Living in Colorado, for many, means spending a lot of time worrying about how to make the rent or the mortgage — or whether they’ll ever be able to buy a home. Housing costs have been on a long and sometimes sharp climb throughout the state. In Colorado Springs, home prices have risen 119% since … Read more
How can California balance its progressive tax policies with the need to retain businesses and high-income residents? What specific skills will be valuable in an AI-driven economy? These and other issues will be discussed during the Business Forecast Conference hosted by the business advocacy group the Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA) and its president, … Read more
A water provider in metro Denver has faced a lose-lose situation: Apply for state funding for water projects and risk giving up tax revenue — or abstain from seeking the millions of dollars of available grant money altogether. It’s a bad choice voters can help an Adams County water district avoid by passing a ballot … Read more
WASHINGTON — The IRS is expanding its program that allows people to file their taxes directly with the agency for free. The federal tax collector’s Direct File program, which allows taxpayers to calculate and submit their returns to the government directly without using commercial tax preparation software, will be open to more than 30 million … Read more
The New Jersey Lottery has been waiting for the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot winner to claim the prize since March. The unclaimed ticket, which has a cash value of over $537 million, was sold in Neptune Township of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Lottery officials are urging all players to check their tickets for the … Read more
South Africa has officially started investigating claims of tax evasion and unfair pricing, or “dumping,” involving car, bus, and truck tyres imported from Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. The investigation is being led by the South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference. It focuses on whether these countries are avoiding anti-dumping taxes that are already in place for … Read more
A Morningstar Center for Retirement & Policy Studies research leveraged a new simulation tool to find that 45% of Americans retiring at 65 face risks of running out of money in retirement as people live longer and share greater responsibility for their retirement savings. The simulation considered attributes like health conditions, nursing home expenses, and … Read more
Social Security rules like the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) markedly reduce Social Security benefits for nearly three million US retirees receiving pension income. Under WEP, individuals receiving retirement or disability pension income from public employers that don’t withhold Social Security taxes from their salaries will see their Social Security … Read more
Heard of ballot box biology? That’s when special interests ask voters to circumvent the expertise and inclusive decision-making of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to get what they want. Equally pernicious is ballot box budgeting which distorts the state budget process in favor of certain interests by appealing directly to voters through initiatives. Ballot … Read more
Expect Colorado’s upcoming state tax refund to be the last big one for a while. Forecasts by legislative economists released on Thursday predict a softening of economic conditions, tighter budget forecasts and recent changes to state law. Together, those are expected to decrease state refunds due under Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, from … Read more
