taxes are done I will upgrade this machine to #mxlinux
Are governments properly supporting the digital commons? Many adopt open source software but don't fund the upstream projects that maintain it. This amplifies a "tragedy of the commons" rather than being part of the solution. Governments have historically invented ways to shape the playing field - patents, public universities, copyright, taxes ... They can do it again!
Yes, #Austria has high #taxes, and still the #government can't fund important services.
Then again, the country pays for the luxury of nine (!) provinces with a full government complement eac…
Bezos defends billionaires, hypes AI, talks taxes and praises Trump in CNBC interview (CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/20/jeff-bezos-taxes-ai-corporations-trump.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/260520/p103#a260520p103
Tariffs:
Trump owes Americans billions — and he might be forced to pay - Alternet.org
https://www.alternet.org/trump-taxes-2676570652/
As regular Australians struggle, gas companies are making massive profits and paying minimal tax. It is perverse https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/24/australian-gas-companies-massive-profits-paying-minimal-tax
Meta emails advertisers about "location fees" in select European countries to cover digital services taxes, starting July 1; Google and Amazon have similar fees (Gian Volpicelli/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20
This gets especially interesting when you realize how there are several whole societies that are largely invisible to mainstream society. There's a whole bunch of law around monasteries which allow them to essentially operate almost entirely outside of the state. Similarly, Amish/Mennonite communities basically don't interoperate with the outside world most of the time. I lived on a religious commune for a bit (it was an Isis cult, which I wasn't really part of but that's a whole other story. And I'm not going to get in to the abuse elements of a lot of these because that critique is separate.)
A lot of these places can only exist because they don't have to pay taxes or comply with a number of laws. They often also can get government grants. There's a whole world of things that are built specifically to benefit Christian churches that can be subverted towards actually radical ends.
“LIBERATING OUR CLIENTS FROM THE BURDEN OF BEING OVERTAXED, FREEING THEIR CAPITAL TO INVEST, GROW & THRIVE” 🤮
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/post/3mmbzj6ocyk2c
Trump executed a bizarre
"reverse-reversal" on Friday, when he
🤣 re-endorsed
Rep. Jeff Hurd just four weeks after urging primary voters to deny the Colorado Republican a second term.
Hurd, Trump declared on Truth Social,
“will do a fantastic job as your Congressman, including Growing the Economy, Cutting Taxes and Regulations, Promoting MADE IN THE U.S.A.,”
and a long list of other things.
Trump’s litany could have been copied and pasted al…
Trump's immigration crackdown could cost up to $479bn in lost taxes over 10 years (Alba Asenjo Dominguez/The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/18/trump-immigration-crackdown-lost-taxes-ice
http://www.memeorandum.com/260518/p48#a260518p48
The US IRS is yet to issue guidelines on whether prediction market gains should be taxed as derivatives, gambling winnings, or income, worrying accountants (Kate Knibbs/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/nobody-knows-how-to-file-taxes-on-predi…
Doin' US taxes again. Super blah without a donut!!
Last year my personal filing was about 200 pages long. (We also do a separate corporate filing.)
And once again my taxes will far, far, far exceed the actual disposable income I have received.
Yes, this is an upper-middle-class, first world problem.. But I do hate paying what amounts to big wads of $$ to pay for El Cheato's destruction of the US.
@… Hey folks, only just catching up in the flx1s and the convergence hub and it sounds amazing for some of the Small Web demos I want to do this year. Any chance you’ll be in Europe with one to buy anytime soon? (Happy to travel somewhere and meet you folks in the EU to buy them rather than pay that amount in customs/tariffs/taxes/etc.) :)
Sounds like you’v…
RE: https://mastodon.social/@augieray/116608172974389574
"The ultra-wealthy do whatever they can to hold on to their investments. Instead, they take out massive loans using their stock as collateral, live off of those loans, and avoid paying taxes on…
@… Yeah, if you’re married, and you’re “P2,” your spouse does your taxes, but if this were relevant, they’d have to ask for this information.
P2 = the person that lets P1 declare their common taxes ;-)
@… Yeah, if you’re married, and you’re “P2,” your spouse does your taxes, but if this were relevant, they’d have to ask for this information.
P2 = the person that lets P1 declare their common taxes ;-)
There's parties that always want to build or widen highways while not spending enough on maintenance of existing ones, blocking road pricing, and trying to keep taxes low.
In the Netherlands, they're finding out that this doesn't work. Tens of billions needed for maintenance now.
https://nos.nl/l/2606596…
This might be the first time I've been able to do my taxes without getting so confused I chicken out and hire a professional. I did ask a professional AI about a lot of stuff though. And it's free! #tax
Every major party presidential nominee since Nixon had voluntarily released their tax returns
— Trump was the exception, not the rule,
and the “harm” he suffered was exposure to the same transparency his predecessors embraced without incident.
