Tax Policies

Tax rates of all kinds differ depending on the country you’re living in, and income taxes are no exception. If planning on moving to another country and becoming a citizen within the next few years, whether for business or pleasure, it’s a good idea to research income tax rates first. Your Encino tax consultants are [...]

Earlier this year, the California legislature bucked the common thinking and raised taxes on its highest wage-earners, along with increasing several other taxes. And contrary to popular belief and extremely loud opposition at the time, the state has not fallen into the economic disaster that was predicted. New Taxes in 2013 Among the taxes that [...]

The California legislature may have just taken another step toward remedying a terrible mistake that the Franchise Tax Board made earlier this year, but in this case, it could be too little, too late, for the state’s reputation as a nurturing and caring space for new businesses. What Happened to California Startups? Last year, a [...]

As the economy continues to improve, and the housing market gets back to normal, hopefully there will be fewer and fewer homeowners who will find themselves so far underwater with their mortgages that they need to do something drastic or risk losing their houses. One of the least extreme actions for a homeowner who wants [...]

In addition to all of the regular tax credits and exemptions that are available for ordinary U.S. taxpayers, military personnel are entitled to a number of special benefits that apply solely to them. Many people are not aware of these benefits, so it’s important to become familiar with them in order to get every tax [...]

Thirty-five years ago, in 1978, California started the property tax revolution by voting in a constitutional amendment that limited property taxes to 1% of the property’s assessed value, and that limited annual increases to 2%, regardless of the increase in assessed value. The amendment came about because of several ongoing situations. First, Ronald Reagan as [...]

When you are part of a married couple, you generally file a joint tax return. You probably don’t think too much about how your legal tax-filing status affects the amount of your tax liability. The advantage of a joint return is apparent when one person earns all or the majority of the income.  It is [...]

All sorts of ideas are floating to the top during the almighty 2013 Battle of the Federal Budget. Republicans want to accomplish a balanced budget and reduction of the federal deficit through spending cuts exclusively, while Democrats want propose a combination of new revenues (i.e., tax increases, although without increasing the marginal tax rates) and [...]