The last time I started a post here in the General Forum that had the potential to go political and end up in the Soapbox Forum, it remained here because Open Forum Members did a fantastic job of honoring my request to stay focused on business and off the politics. I thank members for that and make a similar request with this thread.
As Congress meets and people in Washington negotiate about taxes and the federal budget, a proposal has surfaced that is called a deduction cap. Details are sketchy at this point but the concept is to put a cap on the total income tax deductions people can take. The common number is $35,000. It would not matter what kind of deductions one takes, whenever the total reaches $35,000, that's it. No more deductions can be taken.
The concept and number are alarming to Diane and me. As I said, details are sketchy so it may be too early to be alarmed. As one writer put it, "There is no concrete plan for the deduction solution. It could involve further limiting certain deductions, like taking the mortgage-interest deduction cap to $500,000 rather than $1 million. Or it could involve a percentage cap or a dollar cap."
We have no idea that such a proposal will fly. But it is getting serious play in Washington now (Nov 13, 2012) as you read this. The number in play at this point is $35,000. (See New York Times article about it here).
Diane and I spend about $50,000 a year on fuel alone and all of it is tax deductible. A $35,000 deduction cap would mean that $15,000 of our annual fuel costs would not be deductible. It would also mean that every other trucking business expense (and personal expense) we have would not be deductible.
I do not know the answer (at this moment) to the following question and would be interested to hear yours.
If an income tax deduction cap of $35,000 was imposed to take effect in tax year 2013, how would it affect your expedite business? To react to such a cap, what changes would you need/want to make to keep your business going as a profitable enterprise?
As Congress meets and people in Washington negotiate about taxes and the federal budget, a proposal has surfaced that is called a deduction cap. Details are sketchy at this point but the concept is to put a cap on the total income tax deductions people can take. The common number is $35,000. It would not matter what kind of deductions one takes, whenever the total reaches $35,000, that's it. No more deductions can be taken.
The concept and number are alarming to Diane and me. As I said, details are sketchy so it may be too early to be alarmed. As one writer put it, "There is no concrete plan for the deduction solution. It could involve further limiting certain deductions, like taking the mortgage-interest deduction cap to $500,000 rather than $1 million. Or it could involve a percentage cap or a dollar cap."
We have no idea that such a proposal will fly. But it is getting serious play in Washington now (Nov 13, 2012) as you read this. The number in play at this point is $35,000. (See New York Times article about it here).
Diane and I spend about $50,000 a year on fuel alone and all of it is tax deductible. A $35,000 deduction cap would mean that $15,000 of our annual fuel costs would not be deductible. It would also mean that every other trucking business expense (and personal expense) we have would not be deductible.
I do not know the answer (at this moment) to the following question and would be interested to hear yours.
If an income tax deduction cap of $35,000 was imposed to take effect in tax year 2013, how would it affect your expedite business? To react to such a cap, what changes would you need/want to make to keep your business going as a profitable enterprise?
Last edited: