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Splater
climber
Grey Matter
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Dec 10, 2017 - 11:11am PT
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For those of you in the same itemizing position as me - who will no longer itemize deductions once state income tax and prop tax are disallowed as a deduction.
Assuming this new tax anti-reform is passed before Dec 30, you have time to expense some items now so they count against 2017 taxes,
and you can still deduct these items.
It looks like it's a no brainer to send in property taxes due April 1 since it's the same state fiscal year as the Dec 1 tax payment.
And you may want to send in any charity contributions for the next couple years now so you get the deduction.
What about state income taxes - is there any legal way to pay 2018 state income tax now, using estimated payments?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 10, 2017 - 03:10pm PT
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BAd, don't shoot the messenger! Besides, the Repubs will be out on their
ear next year (or three more at most) so that leaves 6 years, at least,
to work out longer solutions for SS. Of course, things will have to get
worse before they get better regardless of who is in power. That's just
the way we work, or don't as the case may be.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Dec 10, 2017 - 11:42pm PT
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One big change I only learned about because my wife is a scientist:
 Graduate students (folks pursuing Ph.D.) get screwed by this tax bill, so much so that it dramatically affects planning for many academic groups anticipating lower numbers of students.
It might lead to science labs not being able to complete their research that they already have multi-year budgets for, because grants from the National Institute of Health and National Science Foundation won't go up to compensate for the lower take-home pay of graduate students who do the research.
Graduate students in some areas won't be able to afford food and shelter in the area where the university is located, which will likely reduce the number of students getting advanced degrees in America. It will further discourage smart people from other countries to come to USA, reducing the intellectual competitiveness of USA in the world.
Following was an email sent out last week to the academic group "Genetics Society of America" (follow some of the embedded links for more info):
Dear GSA community,
This week, the US House of Representatives and the Senate will begin negotiating a new tax act. These negotiations will decide whether or not graduate student tuition waivers will become taxable, which would saddle these early career researchers with a substantial financial burden. We are writing to provide you with several resources to make your voices heard on this issue TODAY. Acting now will take just ten minutes of your time, but collectively our actions can make a lasting difference.
Learn more
Read a brief summary of the issue at Genes to Genomes. Read my latest Frameshifts post to learn about how graduate training is essential to science and innovation—and how grad students saved my life.
Share your story with GSA
Read about researchers who would be affected by the proposed tax increases, and contribute your own story via this form. Let us amplify your voice, so lawmakers and the public can see why it’s critical to keep supporting our graduate students in science.
Contact your reps
Our partners at FASEB have prepared some template text (below my signature) for you to e-mail your representatives. You can also use FASEB’s Action Alert system to easily send your message. FASEB’s Advocacy Toolkit has a variety of resources to help you with other actions, including looking up your representatives’ contact details and writing op-eds.
Yours sincerely,
Lynn Cooley
President, Genetics Society of America
Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; CNH Long Professor of Genetics and Professor of Cell Biology and of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University
Brief update from FASEB
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (HR 1) approved by the U.S House of Representatives on November 16 will increase tax liability for thousands of graduate students who serve as teaching or research assistants. Tuition waivers granted to graduate students are not currently considered income, but under the House legislation, these waivers would be considered taxable income. More than half (55 percent) of all master’s and PhD candidates who serve as teaching or research assistants have adjusted gross incomes of $20,000 or less. The increased tax burden would present a significant financial challenge to current students and may discourage the future pipeline of scientific researchers.
The Senate tax bill (S 1) approved on December 2 does not include the tax on graduate student tuition waivers. As the House and Senate negotiate final language, Congress needs to hear from graduate students and others in the research community to ensure that the House provision is not included in the final tax bill.
Use the form below to email your Senators/Representative TODAY. Suggested text is provided but it is strongly recommended that you include a personal appeal about how the proposed tax on graduate student tuition waivers would affect you or your institution. Please also share this alert with graduate students and other faculty members.
TEXT FOR SUGGESTED LETTER TO SENATORS/REPRESENTATIVES
Suggested Subject Line of E-Mail Message:
Dear Representative/Senator :
The House version of The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (HR 1) eliminates Section 117(d)(5) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code and will increase tax liability for thousands of graduate students who serve as teaching or research assistants. I urge you to oppose any effort to treat tuition waivers as taxable income for graduate students in the final tax reform bill.
[Add 1-2 sentences about how tuition waivers affect you or your students]
More than half (55 percent) of all master’s and PhD candidates have adjusted gross incomes of $20,000 or less. Providing tuition remission allows universities and colleges to reduce the cost of graduate education. Taxing tuition waivers for graduate students will create a financial hardship for these individuals who earn modest incomes from teaching and research. Changes in the tax code that create financial hardships for graduate students threaten to derail students from pursuing careers in science, and that would erode the U.S.’s role as a world leader in research.
