Warning over email tax-back scam

Government officials are warning the people of Bracknell of a scam involving a staggering number of emails offering people the chance to claim tax back.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has issued the warning this month of a record number of online attacks, known as “phishing”.
And officials say in just one day this month, they received more than 10,000 reports of the fraud and 83,000 in a month.
Last month, getbracknell received a number of phone calls from people concerned over being rung up out of the blue by companies offering the chance to win back bank charges if they give their account details out over the phone.
In this scam, the sender claims the recipient of the email is due a tax return and then asks for credit card or bank details.
Customs officials are warning anyone who hands over the information risks having their account emptied or their bank details being sold to criminal gangs.
They also warn the latest version of the online scam operates from websites which change their domain name every 20 minutes.
John Harrison, head of HMRC customer contact, said: “We only contact customers who are due a refund in writing by post.
“We never use emails, telephone calls or external companies in these circumstances.
” He also advised customers not to click on any website or links contained in suspicious emails or open attachments. “I would strongly encourage anyone receiving such an email not to open it.

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Could the IRS be trying to send you money?

The Internal Revenue Service is looking for Tennesseans who are due to receive a combined $1.77 million in the form of 1,849 refund checks that were returned to the IRS by the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors.
“IRS wants to get these checks to their owners as quickly as possible,” said IRS spokesman Dan Boone. “All you have to do is update your address to get your refund check reissued.”
The Internal Revenue Service is looking for 397 Nebraskans and 555 Iowans — but not because they owe the taxman money.
In fact, it’s the other way around. These taxpayers had their tax refund checks returned to the agency as undeliverable, IRS officials said Thursday.
In Nebraska, the checks total $359,002 and average about $904 a check. Douglas County leads the state in the number of unclaimed refunds, 141, which average $1,040 a check and total $146,693.
In Iowa, the checks total $495,001, averaging $894 a check. Polk County leads that state with 103 unclaimed refunds, averaging $811 a check and totaling $82,753.
Nationwide, 107,831 taxpayers had about $124 million in refunds returned to the IRS, an average of about $1,148 per check.
Tax refund checks often are returned as undeliverable when taxpayers move without notifying the IRS or the U.S. Postal Service.
“We want to make sure taxpayers get the money that’s waiting for them,” said IRS spokesman Christopher Miller. “Maybe you got married or moved and just forgot to update your information with the IRS.
”Taxpayers can update their addresses and claim refunds in several ways."

Tax Policy

In 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available for both individuals and corporations, total corporate income tax liability was $413.2 million and total individual income tax liability was $5.6 billion.
The huge disparity between individual and corporate taxes results from the different ways in which the two groups are taxed.
Individuals pay taxes on all of there income. They can make deductions for mortgage interest, medical expenses, and a few other types of expenses, but in general, they pay taxes on everything. Basic costs of living, such as housing, food, and transportation are non-deductible. Corporations pay tax on their net income, after they deduct all of the expenses of doing business.
If a corporation requires vehicles to conduct its business, all of that expense is deductible. If an individual requires a vehicle to go to work, they pay tax on all of the income used to fund that expense.
If a corporation operates from offices, factories, or warehouses, their costs to purchase and maintain those buildings are deductible.
If a corporate employee needs to stay in a motel or rent an apartment, those costs are deductible. If an individual lives in a house, they pay taxes on the income that they pay their rent or mortgage principal with. If a corporation buys food or liquor for a party or company event, those costs are deductible. If an individual buys food for their family, they pay tax on the income used to buy that food.
Aside from the extremely different tax rules that apply to corporate and individual income, corporations and individuals are also taxed at different rates.
Corporations pay 6.6% tax on their net income.
Individuals pay taxes on their entire income on the following progressive scale:
$2850 – 5%
$7150 – 7%
Over $7150 – 9%
The “effective tax rate” for taxable income, which is total income minus deductions, is 7.5% on average for all individuals. Individuals at roughly the $40,000 dollar income level pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than corporations, and those rates continue to go up the more they make.
Individuals pay 13.5 times as much in income tax as corporations. To put this another way, the people who do the work pay 13.5 times as much to maintain government as the shareholders who produce nothing, but collect the profits. This is because the shareholder, who produces nothing, is taxed at a lower rate, and has a completely different set of tax rules, which shield most of their income from taxation.
Basic fairness would dictate that all individuals be taxed according to the same laws. A corporation is only a collection of individuals. A corporation is its shareholders. Shareholders, through the State established legal fiction of corporation, work and do business according to a completely different set of rules than individuals, and their activities are taxed in an entirely different manner.
There are endless arguments about this issue, but if you step back and look at it objectively, it is really just a bit of gimmickry that clever people have invented in order to cheat others out of what is rightfully theirs. No matter how many legal arguments, statistics, and economic theories someone sights, they can never overcome the basic fact that in the end the result is two different sets of rules for the same supposedly equal people who are constitutionally entitled to equal treatment under the law.
If you read my piece on the history and ethics of taxation, then you will understand that this situation is a result of the basic law of taxation: the powerful tax the weak, and the rich tax the poor.

