The Taxing Truth: A State-By-State Analysis Of Tax-Time Trickery Tax Time Headache? So What Else Is New?
   
Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report for the Fox News News Wire Article published in the Oil City Derrick
April 11, 2024 April 8, 1972
    We are less than a week away from the tax deadline and there is new data on tax season that can help ensure you stay safe this tax season. With tax return scams on the rise rushing to get your taxes done before the deadline can be one of the ways you are more vulnerable to becoming a victim of one of these scams. So how can you strike the balance of utilizing tax filing software to support you in getting those taxes on time while ensuring you are protecting yourself from the various scams? …

Read the full article here.		     CHAMPAIGN Ill. (AP) — A staff linguist at the University of Illinois says the feeling of frustration anger and the temptation to cheat at tax filing deadline time may be older than ancient Babylon. Shin Theke Kang a Korean-born student of ancient Near Eastern languages has deciphered a Sumerian clay tablet which he said is a page from a tax form prepared under the pressure of an approaching deadline by a wealthy shopkeeper more than 4000 years ago. Kang says there is evidence the shopkeeper in the ancient kingdom of Ur III — part of Sumer which preceded Babylon — was under pressure from government authorities for apparently trying to cheat. Kang said the tablet is unique among a collection of 1800 he is studying at the universitys World Heritage Museum. It is the first he has examined which contains two different hands of cuneiform man’s oldest known system of writing. He said the right-hand column is in a fine clear script— the work of a professional scribe. It contains items of inventory that would be found in a boutique of the period ranging from the finest cloth to be used for adorning statues to that which would be used as saddle cloth for donkeys. To the right the scribe left blank spaces for the shopkeeper to fill in the quantity of the items on hand. “There are numerous erasures” Kang said “and an area on the reverse side used as a scratch pad is dimpled with fingerprint marks. The shopkeeper was either a bit careless and disorderly or perhaps purposely undercounted his wares and then had second thoughts about it.” Kang said most tax forms in Sumer were filled out by government scribes alone as they interviewed the taxpayer. “The shopkeeper apparently was working under the pressure of a deadline’’ Kang says. “There is evidence the government had questions on the tax form he initially filed and a scribe returned to verify the figures.” Kang speculates the shopkeeper may not have been in at the time and the scribe left the tablet for him to complete. ‘‘The shopkeeper had about two days’’ Kang said ‘‘the time it takes for the clay to dry. Furthermore there is a deep gouge across that part used as the scratch pad. It was made by a hard slash with a blunt instrument apparently out of anger.”
Tax Day Shows Stark Divide Between Joe And Don Ford Pays Bigger Share Of Taxes Than Jimmy Carter
   
Josh Boak, Jill Colvin for the Associated Press News Wire Article published in the Danville Bee
April 15, 2024 October 14, 1976
    WASHINGTON (AP) — Tax Day reveals a major split in how Joe Biden and Donald Trump would govern: The presidential candidates have conflicting ideas about how much to reveal about their own finances and the best ways to boost the economy through tax policy. Biden the sitting Democratic president released his income tax returns on the IRS deadline of Monday. Filing jointly with his wife Jill he reported gross income of $619976 and paid a federal income tax rate of 23.7%. On Tuesday Biden is …

Read the full article here.		     WASHINGTON (AP) — President Ford paid a larger share of his income in taxes than did Jimmy Carter last year because Carter was able to take advantage of a tax benefit tied to improvements in his peanut operations. A comparison of the financial information provided by the two presidential candidates showed that Ford reported Gross income of $251991 last year and Carter reported gross income of $136139. Ford paid total federal taxes of $94569 in 1975 which was 38 per cent of his gross income. Carter paid taxes of $17484 equal to 13 per cent of his gross income. Carter was able to take advantage of a business investment tax credit to substantially reduce his taxes. He also took advantage of income-averaging features of the tax code to further reduce his taxes. Carter has made public his tax returns from the last five years. Ford has not revealed his tax returns but has released a statement of his finances including the amounts of tax he paid for the past 10 years. The bulk of Carters 1975 income was from his business “Carters Warehouse.” He also reported $3293 in income from his book “Why Not The Best?” Most of Ford’s income $200000 was from his salary as president. He also got $50000 from the presidential expense account. Carter was able to reduce his taxes by claiming an investment tax credit of $41702 equal to about 10 per cent of the $410640 he spent for equipment for his peanut business. While Carter has pledged to eliminate many tax shelters if elected he says he probably would retain the investment tax credit as an incentive for business to invest. Congress recently raised the investment tax credit from 7 per cent to 10 per cent after Ford recommended a boost. Thus Ford indirectly contributed to a lower tax bill for Carter. Carter also reduced his tax obligation by averaging his income over a five-year period. Since his taxable income fluctuated from a low of $50195 in 1972 to last years high it was to his advantage to do so. Without the income averaging and investment tax credit Carter had a potential tax of $58961. At his level the tax is $57580 for the first $120000 of taxable income plus 64 per cent of anything above that up to $140000. Fords $200000-plus income potentially put him in the highest tax bracket where incomes over $200000 are taxed at 70 per cent if they are derived from unearned income such as interest. But since most of his income was earned the tax he paid was substantially less. The nations tax code has provided since 1969 that the maximum tax on earned income is 50 per cent. Ford had very little income $1991 that was not considered earned income last year. The biggest item was savings account interest. Ford also was able to reduce his gross income by deducting $23000 of his expense account money as business expenses. The largest single item was for 35000 Christmas cards. Ford also deducted $6759 for charitable contributions and $11620 for state and local taxes.
How To Hide Apps On Your Iphone To Keep Them Secret Hide Pictures On Girlie Mags
   
Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report for the Fox News News Wire Article published in the Cambridge Daily Jeffersonian
April 15, 2024 February 18, 1959
    As you know by reading our articles we emphasize privacy a lot. We believe it is very important so sometimes that means keeping certain apps away from curious eyes. Hiding apps on your iPhone is straightforward whether you’re aiming to declutter your iPhone’s home screen or ensure your privacy. Let’s walk through the steps together. How to hide a single app …

Read the full article here.		     SANTA BARBARA Calif. (UPI) –Several local news stand operators have had racks built that hide all but the titles on girlie magazines. The operators said the action was necessary because of many complaints received about the disgraceful pictures on the magazine covers.
Inflation Is Still Bad. Its Both Trump And Bidens Fault. Who Will Fix It? How Americans Look At Inflation: Ouch!
   
Nicole Russell, Usa Today for the Usa Today By The Associated Press published in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald
April 10, 2024 July 8, 1969
    It started with former President Donald Trump and it ends with President Joe Biden. Not the election the economy. Specifically inflation. Something for which neither candidate wants to take responsibility though both should. According to the March consumer price index report inflation has surged again. Overall prices for everyday goods have increased 3.5% from last March and are up from 3.2% in February. The typical household spent $202 more in July than they did a year ago to buy the same …

Read the full article here.		     BY FRE AVOVVIATEY FRE Many Americans who have felt the pinch of inflation say they think the steady rise in prices has left them worse off now than a few years ago. Less than 10 per cent of more than 400 people across the nation who were questioned in a special inquiry by Associated Press bureaus said they had not been directly affected by inflation. An engineer in Michigan doubted he could buy now the house he bought 24 years ago. A Louisville man had to cut back his savings program. A San Francisco secretary said higher taxes swallowed up her latest pay increase but she’s made some gains in recent years. The almost unanimous response to queries about inflation and its effect was that it is a problem of national concern. ‘Like everyone else I have a tough time keeping up with rising prices’’ said Marvin Hardy 40 of Sioux Falls S.D. a shoe salesman. Hardy who earns nearly $9000 a year said despite inflation he was better off than he was two or three years ago. But Mrs. William F. Anderson of Sacramento Calif. complained ‘If anything were worse off than before. Our grocery bill is going out of sight.’ The family income is nearly $10000. Ronald J. Farrari of Livonia Mich. an engineer whose income is more than $15000 said ‘‘My home bought 24 years ago has risen in value drastically 25 to 30 per cent I suppose. I don’t think I could afford to buy this house now.” A number of people said they felt the government should impose price controls or wage and price controls. Others felt taxes were high or that the government was spending too much money on the war in Vietnam on defense on space on welfare or “other nonessential programs.” Archie Wilson 24 a gas station attendant in Los Angeles who makes less than $7500 a year said “‘If inflation means the cost of things and what you can buy with what you make then the answer is yes inflation is a problem. “I dont know if the government can do anything about inflation”” Wilson said. ‘I think that big businesses like oil steel and others have a lot to do with it and maybe they should solve the problem. I doubt that they will though if doing something about inflation means lower profits for their fat incomes.” A Montgomery Ala. maintenance worker Will Evans 54 whose income is less than $7500 said “Things dont seem much different now than they ever were. When you dont make much money sometimes you don’t notice things.”’ Ronald Ferrari 25 a utility company crewman in San Francisco said “I don’t seem to have as much money as I used to but I don’t know what can be done.”’ Margaret Price 24 a writer of New Haven Conn. said ‘Inflation keeps me in a poverty bracket.”’ G. Roland Kasting 53 a farmer of Seymour Ind. said “The cost of everything I buy has gone up — seed corn fertilizer machinery services. The government is the biggest offender in inflation spending all the money it is spending.” Thomas McMahon 46 owner of a marine engine repair service in East Haven Conn. said ‘The high interest rate on money is stopping business. Inflation starts with the unions. The workmen are responsible for making the products. “I suggest that we stop the war and get out of Vietnam to solve the tax problems”’ proposed Jack Aubrey 44 who is part owner of a bookstore in Grand Rapids Mich. E. J. “Bud’’ Hohman a gasoline station proprietor in Miami said ‘The government should freeze wages and prices I always felt the government should be more strict with trade unions. If it had the inflation wouldnt have come about.”
Single Parent Buys Spur-Of-The-Moment Lottery Ticket While Getting Salad Wins $1 Million High School Dropout Gets $1000 Weekly For Rest Of Life
   