Ensuring that the U.S. will be able to continue to attract and retain the most talented people in science careers is essential to creating a dynamic and thriving scientific enterprise and growing our economy. As Congress finalizes tax reform legislation, I ask that you block efforts to tax tuition waivers for graduate students.
Sincerely,
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 11, 2017 - 11:05pm PT
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xCon, why should anyone believe Warren? She’s no economist and as a Bolshie with an axe to grind I’m sure she’d love to see the US economy tank.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 12, 2017 - 09:26am PT
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Frostie, touché, I am allowed to dip into my hyperbole reserves at will, no?
Perhaps I should have noted that no two economists can usually agree on where to lunch, let alone agree on predictions. The weak points of all DSGE models are their functions pertaining to ‘shocks’. IMHO it virtually comes down to high faluting arbitrary algorithms. Treasury’s predictions are entirely conceivable. If yer a Bolsh that would be quite unpalatable.
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Dec 12, 2017 - 10:41am PT
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Reilly, while I may be a Red SOB, Warren is definitely NOT! She's what the Euros call a centrist.
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Splater
climber
Grey Matter
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Dec 12, 2017 - 10:48am PT
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The communist here is Jody, with his bolsh hypocrite party benefits, which rob others and only benefit the favored comrades.
"No Ken, we did not have a union...and I am not trying to prevent anybody else from doing the same job. They all had equal opportunity to do it. If you must know...all the benefits I receive were voted into law by a LIBERAL state legislature. From the 3% @ 50 retirement formula to the "parity pay" law, all voted in by DEMOCRATS."
Of course there is a union (fake-union). In fact many of them. The Democrat party within the state of California is completely bought and paid for by government employee unions, and when it comes to LEOs, the Republicans have also been bought and paid for by the same fake-unions. A fake -union is unlike a real union. In a fakeCaliUnion, both sides are government employees and all will gain by increasing benefits. Not to mention California's forced collective bargaining rules, also brought on by fake-unions. And the loophole that makes them exempt from paying into Social Security - OASDI, which is 15.3% for all others.
"As far as health care, I paid extra out of my check every month for 25 years into a health benefits trust and that is activated when I retire so that I don't pay a monthly premium."
It is a complete lie to claim you paid what those benefits are worth.
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
Wilds of New Mexico
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Dec 12, 2017 - 10:55am PT
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I predict no one has any idea how much this bill will cost. The rosiest predictions have the cost at about 1 trillion, but wait until the accountants and lawyers figure out all of the loop holes created by the insanely rushed and sloppy drafting! The bill rewards pass throughs and penalizes people who draw a wage or salary so I also predict a huge increase in creative incorporation. As always, lawyers will benefit!
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Dec 12, 2017 - 12:31pm PT
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The Democrat party within the state of California is completely bought and paid for by government employee unions, and when it comes to LEOs, the Republicans have also been bought and paid for by the same fake-unions.
I guess that's why the state employees took that 15% pay cut a few years ago, because they call all the shots.
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Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
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Dec 20, 2017 - 01:15pm PT
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Hey did you all just feel that?
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Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
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Dec 20, 2017 - 01:19pm PT
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Trump and his billionaire buddies high-fiving whilst shitting our heads today.
Oh yes...and butt f*#ked!
Locker, can I borrow your blue butt plug?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 20, 2017 - 01:23pm PT
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Y'all should be happy. If it is as bad as you suppose it will merely
hasten their departure. If it isn't then you know you were wrong.
Win-Win!
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Dec 20, 2017 - 01:36pm PT
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AT&T responded to the tax bill this way:
The telecom giant said in a press release Wednesday that it would give more than 200,000 U.S. union members a special bonus of $1,000. The company also increased its capital expenditures budget by $1 billion in the U.S.
"Congress, working closely with the President, took a monumental step to bring taxes paid by U.S. businesses in line with the rest of the industrialized world," CEO Randall Stephenson said in a statement. "This tax reform will drive economic growth and create good-paying jobs. In fact, we will increase our U.S. investment and pay a special bonus to our U.S. employees."
CNBC
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Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
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Dec 20, 2017 - 02:02pm PT
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Khristain, you know they had that press release teed up. AT&T is going for a giant merger that requires FCC approval plus handing out rewards for net neutrality recension.
I don't mind the "overstimulation/blow the wad/long period of recovery and impotence" cycle on a personal level, but as it relates to the economy- it really sucks and I'm tired of it.
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Gunkie
Trad climber
Valles Marineris
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 20, 2017 - 02:03pm PT
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There may be a big sell off in the markets tomorrow; buy the rumor, sell the news.
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madbolter1
Big Wall climber
Denver, CO
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Dec 20, 2017 - 03:02pm PT
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If it isn't then you know you were wrong.
Sorry, Reilly. That's impossible.
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