Tag: taxes

Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

Denmark will tax livestock farmers for the greenhouse gases emitted by their cows, sheep and pigs from 2030, the first country to do so as it targets a major source of methane emissions, one of the most potent gases contributing to global warming.

The aim is to reduce Danish greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels by 2030, said Taxation Minister Jeppe Bruus.

As of 2030, Danish livestock farmers will be taxed 300 kroner ($43) per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2030. The tax will increase to 750 kroner ($108) by 2035. However, because of an income tax deduction of 60%, the actual cost per ton will start at 120 kroner ($17.3) and increase to 300 kroner by 2035.

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Problem Plagued Sentinel ICBM Program Will Press Ahead Despite Nearly Doubling In Cost

The U.S. Air Force is pushing ahead with its struggling Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program despite a new projected price tag of nearly $141 billion, close to twice the original estimate, and now years of expected delays. The Pentagon says it has assessed that there are no lower-cost, but similarly capable alternatives to Sentinel, which is expected to replace the existing Minuteman III ICBM as one of the three legs of America’s nuclear deterrent triad.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense announced the results of an official review of the Sentinel program today. By law, per what is commonly referred to as the Nunn-McCurdy Amendment, defense programs that see certain levels of extreme cost growth must be canceled unless various criteria are met. Sentinel’s rising price point triggered a breach of the Nunn-McCurdy statute in January. The Air Force also sacked the top officer in charge of the program last month, but said this was “not directly related to the Nunn-McCurdy review,” according to Defense One.

The Air Force currently has some 400 LGM-30G Minuteman IIIs deployed in silos spread across five states.

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New York City mayor defends migrant debit card program as cost efficient and fraud resistant

A pilot program to distribute preloaded debit cards to migrants for food and baby supplies is just that: a pilot and trial run, New York City officials said Tuesday amid backlash to that effort.

“We can take a look at it after six weeks and see what’s working and what’s not,” Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom said at a wide-ranging news conference.

The prepaid cards are intended to be used for groceries, diapers, baby formula and other necessities at local businesses. They’ve invited the condemnation by right-wing news media as simply another benefit for people who entered the country illegally and for the hefty contract involved in the rollout.

“There is no free money. These are not ATM cards. You can’t take cash out,” Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy said at the news conference.

Mayor Eric Adams and top aides also stressed that safeguards are in place to prevent fraud. They said the program saves the city money and prevents food waste.

The program launched Monday with 10 families and the pilot will expand to 115 families. Families of four getting $350 each week on their cards.

The mayor was additionally asked Tuesday if the debit cards send a “mixed message” to migrants crossing the southern border who may have been told both that the city has no room for them and that the government provides shelter and food and other services.

“It sends a mixed message when it’s distorted,” Adams said.

The mayor himself had been set to visit the border beginning Saturday but abruptly nixed the trip.

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IRS Proposes to Directly Accept Tax Payments by Credit, Debit Cards

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on July 2 proposed rules changes that would allow taxpayers to directly make tax payments by credit or debit cards.

The IRS currently authorizes three third-party processors to collect tax payments made with credit or debit cards. The federal agency doesn’t charge a fee for this service, but those companies do.

For taxpayers wishing to pay with a credit card, the companies charge a fee that’s a percentage of the payment amount. Those paying with debit cards are charged a flat fee of just over $2.

Two existing restrictions have so far prevented the IRS from directly accepting tax payments by credit or debit cards. One regulation prohibits the IRS from paying any fee to use a third-party service to process taxes paid with credit and debit cards. The other prohibits the IRS from imposing any fee on individuals who pay taxes using those options.

The July 2 proposal would remove both prohibitions. If implemented, it would authorize the IRS to pay a fee to a card issuer or a bank to process a taxpayer’s payment.

By law, the IRS must seek to minimize such a fee. If the IRS does pay a fee, under the proposal, the IRS would pass that burden on to the taxpayer by charging for the “reimbursement” due with their taxes.

