Month: July 2021

IRS to Deliver Unemployment Tax Refunds to 4 Million Americans this Week

The agency said Tuesday that it’s processing returns for 4 million people who paid taxes on jobless aid before mid-March, when Democrats passed a stimulus bill that included a tax break for out-of-work Americans.

The law waives taxes on up to $10,200 in 2020 unemployment insurance benefits for individuals who earn less than $150,000 a year. The IRS has estimated that up to 13 million Americans may qualify for the tax break.

Refunds are expected to land in Americans’ bank accounts on Wednesday, while paper checks could arrive as soon as Friday. The average refund is worth about $1,265.

The agency – which already delivered refunds in May and June – previously said it will do the recalculation in two phases, beginning with taxpayers who are eligible for the $10,200 exclusion. It will then proceed to calculate the new refund for married couples who are eligible for the $20,400 exclusion and other more complex returns.

“There is no need for taxpayers to file an amended return unless the calculations make the taxpayer newly eligible for additional federal credits and deductions not already included on the original tax return,” the agency said.

The IRS has cautioned that the refund is is “subject to normal offset rules,” the IRS said, meaning that it can be used to cover “past-due federal tax, state income tax, state unemployment compensation debts, child support, spousal support or certain federal nontax debts (i.e., student loans).”

Consumer Prices Surge by Most Since August 2008

U.S. consumer prices rose last month at the fastest pace since August 2008. The Labor Department said Tuesday that the consumer price index rose 0.9% in June, faster than the 0.6% increase in May. Prices rose 5.4% year over year, and have been trending higher every month this year.

Used car prices spiked 10.5% last month, accounting for more than one-third of the increase. Additionally, energy prices climbed 1.5% month over month and food prices rose 0.8%.

Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.9% in June, quicker than the 0.7% increase recorded in May. The 4.5% annual increase was the most since November 1991.

Higher prices seeped into large swaths of the economy as businesses have struggled to correct supply-chain bottlenecks that occurred as a result of the pandemic. Some businesses are also struggling to find workers as supplemental unemployment benefits have encouraged workers to stay home.

The Federal Reserve has insisted the price gains are “transitory” and that they will eventually return to pre-pandemic levels as the dislocations caused by the pandemic are corrected.

However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has admitted that timing is “uncertain.”

Governor Evers Signs Bill Preventing UI Tax Hike on Employers

On top of signing the 2021-23 biennial budget on Thursday, Gov. Tony Evers also signed a bill that would prevent the increase of unemployment insurance tax rates.

According to a press release, Assembly Bill 406, now 2021 Wisconsin Act 59, ensures that the state remains in Schedule D in tax years 2022 and 2023. It’s supposed to offset lost revenue by requiring $60 million GPR be transferred to the trust fund each of the next two fiscal years.

“I am glad to be signing this bill today to ensure Wisconsin businesses and employers that were hit hard by the pandemic can continue to recover without having an undue burden of an increase in their UI tax rates,” said Evers. “We’re going to continue to provide targeted relief to workers and employers who need it most and make sure our workers, families, and economy bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic better than before it hit.”

Governor Evers Signs GOP-Authored State Budget with Billions in Income Tax Cuts

Governor Tony Evers on Thursday signed the Republican-authored state budget, heralding its more than $2 billion in income tax cuts and vowing to provide an additional $100 million in federal money for the state’s schools beyond what the GOP provided.

In all, Governor Evers kept the most significant aspects of the GOP budget intact, using his veto power 50 times compared to the 78 vetoes he made in signing the state budget two years ago.

The budget will bring down the income tax rate from 6.27% to 5.3% for income between about $24,000 and $263,000 a year, or between $32,000 and $351,000 for married filers. All told, officials say the plan would save taxpayers $2.7 billion over the two-year period, including $2 billion of which would be direct tax cuts.

The budget also comes with about $650 million in property tax cuts, which would save the owner of a median-valued home about $100 in December, according to fiscal bureau estimates. In the next year, the tax bill on the same home would increase $32 from the previous year.

The budget still sets aside about $202 million in state funds to cover the cost of eliminating the state’s more than 170-year-old personal property tax, which businesses pay on equipment and machinery. However, Evers on Thursday vetoed separate bipartisan legislation that would have officially eliminated the tax.

Governor Evers said he planned to veto the legislation over concerns that it might provide tax cuts to manufacturers located outside the state who have warehouses in Wisconsin though Republicans amended the bill to address concerns before it passed the Legislature.

AAA: Gas Prices Continue to Climb, Not Stopping Anytime Soon

The prices at the pump continue their steady climb as summer travel hits full stride. According to AAA, crude oil prices will hit a seven-year high this week.

The national gas price average is expected to increase to $3.25 a gallon this month. Unfortunately, it’s not going to stop there.

AAA expects gas prices to rise another 10 to 20 cents through the end of August.

The last time the national average gas price was at $3.25 was in late 2014.

Veto Limbo: How Governor Evers could Change the Next State Budget

Gov. Tony Evers is expected to take action on the state budget this week, but how he may use his powerful veto pen to change the two-year spending plan remains unclear.

According to the governor’s office, Evers, a Democrat, officially received the state budget from the GOP-controlled Legislature on Friday. Under state law, he has six days, excluding Sunday, from receiving the budget to act on it. His actions could range from signing the plan with no changes — something Republicans have called for — to vetoing the entire budget, or using his veto pen to make changes, a process known as a partial veto.

Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, the governor said he wouldn’t comment on his plans, but noted “there’s a large amount of money in the budget for tax cuts,” adding that his veto pen could “balance that out.” He also called the budget’s funding for K-12 schools “inadequate.”

“We’re going to be spending just about every waking moment over the next couple days figuring out what our position will be on that,” he said of the budget signing. “So, stay tuned.”

Governor Evers has one of the powerful veto pens in the country, with the ability to delete words, numbers and punctuation from the budget. According to a 2020 memo from the Legislature’s nonpartisan research office, most other governors are limited to eliminating or reducing spending amounts in budget bills. In contrast, the Wisconsin governor can make changes to any part of the budget, including policy language.

According to Republican leaders, the 2021-2023 budget was strategically written to limit Evers from making any big policy changes with his veto pen.

Speaking with reporters last week, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said the GOP majority worked to create a budget that would give Evers little to work with.

“The intent of the finance committee was to produce a budget that had very few new policies, new programs, very few words involved,” LeMahieu said.

Battle Against Scam Calls Intensifies

Still getting too many robocalls? The Federal Communications Commission now requires that carriers implement stricter measures to combat these annoying calls.

STIR/SHAKEN, the new FCC mandate for phone carriers, is designed to curb fraudulent robocalls and illegal phone number spoofing. The latter is a common scheme where a scammer sends a fake caller ID – typically disguised as a local caller – to hide their actual identity.

The goal is for providers to verify that a caller ID is authentic and matches the number that will show up on your phone. The deadline for implementation by carriers was June 30.

“While there is no silver bullet in the endless fight against scammers, STIR/SHAKEN will turbo-charge many of the tools we use in our fight against robocalls,” Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.

Though the deadline for large providers was June 30, the FCC said small voice service providers with 100,000 or fewer subscriber lines get an extension until June 30, 2023 – but that extension may be shortened, the FCC added.

Americans received just under 4 billion robocalls in May, according to YouMail. While down from April, the volume was still huge. Robocalls averaged 128.7 million calls per day and 1,490 calls per second, according to YouMail.

I-94 East-West Expansion Approved in Legislature-Passed Budget

The Wisconsin Legislature green lights the expansion of the long-stalled I-94 East-West corridor. Former Gov. Scott Walker stopped it, then in 2020, Gov. Tony Evers revived it. But state law says the Wisconsin Department of Transportation needs legislative approval to spend money on the project. That could come if the governor signs the budget the legislature passed.

The proposed I-94 East-West expansion will add lanes from the Marquette to Zoo Interchanges, a roughly 3.5 mile stretch of the interstate, which Gov. Evers says is one of the most congested and dangerous roads in the state. WISDOT adds that the stretch has twice as many crashes as the average of similar roads in the state.

The governor’s budget proposal asked for $40 million in bonding for the expansion project, which the legislature kept in the budget they approved this week and will send back to him for his signature.

If the governor approves this item in the budget, don’t expect construction any time soon. That’s because the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has ordered a supplemental environmental impact study. It’s goal is to hear from the public, study issues like water runoff, and to see if the pandemic may have changed traffic patterns along this route. Wisconsin Secretary-designee of Transportation Craig Thompson says the earliest they could get final federal approval is late 2022.

Governor Evers, Oneida Nation Chairman Hill Sign Compact Amendment Permitting Event Wagering

Yesterday, Governor Tony Evers and Oneida Chairman Tehassi Hill signed a historic compact amendment that expands allowable gaming at Oneida Nation casinos and affiliate locations in the state of Wisconsin to include event wagering. This compact amendment will be the first to allow event wagering, including sports betting, to occur in Wisconsin.

“Event wagering,” as defined by the compact amendment, can include sports and events betting such as wagering on nationally televised award shows, professional sports league drafts, and professional sporting events such as the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball.  The current compact amendment does not allow for wagering on Wisconsin college athletics. Wagering is also prohibited on the outcomes of elections for public office and for events with participants under the age of 19.

The compact amendment signed today follows months of negotiations between the Oneida Nation and the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s (DOA) Division of Gaming. The agreement will be sent to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau has 45 days to review and approve the compact amendment.

If approved, the Oneida Nation can begin expanding operations to allow event wagering at Oneida Casino. The compact amendment also allows for remote event wagering on land owned by the Nation or held in trust for the Oneida Nation by the federal government that contains a commercial building owned or leased by the Oneida Nation. The Oneida Nation hopes to begin offering event wagering in time for the upcoming football season.

State Legislature Approves State Budget, Sends to Governor Tony Evers

The state Legislature has approved and sent the next two-year state budget to Gov. Tony Evers. The plan would spend billions less than the governor proposed.

The state Senate approved the spending plan Wednesday night, about 24 hours after it was passed by the state Assembly on a mostly partisan vote. The vote was largely along party lines in the Senate too, with three Democrats voting in its favor: Sen. Janet Bewley from Mason, Sen. Brad Pfaff from Onalaska and Sen. Jeff Smith from Brunswick. After the session, state Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, touted the passage of the most conservative budget in a generation.

The budget will move to Evers’ desk, where he could use his veto pen to make changes or veto the plan entirely.

The budget is the product of the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee, which made major changes to the spending plan proposed by the governor earlier this year. Overall, it would spend billions less than Evers called for and omit major proposals from the Democratic governor, including legalizing marijuana, expanding Medicaid and raising the minimum wage. It also includes a $3.4 billion tax cut the governor didn’t propose.

The governor hasn’t said whether he will sign or veto the budget. Evers has one of the most powerful veto pens in the country, with the ability to delete words, numbers and punctuation from the budget. For the last budget, he used his veto authority to increase school funding by about $65 million, along with about 75 other changes.