Many years ago a scientist (I had my suspicions he might have been a mad scientist), who has since passed away, hired me to help him identify stocks that would decline in price in the event of a global cooling. I have forgotten a lot of the details of why he expected a global cooling instead of a warming, but I do remember him telling me that cows and cockroaches emitted significant quantities of greenhouse gas emissions through, well, farting.

This all comes to mind because Drudge is linking to a story about the EPA considering a tax on the owners of farting cows (and they all fart):

The bodies of a senior Hamas leader's small children were today ghoulishly paraded through the streets of Gaza as the group pledged to avenge their deaths.

Dwindling government coffers and Silicon Valley wealth have led the Internal Revenue Service to add auditing attorneys to its local estate tax division.

Kyle Martin, an IRS supervisory estate tax attorney, told the Silicon Valley Bar Association that his office had hired 14 nonpermanent attorneys on a one-year program which has tax attorneys thinking there will be an increase in estate tax audits.

# The audit rate of individuals fell to 1.01% (down from 1.03% in 2007)

* The reduction was most pronounced with individuals with incomes over $200,000, as the audit rate fell to 5.57% (down from 6.84% in 2007)

# The audit rate of business fell to 0.63% (down from 0.66% in 2007)

* The reductions was most pronounced with businesses with assets over $10 million, as the audit rate fell to 15.26% (down from 16.8% in 2007)

Many taxpayers just couldn’t pay at the depth of the depression and others wouldn’t pay for ideological reasons, believing that government should suffer along with taxpayers. The tax revolt movement attracted 30,000 members in Chicago alone and the Windy City’s government was faced with financial collapse as property owners stopped paying.

Underscoring how closely the fates of Wall Street and New York are intertwined, Gov. David Paterson said Friday that a single moment in the financial crisis -- the decision by Goldman Sachs executives to forgo bonuses -- cost the state $178 million.

As the holiday season commences, it’s worth taking stock of the last gift that President George W. Bush and the 110th Congress have left for U.S. taxpayers.

It’s a package of about $8.7 trillion dollars’ worth of potential taxpayer commitments for loans, guarantees and other bailout goodies for businesses and distressed homeowners.

The verdict, which the convicted defendants will likely appeal, comes in a case that has narrowed since 2005, when it began as the largest tax-shelter prosecution in U.S. history. The U.S. initially accused 17 ex-KPMG executives, including former Deputy Chairman Jeffrey Stein, and two others of selling shelters that cost the Treasury $2 billion.

The plan announced by IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman would speed up a process where financially distressed homeowners may request that a federal tax lien be made secondary to liens by the lending institution that is refinancing or restructuring a loan.

Taxpayers will also be able to ask the IRS to discharge, or remove, its claim to a property in certain circumstances where the property is being sold for less than the amount of the mortgage lien.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which got $10 billion and debt guarantees from the U.S. government in October, expects to pay $14 million in taxes worldwide for 2008 compared with $6 billion in 2007.

Grassley said the tax shelter bailout within the auto bailout is related to abusive leasing transactions called SILOs, where transit agencies have sold public transportation assets like rail lines, only to lease them back from purchasers, with the result of providing tax depreciation deductions to the purchasers. Such transactions were motivated solely by collection of fees on one side and tax benefits on the other, rather than any change to the services provided by transit agencies.

William J. Benson was charged with falsely telling the American people the 16th Amendment was not ratified and therefore the income tax is unconstitutional. The evidence of the truth of his statement was struck from the record as "irrelevant and immaterial." The appeal before the 7th Circuit raises the question of whether American citizens will continue to be allowed to prove their innocence in the courts of this country.

"This is one of the most ridiculous things the federal government has tried to do," said Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, an outspoken opponent of the proposal

It would require farms or ranches with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs to pay an annual fee of about $175 for each dairy cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and $20 for each hog.

The investigation into the two European banks is an outgrowth of an inquiry by federal prosecutors and regulators into UBS, the Swiss bank giant, over its sale of offshore banking services to wealthy Americans. Federal prosecutors, who are focusing on senior and midlevel executives and bankers at UBS, contend that UBS illegally helped American clients hide up to $20 billion in secret offshore accounts, thereby evading $300 million a year in taxes from 2000 to 2007.

It's bad enough to be in a car accident, but getting billed for the police and/or fire department response can make matters worse. And your insurance may not cover that.