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U.S. Will Pay Moderna $176 Million to Develop mRNA Bird Flu Vaccine

The United States government will pay vaccine manufacturer Moderna $176 million to develop a new mRNA vaccine to treat bird flu.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will pay Moderna $176 million for a vaccine containing the same mRNA technology as the company’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Bird flu, or H5N1, has been reported in dairy cows and has infected three people in the United States.

In total, 135 dairy herds have been infected with bird flu in 12 states.

Per AP:

The U.S. government will pay the vaccine maker Moderna $176 million to develop a pandemic vaccine that could be used to treat bird flu in people as cases in dairy cows continue to mount across the country, federal officials announced Tuesday.

The funds are targeted for release through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and will pay for continued development of a vaccine that uses the same mRNA technology that allowed rapid development and rollout of vaccines to protect against COVID-19. The award was made through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, a program focusing on medical treatments for potential pandemics.

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US provides $2 billion loan to strengthen Polish military

Poland and the United States have inked a direct loan agreement for $2 billion as part of the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, announced the Polish Ministry of National Defense (MoD) on Monday.

This marks the second such loan granted by the U.S. government to Poland recently. The FMF funds, which are allocated only to select allies with whom the U.S. maintains close defense collaborations, aim to further enhance Poland’s defense capabilities.

According to the Polish MoD, the acquired funds will be used to purchase American defense systems, specifically air and missile defense capabilities, which are considered a priority for the Polish Armed Forces given the current threats.

The statement highlighted the favorable financial terms of the agreement, reflecting the ongoing development of strategic relations between Poland and the U.S.

The U.S. remains Poland’s principal international partner in the modernization of its armed forces, including the acquisition of Patriot and HIMARS missile systems, Abrams tanks, and F-35 aircraft.

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Our Nearly $1 Trillion Military Budget Won’t Make Us Safer

If you looked at the U.S. military budget without knowing otherwise, you’d probably guess we were in World War III.

Our military spending is now the highest it’s been at any point since World War II — and Congress keeps adding more. The House of Representatives just passed legislation that will take military spending to $895 billion, while the Senate Armed Services Committee passed a bill that would total $923 billion.

Those totals don’t even include the military aid to Ukraine and Israel that was included in the $95 billion war package Congress passed this spring. We’re teetering closer and closer to a $1 trillion military budget.

Adjusting for inflation, the last time the national security budget topped $1 trillion was in 1945, the final year of World War II.

Unlike a world war, there’s nothing happening today that can justify this level of spending. Even the war in Ukraine and the decimation of Gaza (which is being carried out with U.S.-supplied weapons) account for just a small fraction of overall spending.

So what’s all this spending for?

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‘Vast Majority’ of Pandemic Employee Retention Credit Claims Are Likely Scams, Says IRS

You can add the Internal Revenue Service to the ranks of federal agencies conceding that raining taxpayer money on all and sundry to offset the negative effects of pandemic-era closures didn’t go as well as intended. Not only was a program meant to offset the cost of paying workers during lockdowns and voluntary social-distancing prone to being gamed, but the “vast majority” of claims submitted to the program show evidence of being fraudulent.

In the course of a detailed review of the Employee Retention Credit, “the IRS identified between 10% and 20% of claims fall into what the agency has determined to be the highest-risk group, which show clear signs of being erroneous claims for the pandemic-era credit,” the IRS announced June 20. “In addition to this highest risk group, the IRS analysis also estimates between 60% and 70% of the claims show an unacceptable level of risk.”

The Employee Retention Credit was offered to businesses that were shut down by government COVID-19 orders in 2020 or the first three quarters of 2021, experienced a required decline in gross receipts during that period, or qualified as a recovery startup business at the end of 2021. But it was clear early on that scammers were taking advantage of giveaways of taxpayer money, either to claim it for themselves or to pose as middlemen helping unwitting business owners file claims.

