An estimated 4.5 million previously unemployed Americans have attained paid-positions in the last four months, qualifying their employers for the US tax benefits of the Government’s Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act of 2010. On July 12th the US Treasury Department released preliminary results of the Government’s HIRE Act of 2010. According to estimates (on the date of publishing), 4.5 million long-term unemployed US citizens have attained work during the first four month of the program, potentially savings their employers billions in ... Read More

Sources within the US State Senate have confirmed that new legislation is being considered which could effectively double the tax liability on profits earned by hedge-fund and private-equity managers. On April 13th Senator Charles Schumer, member of the US Senate Finance Committee and serving New York Democrat, revealed that a proposal to instate “Carried Interest” legislation was “on the table” before the Finance Committee. Under current laws, the cut of profits taken by private-equity fund executives is treated as capital gains, and taxed ... Read More

The average US state sales-tax level has risen to an 5.468 percent, the highest since records began in 1982. The number of regions opting to raise their sales taxes has also reached record highs. The 25th annual 2009 Sales Tax Rate Report, released on March 3rd by the tax software provider Vertex, shows that in an attempt to bolster state coffers and decrease the impact of a weakened economy, the states of California, Delaware, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Utah, Nevada and the District ... Read More

Algirdas Semeta, Taxation Commissioner of the EU, has stated that he wishes to see a carbon tax instated across the entirety of the European Union, and will lead a review to make it happen. The widely debated topic of Carbon Taxation has once again been brought up with the revelation that the European Commission (EC) will soon lead an inquiry about a possible EU-wide implementation of such a measure. In a statement made by Emer Traynor, spokeswoman for Algirdas Semeta, revision of the ... Read More

US President Barack Obama has proposed a new tax on financial institutions that could raise USD117 billion to repay the financial crisis bailout payouts. In a speech on January 14th Barack Obama announced his intention to instate the Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee (FCRF), a tax which would be levied on financial institutions with over USD50 billion in consolidated assets. Under the new tax applicable organizations would be taxed at a rate equal to 0.15 percent of their total assets less high-quality capital and ... Read More