Third, stop the consumer fraud inherent in letting anyone prepare a tax return for a fee. ...

Al Qaeda's second-in-command said in an Internet video the U.S. financial crisis was caused by Washington's military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan and taxpayers were paying the price.

The Swiss bank UBS AG has uncovered cases of tax fraud by some of its U.S. clients, Chairman Peter Kurer said Thursday.

UBS examined its files as a result of investigations by the U.S. Justice Department and others into cross-border services the bank provides to American clients, Kurer told shareholders.

The words go to the essence of what is just and unjust. Of what is acceptable and unacceptable. The slogan, "no taxation without representation" was the rallying cry that led to America's war for independence from Great Britain. Its spirit was behind the Boston Tea Party and the list of grievances in the Declaration of Independence. It is just plain wrong to tax citizens in a democracy and disregard their collective will.

President-elect Barack Obama may consider delaying a campaign promise - to roll back tax cuts on high-income Americans - as part of his economic recovery strategy, two aides said on Sunday.

David Axelrod, the Obama campaign strategist who was chosen to be a senior White House adviser, was asked if the tax cuts could be allowed to expire on schedule after tax year 2010 rather than being rolled back by legislation earlier. "Those considerations will be made," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

The British government is on Monday set to announce a cut in value added tax (VAT) to 15 percent from 17.5 percent to stimulate spending on goods and services as Britain faces recession, reports said.

President-elect Barack Obama is right: America needs a real and meaningful middle-class tax cut. Unfortunately, despite the rhetoric, that is not what his proposals offer.

www.GiveMeLiberty.org -- What U.S. law requires Americans to pay income taxes? Watch IRS Commissioner Everson evade a direct question from the New York Times tax reporter. Why won't he answer ???

www.GiveMeLiberty.org -- Fox TV News interviews tax protester Irwin Schiff. Watch as famous NY tax attorney is unable to cite any law requiring average Americans for file or pay. Schiff's website is www.paynoincometax.com.

Dreams of a carbon tax are dashed now, although few environmentalists will publicly say so. More likely, they will soon assert the messenger failed, not the carbon tax idea. But of course, we know this is bunk. The Liberals campaigned unequivocally on a revenue-neutral carbon plan to save the planet. It was soundly rejected.

Introducing a new tax is never a popular political move, so it was notable when British Columbia's government, known more for its tax cutting, brought in Canada's first broad-based carbon tax in February's budget.

In politics, timing is everything. Between Feb. 19, when the B.C. budget tabled the carbon tax, and July 1, when it was implemented, prices at the pump rose to record levels.

The UK government is to auction carbon emissions permits to power firms in a sale projected to raise between 1.5 and 2bn euros (£1.2-1.6bn) by 2014.

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist has sent a letter and formal application to the Treasury Department requesting $700 billion from the TARP Capital Purchase Program to fund the following tax cuts:

* Cut the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 15% (estimated cost: $170 billion)
* Eliminate the capital gains and dividends tax (estimated cost: $35 billion)
* Cut the top personal income tax rate from 35% to a flat 15% (estimated cost: $235 billion)
* Kill the death tax (estimated cost: $24 billion)

The "Internal Revenue Service" is a collection agency for the private, profit-making corporation that calls itself the Federal Reserve System. The fools who still send money to this private company can prove this by examining the backs of their cancelled checks to the IRS. It will say "Pay to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York." It doesn't say, "Pay to the US Treasury Department." Why do you suppose that is? Your hard-earned money goes to a private company that has never been audited, that was created by foreigners for their own gain.

Remember those economic-stimulus checks the government was handing out this year? Many taxpayers didn't qualify for the full amount -- or for any payment at all -- because their 2007 income exceeded a certain threshold.

But many people who lost their jobs this year, or whose incomes fell for some other reason, will get a second chance next year, thanks to a little-noticed tax-law twist.

Remember, even prior to its passage, I called the bailout the greatest looting operation of our time. I did so because the language of the Bailout Act, as originally proposed by the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, er, I mean the Treasury Secretary, requested three things: unitary power, no review, and no limits.
Frankly, it was the most plainly-worded document of theft that I had ever seen, and probably ever will see, in my life (because it was too blatant and such mistakes are rarely made again).