Natalie Neysa Alund, Usa Today for the Usa Today News Wire Article published in the High Point Enterprise
April 9, 2024 October 12, 1976
    A single Midwest dad is $1 million richer after winning a lottery prize while picking up lunch in Nebraska lottery officials announced this week. Brant Edgington said he was visiting a local supermarket to buy a premade salad for lunch when he made a last minute decision to buy a Mega Millions ticket the Nebraska Lottery reported. Edgington who hails from Fremont in the eastern part of the state bought the winning ticket at a grocery store in the city lottery officials said. …

Read the full article here.		     NEW YORK (AP) - A year and a half ago Robert Netto dropped out of high school to pump gas in Watertown N.Y. Now the 19-year-old has become a millionaire as New York States first $1 million instant lottery winner. I was content with him just as he was a gas station attendant his 18-year-old wife Judy said Monday night as she helped him on stage to accept the first $1000 of his reward. He can look forward to receiving that much every week for the rest of his life and lottery officials estimate that at his age Netto could live to collect $4 million from the $1 lottery ticket he bought at the station where he works. Netto said hes not going to quit that $60-a-week job at least not right away. My biggest dream has always been to win $1000 he said. Id like to own a gas station someday. Now maybe Ill own a line of them. His wife of 4 months didnt think twice before announcing that she will quit her $60-a-week job as a department store cashier. This was it this did it she screamed from the stage still clutching a 4-inch tall plastic statue of the infant Jesus which she said she had been holding all day. It was given to her by her mother-in-law before the couple drove to Manhattan on Sunday for the final award ram. Netto said he will give his mother a house and will donate $5000 of his winnings to the Roman Catholic Church. I was sitting there praying and I said If I win Ill give $5000 to the church Netto added. Netto also plans to take a
Americans Shared A Powerful Moment During 2024 Solar Eclipse. This Is What They Saw. Moon Majestically Moves Across The Sun
   
Rick Jervis And Chris Kenning, Usa Today for the Usa Today By Brian Sullivan Ap Goiencee Writer published in the Roswell Daily Record
April 9, 2024 March 8, 1970
    EAGLE PASS Texas – It was noon and the cloud cover had been looming all morning. Alejandra Martinez a seventh-grade science teacher from this city in south Texas peered up at the gauzy gray sky. She was sitting at the corner of the county airport just outside Eagle Pass just a couple of miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. Beside her stood a special telescope for a citizen-driven NASA science project to capture views of the sun during the eclipse – if they could see it. “We’re going to stay …

Read the full article here.		     Majestically the moon moved across the face of the sun on Saturday darkening the sky and casting a great shadow across the earth. Millions of people from the Pacific to the North Atlantic through Mexico the eastern edges of the United States through Nova Scotia and Newfoundland looked up in awe as the shadow marked the path of the total eclipse of the sun. Sea birds flew inland in flocks on Nantucket Island as if it were dusk. Rockets rose from the darkness of Wallops Island Va. into a midday sky dotted with stars as scientists sought answers to solar mysteries. At Virginia Beach Va. and other areas within the 85-mile-wide shadow of total eclipse the temperature dropped suddenly as the warm rays of the sun were blocked. Deep in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia birds stopped chirping and the swamp became still. A state ranger in the swamp Paul Johnson watched a gray fox curl up and go to sleep on the bank of a stream something the fox wouldnt do in the middle of the day. Skies were clear along much of the line of totality especially in Mexico at Wallops Island Va. on Nantucket Island off the Massachusetts coast affording a once-in-a-lifetime experience for residents of these areas. There wont be another total eclipse of comparable duration in or near the United States until 2024. Despite repeated warnings that direct observation of the sun during the eclipse could produce serious eye damage perhaps even blindness many people were seen peering up at the sky without filters. At the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston three persons were reported treated for eye injuries attributed to watching the eclipse. Dense clouds blocked the view in many areas including parts of Georgia and Texas. In Valdosta Ga. where many amateur astronomers gathered for a view of the total eclipse only 20 per cent of the planned experiments were effective. At San Antonio Tex. thick clouds blocked the view of the sky but former President Lyndon B. Johnson hospitalized because of circulatory problems watched the eclipse on television. At Miahuatlan Mexico professional astronomers had the perfect eclipse watching weather they were counting on when they brought their bulky sophisticated equipment to the mountains. The weather was fantastic and our telescope worked perfectly one US scientist said.