WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday acknowledged taking massive tax write offs for real estate losses topping $1 billion from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, calling it "sport" among developers like himself during that period. Trump was reacting to a New York Times report Tuesday that his businesses lost more...
State Workers Misspent $427,000 in Taxpayer Money, Audit Finds. One Binged on YouTube at Work.
SACRAMENTO — A California Department of Transportation manager commuted some 450 miles to work — from San Diego to Sacramento — for two years and the state paid for it, according to an audit released Tuesday. An administrator at Valley State Prison in Chowchilla watched thousands of YouTube videos at...
Car-Sharing Fuels Battle Over Local Tax Revenue
PHOENIX — When Chris Williamson was in the market for a new family car, a timely ad and conversations with a co-worker convinced him to try something out of the ordinary. He bought a BMW 3 Series convertible and covers the payments by renting it to strangers on a peer-to-peer...
Infrastructure Bringing Together Trump, Democratic Leaders
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders agreed Tuesday to work together on a $2 trillion infrastructure package — but put off for later the difficult question of how to pay for it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said there was "good will in the meeting" — a marked...
California Issued 23,500 Tax Returns Without Verification
SACRAMENTO — The agency that processes California tax returns says it issued 23,500 refunds without verifying whether people had entered accurate wage information. The Franchise Tax Board plans to start sending letters next week notifying anyone who's received an improper refund because of the error. Spokeswoman Denise Azimi says most...
Walters: Battles Over Local Tax Measures Heat up
A change in the governor’s office and expanded Democratic supermajorities in the Legislature have emboldened long-frustrated advocates of increasing taxes to expand health, welfare and education services. The California Tax Foundation calculates that bills already introduced this year would raise Californians’ taxes by $6.2 billion a year with others to...
BizFed's Wish List for Newsom: Help on Water, Taxes, Immigration
Gov. Gavin Newsom should focus on water access and reliability, taxes, and immigration, according to a poll of BizFed Central Valley members. The other two areas of critical concern were government regulations and compliance, along with taxes and fees, the organization said in a news release Monday. This was the first...
‘Federal Government Really Jacked Us’: How Trump’s Tax Cuts Are Working out for Californians
For communications professor Jason Jarvis and his wife, Jun, California just got more expensive. The Inglewood couple, who last year paid $16,000 in state and local taxes, were only able to deduct $10,000 of it from their federal taxes this year. The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—signed last year...
Avenatti Charged With Embezzlement, Fraud, Cheating on Taxes
LOS ANGELES — Attorney Michael Avenatti has been charged in a 36-count federal indictment alleging he stole millions of dollars from clients, did not pay his taxes, committed bank fraud and lied in bankruptcy proceedings. "I look forward to the entire truth being known as opposed to a one-sided version...
Parents Could Face Tax Charges, Big Fines in Admissions Scam
BOSTON — A wide-ranging college admissions cheating scheme allowed wealthy parents not only to get their kids into sought-after schools but to write off the bribes on their taxes, federal authorities say. Now some parents who are already facing possible prison time could be hit with additional criminal charges and...