loopholes

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New Rule Closes 'Gun Show Loophole'
New Rule Closes
'Gun Show Loophole'

New Rule Closes 'Gun Show Loophole'

It means more sellers will have to conduct background checks

(Newser) - Thousands more firearms dealers across the US will have to run background checks on buyers when selling at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores, according to a Biden administration rule that will soon go into effect. The rule aims to close what is known as the "gun...

Guy Lived Rent-Free in NYC Hotel for 5 Years, Then Took It Too Far

Prosecutors say Mickey Barreto tried to claim ownership of entire New Yorker Hotel building

(Newser) - For five years, a New York City man managed to live rent-free in a landmark Manhattan hotel by exploiting an obscure local housing law. But prosecutors this week said Mickey Barreto went too far when he filed paperwork claiming ownership of the entire New Yorker Hotel—and tried to charge...

Santos' Alleged Scheme 'As Dumb as It Gets'
Santos' Alleged Scheme
'As Dumb as It Gets'
OPINION

Santos' Alleged Scheme 'As Dumb as It Gets'

He could've raised funds for personal use with existing loopholes but didn't: David Firestone

(Newser) - Irksome as they may be, there are existing loopholes allowing politicians to raise money for personal expenses, like fancy clothes. But George Santos didn't take advantage of them. Instead, he allegedly chose a route "so flagrant, so spectacularly dumb in both conception and execution" that federal law enforcement,...

Definition of 'Boyfriend' Stalls Deal on Gun Laws
'Boyfriend Loophole'
Hangs Up Gun Deal
the rundown

'Boyfriend Loophole' Hangs Up Gun Deal

Senate negotiators at impasse on defining who should be barred from owning a gun

(Newser) - A group of senators is trying to hammer out the final details of legislation on gun safety , and one particular issue has emerged as a major snag: It revolves around the definition of the term "boyfriend". Coverage:
  • The loophole: Under current federal law, anyone convicted of domestic violence against
...

A Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card for Rapists May Be Eliminated

Jordan's Article 308 allows rapists to marry victims to avoid jail time

(Newser) - Jordan's Cabinet took the first steps to undo a loophole protecting rapists on Sunday by revoking Article 308, a law that allows the criminals to escape punishment by marrying their victims and staying in that marriage for at least three years. Activists are celebrating this victory, with one calling...

Trump 'Used Dubious Loophole to Avoid Tax'

'NYT' says Trump's own lawyers warned him about it

(Newser) - Donald Trump didn't merely use loopholes to avoid tens of millions of dollars in federal taxes—he stretched them beyond recognition when he was strapped for cash in the early 1990s, tax experts tell the New York Times , which says it has uncovered some dubious dealings amid paperwork from...

Iran Sanctions Lifted Due to 'Secret' Nuke Loopholes: Report

DC think tank says US, negotiating partners helped Iran

(Newser) - President Obama called it a "good day," while Secretary of State John Kerry said it "[marked] the day of a safer world" in January after five US hostages held in Iran were released and international sanctions against the country were lifted because it had supposedly kept its...

Apple Case Cinches It: We Need Tax Reform Now
Apple Case Clinches It:
We Need Tax Reform Now
OPINION

Apple Case Clinches It: We Need Tax Reform Now

Don't blame the company, blame the tax code, say critics

(Newser) - So what can we take away from Apple chief Tim Cook's testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday about the company's byzantine tax strategy ? Not that Apple did anything illegal, only that it's savvy enough to employ "smart accountants and tax lawyers," says the editorial board...

NRA: We'll Fight Universal Background Checks

Assault-weapons ban odds: 'very, very small'

(Newser) - The NRA plans to oppose mandatory background checks on all gun purchases, its president tells USA Today yesterday, rejecting one of the most popular proposals on gun control: the closure of loopholes allowing gun-show purchases without background checks. If the measure, which polls with 85% support, can't get through,...

How the Charitable Deduction Benefits the Rich
How the Charitable
Deduction Benefits the Rich
OPINION

How the Charitable Deduction Benefits the Rich

'Average Americans paying for billionaires' generosity,' writes Fred Hiatt

(Newser) - A call to limit the charitable deduction may sound heartless—what about all those churches and museums and schools and nonprofits?—but the deduction actually benefits the rich, while "the rest of the country has to make up the gap," writes Fred Hiatt in the Washington Post . A...