California Stealin'

Desperation grabs for revenue are nothing new in politics, but California is once again leading the way in creative financing.
To help close yet another gaping budget deficit, now estimated to be $7 billion this year and reach as high as $20 billion next, Sacramento lawmakers have authorized a 10% increase in the amount of taxes withheld from worker paychecks starting November 1 and through 2010.
The extra withholding tax will reduce Californians' take-home pay by about $1.7 billion for the year. But the lawmakers say this isn't a tax increase.
OK, how about calling it a compulsory interest-free loan from taxpayers to the state? According to the Franchise Tax Board, 10,004,000 Californians overpaid their state taxes last year and received an average refund of $903. The withholding penalty is expected to snatch between $20 and $90 a month from middle-class families.
For those feeling the pinch of recession and living paycheck to paycheck, that penalty will hurt. Of course, the government is obliged to return this money next spring when workers get their tax refunds, so this is the ultimate budget gimmick. It borrows from taxpayers now and deepens the budget hole next year.
And we almost hate to ask: What happens come April if the state doesn't have enough money to pay the tax refunds it owes its citizens? Will taxpayers get IOUs the way state contractors did last year when Sacramento ran out of money? Meanwhile, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the legislature now face their sixth "extraordinary session" to balance the budget. Income tax rates went up last year by 0.25%, bringing the top rate to 10.55%, but receipts are already coming in $1 billion below projections, according to the state controller.
The politicians could use this continuing crisis as an opportunity to reform the state's tax code with lower rates and fewer deductions and loopholes, as recently proposed by the governor's tax reform commission. But that plan has been panned by the ruling classes in Sacramento. They claim to want to steal only from the rich, but their latest withholding ruse is showing that they'll steal from anyone with a paycheck.

35 million letters delayed in UK post strike

Some 35 million pieces of mail have been delayed by this week's British postal strikes, Royal Mail said Friday.
Thousands of postal staff have walked off the job in three days of strikes this week in a dispute over modernization plans, job security, and workloads. It follows two consecutive days of nationwide strikes last week that resulted in limited collection and delivery of mail.
Royal Mail said it had cleared "virtually all delays" caused by last week's strikes and was working to clear delays caused by the work stoppage this week.
More than 43,000 postal staff across the United Kingdom went on strike Thursday at mail centers and distribution units, according to Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union, which represents the striking workers.
Some 400 people in three cities in England went on strike Friday, and 77,000 delivery and collection staff, including postmen, were due to strike Saturday, the union said.
The two sides came together for talks Thursday night and again on Friday to seek a resolution, according to a spokesman at the Trades Union Congress, which is mediating the dispute.
Union members have complained that Royal Mail has not consulted the union on its plans to bring in changes such as new machines that might replace certain positions and lead to layoffs. They are also unhappy that Royal Mail hired thousands of temporary workers ahead of the strikes.
The walkouts have caused concern among businesses and retailers, especially those who rely heavily on direct mail, that the effects could last through Christmas.