In March of 2023, the tax agency warned of “blatant attempts by promoters to con ineligible people to claim the credit.” In September of that year, it stopped processing claims amidst growing evidence that vast numbers of applications were “improper,” as the IRS delicately puts it. In March 2024, the agency announced that its Voluntary Disclosure Program had recovered $1 billion (since raised to over $2 billion) in improper payouts from participants who got to keep 20 percent of the take.

Ultimately, only “between 10% and 20% of the ERC claims show a low risk” for fraud, even by generous federal standards for throwing other people’s money at problems largely of government creation.

“We will now use this information to deny billions of dollars in clearly improper claims and begin additional work to issue payments to help taxpayers without any red flags on their claims,” commented IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel.

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Louisiana Parents Sue Over Law Mandating 10 Commandments Displays in Classrooms

Last month, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed a bill mandating that a copy of the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classrooms in Louisiana. The law, House Bill 71, requires that the religious scripture be displayed on a poster or frame sized at least 11 inches by 14 inches and in a “large, easily readable font.” 

Apparently anticipating a First Amendment challenge to the mandatory religious text, lawmakers included several provisions that attempt to strengthen the law against a constitutional challenge. For example, the law prohibits schools from using taxpayer funds to finance the posters, instead directing them to accept private donations.

The law further directs schools to display a context document that describes “the history of the Ten Commandments in American Public Education.” This requirement attempts to undermine the religious nature of the scripture, instead showing how the “historical role of the Ten Commandments accords with our nation’s history and faithfully reflects the understanding of the founders of our nation with respect to the necessity of civic morality to a functional self-government.”

While the text of the law attempts to dodge accusations that it prescribes public schools to display an openly Christian text in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, Louisiana lawmakers openly argued that the law would put religion in Louisiana schools.

“I really believe that we are lacking in direction. A lot of people, their children, are not attending churches or whatever,” Rep. Sylvia Taylor (D–Laplace), a co-author and co-sponsor of the bill, said during a debate over the bill. “So what I’m saying is, we need to do something in the schools to bring people back to where they need to be.” Another sponsor state Rep. Dodie Horton (R–Haughton) said that the bill “seeks to have a display of God’s law in the classroom for children to see what He says is right and what He says is wrong.”

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DHS GIVES FAITH-BASED INSTITUTIONS AND NONPROFITS $160M

Today, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will distribute $160 million in Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) funds as a first tranche of additional funding that the Biden-Harris Administration secured to protect faith-based institutions and nonprofit organizations against targeted attacks. The announcement accompanies DHS’s release of an amended Notice of Funding Opportunity that will now enable qualifying institutions and organizations to apply for these additional NSGP funds. 

The $160 million in additional funds are a portion of the $390 million that were included in the fiscal year 2024 National Security Supplemental, a key priority of the Administration as it continues to intensify its efforts to combat the dramatic increase in hate crimes and other forms of targeted violence against faith-based institutions and nonprofit organizations. In total for fiscal year 2024, the Administration has secured $664 million for the NSGP, more than double last year’s $305 million appropriation. Earlier this year, DHS announced $274.5 million in available NGSP funds and intends to make the balance of those funds available later this year. 

“We have seen a dramatic increase in hate crimes and other forms of violence targeted against faith-based institutions and nonprofit organizations,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The additional Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding that we are announcing today will provide these institutions and organizations with much-needed resources to strengthen their security and protect their communities from harm.” 

The rise in hate crimes and other forms of targeted violence has increased sharply since the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks against Israel. In light of the changing threat environment, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program has become a more important resource to faith-based institutions and nonprofit organizations to strengthen their security posture. In 2023, over 2,200 faith-based and other nonprofit organizations utilized over $305 million in NSGP funding to purchase security cameras, developing evacuation plans, additional warnings and alert systems, gates and lighting, access control systems, and training programs for staff. 

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