How Romney Used Mormon Church to Defer Taxes

Bloomberg reports on loophole he used

(Newser) - Since 1996, Mitt Romney has been deferring some of his taxes through something called a charitable remainder unitrust, a tax shelter Congress cracked down on little more than a year after Romney set his up. As Bloomberg describes it, the trust “allowed rich people to take advantage of the...

Obama to Bare Plan Cutting Corporate Taxes to 28%

Tax code overhaul to be unveiled today

(Newser) - President Obama will unveil details of his plan for a massive overhaul of the corporate tax code today, including cutting the top rate from 35% down to 28%, an administration official tells the New York Times . Manufacturers will see their effective maximum rate cut to 25%, and a minimum tax...

Tom Coburn: Millionaires Get $30B Yearly from US
 Top 1% Nabs 
 $30B a Year in 
 Federal 'Welfare' 
in case you missed it

Top 1% Nabs $30B a Year in Federal 'Welfare'

Sen. Coburn investigates massive handouts

(Newser) - They’re already in the top 1%, yet they’re getting government handouts worth more than NASA’s budget. American millionaires rake in $30 billion a year from the feds, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn finds in a new report. That’s three times the EPA’s yearly allotment, yet it’...

Real Villain of Tax Breaks: Middle Class

Corporations account for just 8% of tax breaks

(Newser) - Tax loopholes and write-offs for corporate jets and special interests may fill political talking points, but tax breaks for families—particularly the middle-class families that President Obama says he wants to protect—far exceed corporate giveaways, reports the Washington Post . In fact, corporations accounted for just 8% of $1.08...

Dems, GOP Back Push to Cut Corporate Tax Rate

Bipartisan support builds behind effort to close loopholes

(Newser) - With deficit reduction on the agenda and America's corporations sitting on a record amount of cash, Democrats and Republicans have found something they agree on: It's time to slash the corporate tax rate. Bipartisan support is building for plans to eliminate many loopholes and tax breaks and use...

Proposed Texas Bill: No Hiring Illegal Immigrants ... Unless They're House Workers or Yard Workers
Proposed Texas Bill:
No Hiring Illegals, Unless...
GAPING LOOPHOLES

Proposed Texas Bill: No Hiring Illegals, Unless...

One big exception is getting attention in Texas

(Newser) - Under House Bill 1202, one of a number of proposed Texas bills that addresses illegal immigration, anyone who "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly" hires an illegal immigrant would face up to two years in jail and a fine as high as $10,000 ... unless, of course, he or she is...

Obama Mulls Tax Code Overhaul: Cut Breaks, Rates

Move would be attempt to address national debt

(Newser) - The Obama administration is investigating sweeping income tax code reform as a means of shrinking the deficit, the New York Times reports. President Obama has called on advisers to look into cleaning up the income tax code, ridding it of complexities and loopholes to make it more straightforward for both...

Dems Slam 'Front Groups'—Then Use Them

Nonprofits' secret donors help fund negative ads

(Newser) - Democrats have hammered Republican “front groups” for paying for negative ads with secret cash—but they themselves are employing a similar maneuver, using money from nonprofits who don’t release their donors’ names to fund their own advertising, reports MSNBC . Dems are thus following Republicans’ lead in using a...

US Firms Buck $60B in Taxes With Foreign Money Shuffle

'Transfer pricing' sends profits overseas—on paper only

(Newser) - Lexapro, one of the world's best-selling antidepressants, is made by an American company and sold exclusively in the US, but the US doesn't see a penny in tax revenue when you buy a bottle. Instead, your money goes around the world as part of a complicated transaction dubbed the “...

Insurers Find Ways to Deny Kids Coverage
Insurers Find Ways to Deny Kids Coverage
Not So Reformed

Insurers Find Ways to Deny Kids Coverage

Firms say loophole lets them exclude youths, hike prices

(Newser) - Insurance companies say there’s a loophole in the health care reform legislation that will allow them to keep denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions for years. President Obama had promised that such denials would be “banned forever” this year. But “the fine print differs from the...

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