The original piece laid out why the whole thing was a scam:
Trump is the plaintiff,
the IRS and Treasury are the defendants,
and the DOJ defending those defendants is stocked with Trump’s former personal attorneys
Brian Kemp has renewed the suspension of Georgia motor fuel taxes, effectively using the State Treasury to disguise the disastrous effects of Trump's War.
finished 2025 taxes, gonna celebrate with a nap
Just thinking of the excellent timing demonstrated by all European car makers who declared they planned on abandoning development of EVs in favor of ICE vehicles.
No worries though, we're paying taxes to bail out these idiots.
Ah, filing taxes. That uniquely American form of torture. Land of the Free (to pay extra time and money for no good reason).
RE: https://mas.to/@brian_gettler/116506332823026464
Oh, and taxes. Brought to you by taxes. Of which many of us could pay more.
Trump tax returns get protection from IRS under fund settlement
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/19/trump-taxes-irs-doj-fund.html
Clémence Dubois, 350 dot org, said: “The right response is a strong windfall tax, which should be redirected to support households and accelerate the transition to clean energy.
(...)Cutting fossil fuel taxes during a crisis is not a relief for families, it’s a subsidy for companies that are already enjoying windfall profits.” https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/15/oil-company-shares-soar-to-all-time-highs-as-middle-east-war-turbocharges-price-per-barrel?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Why the hell would you give me a W-2 where copying is disabled in the PDF? Do you like typos?
#Taxes
If they stop collecting taxes on oil because of Agent Orange's wars, they should also give people who don't choose to drive a gaser a tax break. It's only fair.
Proud to announce I'm a proponent of a ballot measure to use already voter-approved taxes on the rich to build affordable housing in SF!
Come to the kickoff Saturday at noon in Dolores Park! RSVP: https://luma.com/80dwzo8z
"As part of the BUILD Act announcement, Lurie also said city departments had been convened to determine “a more effective source of funding” for affordable housing within three months."
Nothing says good planning and a complete strategy than cutting revenues while waiting for people to dream up a new source of funds.
Plan to halve SF transfer taxes on big deals awaits details | Politics | sfexaminer.com
"As part of the BUILD Act announcement, Lurie also said city departments had been convened to determine “a more effective source of funding” for affordable housing within three months."
Nothing says good planning and a complete strategy than cutting revenues while waiting for people to dream up a new source of funds.
Plan to halve SF transfer taxes on big deals awaits details | Politics | sfexaminer.com
Pay Z: NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is still earning rap music royalties, tax filings show (Jake Offenhartz/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/zohran-mamdani-taxes-rap-royalties-a14dc1b987d872eb5c8722ad82a9b125
http://www.memeorandum.com/260416/p139#a260416p139
Commissioner Dan JŸrgensen: The EU is in a better position than in 2022, but the scale of the current shock to global oil and gas supplies is greater. Warns against lowering taxes on oil and gas, since that risks keeping demand high, putting pressure on supplies. https://www.…
I need to pick up a repaired snowblower tomorrow, and drop some stuff (gifts, taxes) off at the post office. By bike, as one does. Pick up the snowblower first, so I can park the bike loaded trailer outside the post office, people need to see that it's possible (easy, even). I seem to have sorted the electrical problem on the e-bike, which is nice.
#CarryShitOlympics
FOX News' own poll has citizens - stunned by skyrocketing prices on gas, groceries & healthcare - calling B.S. on the GOP's lies about US prosperity through lower taxes on the wealthy.
Reminder: The midterm primary elections are coming. MAKE A PLAN TO VOTE.
https://www.usvotefoundatio…
Meta emails advertisers about "location fees" in select European countries to cover digital services taxes, starting July 1; Google and Amazon have similar fees (Gian Volpicelli/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20
Got the official power numbers from my utility for the April billing cycle.
3572 kWh imported from grid, 200 kWh overproduction exported, for net 3372 kWh consumed/billed.
That is an all-time record for lowest power consumption (at least back to January 2024 which is the oldest bill I have easy access to).
Too bad it's also an all-time *high* for price per kWh - the effective price per kWh after taxes and fees hit 21.7 cents, a 15.4% increase since the start of the year…
"Star readers are well aware of the impeccable Thatcherite politics of Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage and leading ex-Tory figures who have jumped ship to save their political skins.
But just how have these charlatans managed to convince poor people whose lives have been blighted by 30 per cent child poverty in Wales, that low taxes and more austerity to pay for it is the answer?"
The Welsh elections: the disillusioned have had enough | Morning Star
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #MorningShow
Geese:
🎵 Taxes
#Geese
https://open.spotify.com/track/7r9BUOSnekEjrkMhmxD6Ae
Minor accomplishments for today
- I’ve all but filed my taxes, and I only needed to reset the password to my paystub provider. Just one last check needed before I press the e-file button.
