Plante & Moran, PLLC is encouraging its accountants and staff to bring their children to work on Saturdays during tax season, a tradition the firm has practiced for almost 20 years. The certified public accounting and business advisory firm offers free Saturday daycare in 11 of its Midwest offices – including Grand Rapids – during the height of tax season. Children ages 6 months to 18 are welcome to attend the drop-in program, which offers games, crafts, snacks, activities, movies – and an opportunity to enjoy lunch with Mom or Dad. [P&M]
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Deadline Watch ’10: Happy October 15th!
- Caleb Newquist
- October 15, 2010
Along with AG’s friendly reminder about the drop-dead deadline for nonprofits today, we’d be remiss if we didn’t call attention to the significance of October 15th deadline.
Maybe you finished things up earlier in the week and today is simply a formality but for many, today is a frantic mishmash of signatures, phone slamming, desperate, last minute emails and – for the holdouts on electronic filing – trips to the post office.
Sure you’re not getting the attention bestowed on April 15th or Chilean miners but – hey! – we remembered you and that should count for something.
So whether you’re finishing up a 1040, a benefit plan’s Form 5500 or converting some poor sap’s IRA, finish up ASAP and go blow off some steam. Another year down.
Earlier:
Deadline Watch ‘10: Happy September 15th!
See also:
Don’t miss these Oct. 15 tax deadlines! [DMWT]
Extended 1040s and Individual NOL Carryback Elections Are Due Today! [Tax Update Blog]
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Is Philadelphia’s Tax on Bloggers That Big of a Deal?
- Caleb Newquist
- August 24, 2010
Every state, municipality, township and hamlet is desperate to close their budget gaps. With such desperation comes a flood of bad ideas that include taxes on everything from juggling to hot air balloon rides.
The Philadelphia City Paper ran a story last week about the $300 Business Privilege Tax that the city is imposing on bloggers, freelancers and other contractors since they are engaged in the activity for profit. Seemingly, another stupid idea.
The City Paper speaks to a couple of bloggers – clearly doing it as a hobby – that are technically engaged in a for-profit activity because they have ads on their blogs. They were notified by the city that they owed the $300 for a lifetime business privilege license (you can also opt for a $50 annual license). The Philadelphia Department of Revenue argues that “simply choosing the option to make money from ads — regardless of how much or little money is actually generated — qualifies a blog as a business.”
Supposedly, changes to the city’s law are in the works to be introduced next month that would exempt the first $100k of a business’s profit.
However, there is a far simpler solution to this problem that is mentioned by Christina Warren over at Mashable which is, quit running ads on your blog. Maybe the city’s tax is excessive, annoying, desperate for reform or just plain stupid but if you don’t run ads on your blog – that wasn’t designed to make money – you avoid the business privilege license altogether. It’s as simple as clicking a mouse and the government is out of your life (at least this respect).
Or continue to be stubborn and fight the bureaucracy of the Philly City government. Your choice.
Pay Up [Philadelphia City Paper]
Philadelphia Tax Code Sparks Big Controversy with Small Bloggers [Mashable]
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Man Attempts to Pay $6,400 Tax with Kiddie Pool Full of Pennies
- Caleb Newquist
- July 19, 2010
God bless our friends to the North. If you can’t have a sense of humor about this stuff, you’re likely to do something stupid like, say, join the Tea Party:
A Quebec man, fed up with his skyrocketing property taxes, carted more than 200,000 pennies down to City Hall to pay his bill. But he was denied, and asked to simply cut a cheque.
Normand Czepial of Ripon, Que. — less than an hour’s drive northeast of Gatineau — arrived at City Hall on Wednesday with a children’s pool filled with 213,625 pennies.
Now we’re wondering – did Normand roll into his bank that morning to make the withdrawal and demand the smallest denomination possible or had he been saving all the copper coins his entire life for this exact moment?
Whichever it is, we applaud this particular brand of awesome. The only beef we have this move is that he used the kiddie pool to schelp the pennies down to City Hall. What the hell, man? Depriving your kids of fun in the middle of summer? Sure you’re a little bit of smartass (which we like) but it appears also a bit of dick in the Dad Department. Not cool.
Czepial’s property tax bill reportedly rose by nearly $4,000 dollars last year to $6,400. Czepial tried to pay with pennies to protest the hike.
Ripon Mayor Luc Desjardins was surprised to see the stunt, but had to tell Czepial to find another way to pay his bill.
Under the Currency Act, nobody is obliged to accept more than 25 pennies as payment for any product or service. Normand Czepial, unfortunately, was 213,600 over the limit.
Even the Toronto Sun is throwing around the jokes! Everyone that is threatening to move to Canada given a particular election of [insert hated political figure] should take note that it sounds kinda fun up there!
Man tries to pay tax with 200,000 pennies [Toronto Sun via TaxProf]