Essential reading: New Jersey lags on sales tax, and more
Welcome to the top tax and accounting headlines from Reuters and other sources.
* N.J. lags on sales tax. Heather Haddon – The Wall Street Journal. A new analysis set to be released this week shows New Jersey is one of only nine states in the U.S. that saw a decline in sales-tax revenue this spring, a sign that consumers are holding back spending as the state’s economy struggles to recover. Link
* IASB chairman laments delays to reform. Adam Jones – The Financial Times. The chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board has delivered a scathing assessment of its progress in carrying out urgent reforms, saying repeated delays had shaken people’s faith in the body’s ability to meet deadlines. Hans Hoogervorst said the slow pace was redolent of “dysfunctional working processes and dysfunctional decision-making”. He added: “We have broken deadlines so often that nobody believes in them any more.” Link
* Ryan says GOP win would spur a tax deal. Patrick O’Connor – The Wall Street Journal. Rep. Paul Ryan said the presidential campaign, despite its contentious tone, is putting a focus on taxes and deficit cutting that could pave the way for a bipartisan overhaul if running mate Mitt Romney wins the White House. The GOP ticket wouldn’t detail which tax breaks it wanted to scale back in order to prevent the tax cut from adding to the deficit, Ryan said. Link
* Romney’s go-to economist. David Segal – The New York Times. Glenn Hubbard, the dean of Columbia Business School, is the Romney campaign’s top economic adviser. Hubbard has helped to draft many of Romney’s economic and tax policies. Link
* How much more will your payroll tax be in 2013? Phil Izzo – The Wall Street Journal. The Social Security tax withholding rate is expected to return to 6.2 percent after two years at 4.2 percent. So far neither party has expressed much interest in another extension. Link
* Schumer to tax reform: Drop dead. The Wall Street Journal editorial. The polls say voters want more bipartisanship, and one possibility in 2013 is tax reform that trades lower rates for fewer loopholes. The antireformer is Chuck Schumer, the Senator from Wall Street, er, New York, who averred at the National Press Club last week that his party will have nothing to do with tax reform of the kind that Ronald Reagan negotiated with Democrats in 1986. Link
* Education cuts at stake in tax battle. George Skelton – The Los Angeles Times opinion. Let’s cut through all the baloney being spread in California’s tax brawl and go straight to what’s basically at stake. At stake, at least in the near future, is whether public school funding will be slashed from kindergarten through the universities. Link