- I’ve installed and started using the calorie tracking app recommended last week from a nutritionist appointment
- I walked to the nearby grocery store this evening, and carried home two bags of food.
If I do in fact have long-COVID CFS like I suspect I seem to be making progress again…
Is it just me, or do others find it odd to hear journalists say that the UK 'must' take action to protect 'ex-pats' who have chosen to evade their fair share of taxation by moving to the Gulf?
I think an appropriate response would be to say to them, yes, of course you can return to blighty if you pay off all the taxes you've evaded while you've been away, but if you choose not to, you're on your own.
#Kurzgesagt has a new video about how Germany is doomed because of low birth rate and a soon to be defunct retirement system. So far so good but it's a bit concerning that they beat the "taxes are too high so people don't have children" drum and underscore it with this graph. But the tax rate based on income is a curve! Using a bar graph with 4 income brackets of different wi…
Democrats blast Trump over 'slush fund' in possible IRS lawsuit settlement (Justin Papp/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/15/trump-irs-taxes-democrats.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/260515/p84#a260515p84
Since the trumpies don't want to refund the illegal tariffs, perhaps we could pay our taxes with affidavits that say "pull the amount from my tariff refund"?
It looks like Dutch government will avoid the unbearable dumbness of lowering fuel taxes amid a supply crisis! More sensible measures include compensating kilometers driven for work, support for low income households, and more subsidies for insulating homes.
https://
fuck, how is it (US) taxes get _more_ complicated every year?
Replace "tax" with "revolution insurance" whenever you're reading about taxes in the US, and it clarifies the stakes much better.
For example:
1) "'...the wealthiest folks...they're paying more for revolution insurance than the poorest folks. But are they paying as much in revolution insurance as they could pay to help run the country the way that we run it? And the answer to that is probably not,' said Anthony Infanti, a law professor a…
Blakeman: I'll dip into $3.8B Hochul 'slush fund' to lower NY taxes (Rich Calder/New York Post)
https://nypost.com/2026/05/09/us-news/blakeman-ill-dip-into-3-8-m-hochul-slush-fund-to-lower-ny-taxes/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260509/p32#a260509p32
A new analysis finds that tech giant Palantir Technologies paid no federal income taxes last year,
despite raking in hundreds of millions in taxpayer money to build out a mass network to surveil Americans
in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Palantir, which has landed multiple massive contracts under the Trump administration,
made $1.6 billion in net income last year.
It grew so much last year that it joined the list of the 20 most valua…
Taxes filed!
#adulting
In response to the growing global kerosene shortage, German government now plans to lower the taxes on air tickets 🤦🤦♂️🤦♀️
Fortunately, the taxes are ridiculously low, so this won't do much direct harm. But it's of course totally the wrong signal to give.
https://www.tag…
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #VarietyMix
Sharon Jones and the Dap‐Kings:
🎵 What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?
#SharonJonesandtheDapKings
https://open.spotify.com/track/54wELgFR64NFOdRHJXBnsd
Gavin Newsom -- California governor candidates clash on taxes, Trump and healthcare in lively debate (Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/hub/gavin-newsom
http://www.memeorandum.com/260518/p107#a260518p107
Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen, viewed as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, will unveil a plan that he says would ensure roughly half of all U.S. workers pay no federal income taxes.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is expected to release the measure next week as Democratic lawmakers search for a sharp economic message to counter last year’s Republican tax law.
Under Van Hollen’s proposal, workers making at or below a “living wage”
— $46,000 for taxpayers filin…
Has anyone written a history of developer fees? I'd be especially interested in their use by governments to maintain low property taxes. Bonus points if the history focuses on Canada.
#histodons #taxation #RealEstate
#Rant
Rob Shaw is solidifying his position as the new Dean of Right Wing, anti-Worker Legislative Reporters in British Columbia.
With these gems, it's incredible that he has an education or goes to a doctor at all…
"The BCTF is typically one of the most militant unions, and quickly prone to job action.”
BCTF Strikes since 2000:
2005
2014
phew! almost got to three!
Remember that this was at the time of a union-busting BC Liberal government that had to go to the Supreme Court of Canada to get told that they ripped up union contracts unconstitutionally and were *forced* to compensate many years later.
"The ratification is a win for a New Democrat government. And extraordinarily expensive for taxpayers, too."
“extraordinarily expensive. Really? How is a wage increase that is *barely* in line with inflation after literally decades of below-inflation increases, “extraordinary”? I'll wait.
"Teachers can thank the BCGEU for turning what was an initial 3.5 per cent wage offer over two years by government, into a more than 12 per cent increase over four that is now forming the baseline for all other union deals."
Indeed! For those who can do math, that means 3% each of 4 years instead of 3.5 over two. But thanks Rob for making it seem like 4 times more!
Thanks BCGEU members for your solidarity and perceverence! I have been on strike. It sucks HARD. But it was worth it and it works.
"The ratification by the BCTF means roughly half of the 450,000 public sector employees now have deals of some sort with the province. Two majors left on the table are nurses and doctors.”
Oh no! Let’s not pay doctors and nurses! Surely they'll stay regardless in our incredibly overworked and under resourced healthcare system!
Like how does Mr Shaw believe we are to stay competitive or attract people. Or is he just not worried about getting sick….
"The skyrocketing deficit has the NDP government inking sweetheart deals with organized labour on the one hand, while pledging to cut public sector jobs with the other.”
Ya, we could have kept those public sector jobs if it weren't for fools like you who demanded governments cut taxes over the past 20 years instead of reasonable rises to... again…keep up with inflation and retain service!
It is a crappy balancing act that the NDP is doing and I do not like a lot of it. At the same time as Mr. Shaw complains about "sweetheart deals" for people in post-secondary, I am seeing historic cuts in that same sector. It's a blood bath actually. So the potential wage increases are going to be welcome, but feel pretty hollow as so many collegues have left.
Rob Shaw would have had us all lose our jobs and take a pay cut at the next one for good measure.
Thanks but no thanks Rob, your world view sucks.
https://www.nsnews.com/economy-law-politics/rob-shaw-ndp-deal-with-bc-teachers-sets-another-costly-precedent-for-public-sector-talks-11966874
Some two dozen states challenged Donald Trump’s new global tariffs on Thursday,
filing a lawsuit over import taxes he imposed after a stinging loss at the Supreme Court.
The Democratic attorneys general leading the suit argue that Trump is overstepping his power with planned 15% tariffs on much of the world.
Trump has said the tariffs are essential to reduce America’s longstanding trade deficits.
He imposed duties under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 after the S…
OpenAI unveils policy proposals for a world with superintelligence: higher capital gains taxes, a public AI investment fund, strengthened safety nets, and more (Amrith Ramkumar/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/what-to-know-a
New York's $268 Billion Budget Deal Includes New Second-Home Tax (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/nyregion/hochul-taxes-budget-ny.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/260507/p31#a260507p31
“I’m not paying my federal income taxes this year,”
Rachel Cohen declared in a recent Instagram video that received more than 140,000 likes.
The 31-year-old lawyer in Chicago plans to put the $8,800 she owes the federal government in a high-yield savings account instead.
She doesn’t want to fund wars in Iran and Gaza or immigrationagents detaining her neighbors, she said.
Many commenters said they wanted to do the same.
Others worried about her. “I’ve gotten a l…
Trump said tariffs (a regressive consumption tax primarily paid by American consumers)
may “substantially replace”
(progressive) income taxes.
Here is what policy experts say.
https://
Trump tips DoorDash driver $100 for McDonald's delivery at Oval Office to promote 'no taxes on tips' (Emily Goodin/New York Post)
https://nypost.com/2026/04/13/us-news/trump-tips-doordash-driver-100-for-mcdonalds-delivery-at-oval-office/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260413/p87#a260413p87
Lawmakers in Washington state this week approved a ⭐️new income tax on residents making more than $1 million
-- and could spur other states considering similar bills to approve their proposals.
Legislators in the Democrat-led Senate on Wednesday night approved the tax,
-- which will impose a 9.9 percent tax on earners making over $1 million per year and will fund education, prisons, universal school lunches and replace or reduce other taxes, among other things, Democratic l…
Trump's uphill climb on gas taxes (Ben Geman/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2026/05/12/trump-gas-tax-suspension-iran-obstacles
http://www.memeorandum.com/260512/p26#a260512p26
A new analysis released Thursday estimates that the average American taxpayer shelled out over
$4,000 to the federal government last year “for militarism and its support systems” such as the Pentagon,
whose already-massive annual budget is poised to surge to $1.5 trillion if Donald Trump gets his way.
The National Priorities Project (NPP) at the Institute for Policy Studies found in its latest annual Tax Receipt report that,
through their federal taxes, the average US…
Democrats to introduce bill aimed at resurrecting IRS Direct File (Emma Roth/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/policy/885225/democrats-irs-direct-file-act-taxes
http://www.memeorandum.com/260226/p115#a260226p115
Note to Democrats: Paying taxes is not a moral failing (Paul Waldman/Public Notice)
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/democratic-tax-plans-2028
http://www.memeorandum.com/260407/p35#a260407p35
Big Sky, big savings as rich motor through a loophole
Luxury car buyers in California and other states wanting their fancy ride but not wanting to pay sales taxes turn to Montana, -- which has no sales or personal property tax.
They register the car there, which they can do from anywhere with paperwork, and bring it back to their home state.
The Montana detour has become a well-known path for the rich to save some money on their Maybach and Maserati.
But California i…