George Clooney, Bono, Wyclef Jean, Petra Nemcova and a half-dozen other celebs have founded charities that have some eyebrow-raising business practices, The Post uncovered in a sweeping review.

Proposals to implement additional form of income tax while seizing private pensions raised in Congress.

The big winner at this year's World Series of Poker: the tax man. Russ Fox computes the tax liability of the final nine players on their $32.7 million of winnings as $14.3 million -- a 43.7% tax rate:

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen.

A new study based on unpublished Internal Revenue Service data shows the rich are different when it comes to paying taxes: They hide more of their income.

Alex Raskolnikov, a Columbia Law School professor who specializes in tax law, said that while the IRS can take mental illness into account when assessing penalties, he's never heard of "non-filer syndrome." Rhondalee Dean-Royce, a spokeswoman for the American Psychiatric Association, said no such disorder or syndrome is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a standard reference.

A federal judge has permanently barred convicted tax rebel and author Irwin Schiff and a co-defendant from preparing tax returns and marketing products advising people that no law requires Americans to pay federal income taxes.

In the midst of highly unpopular bailouts of Wall Street, many justifications have been given about why Washington feels the need to act. Some claim that capitalism and the free market are to blame, but we have not had capitalism. If you compare our financial capital to our aggregate debt, this would be obvious. In the same way, we have not had a truly free market. The monetary manipulations of the Federal Reserve, a complex tax code, the many "oversight" agencies and their mountains of regulations show that we are far removed from a free market economy.

The Massachusetts political establishment is horrified--voters might actually pass a proposition abolishing the state income tax. The personal income tax rate is 5.3%, and the state capital gains levy peaks at 12%. Under the proposition the tax would be cut 50% on Jan. 1, 2009 and eradicated on Jan. 1, 2010. These exactions currently raise about 40% of the state's budget revenue--27% if you count all of the Bay State's off-budget spending.

"Make Wall Street pay for its own bailout, by implementing a securities speculation tax, starting with derivatives," Nader told a crowd of several hundred in front of the New York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan.

What U.S. law requires Americans to pay income taxes? Watch IRS Commissioner Everson evade a direct question from the New York Times tax reporter. Why won't he answer ???

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered his government to suspend a controversial new sales tax Thursday, a day after a rare strike by merchants worried about how the new measure would affect their business.

The inquiry has centered on secret overseas bank accounts in Bermuda, Panama, Andorra, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Singapore and the West Indies.

It may be the biggest tax revolt in Massachusetts since the Boston Tea Party. In November, voters could wipe the state's personal income tax off the books.

Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark) & Bryan Camp (Texas Tech) have independently reviewed the tax issues raised by the release of Gov. Palin's 2006 and 2007 tax returns and financial disclosure form, as well as the remarkable opinion letter issued from Washington D.C. tax lawyer Roger M. Olsen. Jack and Bryan conclude that there are serious errors in Gov. Palin's returns as filed and that she and her husband owe tens of thousands of dollars in additional taxes.

Two innocent and patriotic citizens dodge 64 IRS lethal bullets in a triumph
for justice and the American way.

The bailout bill also gives the Internal Revenue Service new authority to conduct undercover operations. It would immunize the IRS from a passel of federal laws, including permitting IRS agents to run businesses for an extended sting operation, to open their own personal bank accounts with U.S. tax dollars, and so on. (Think IRS agents posing as accountants or tax preparers and saying, "I'm not sure if that deduction is entirely legal, but it'll save you $1,000. Want to take it?") That section had expired as of January 1, 2008, and would now be renewed.

Gambling has tax implications. According to IRS Publication 17, "Your Federal Income Tax", 2007 edition, page 89 "Gambling Winnings. You must include your gambling winnings in income on Form 1040, line 21. If you itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040), you can deduct gambling losses you had during the year, but only up to the amount of your winnings." In other words, you can't subtract your losses from your winnings and just not report. You have to report the winnings, and then claim the losses.

But McCain's tax returns say nothing about gambling winnings or losses.

Several tax accounting blogs have raised the question: should Sarah Palin pay federal income taxes on the per-diem payments that she received from the state of Alaska for nights spent in her Wasilla, Alaska, home?

What could a provision about the tax treatment of “industrial source carbon dioxide” and another provision about doing a “carbon audit” of the tax code possibly have to do with restoring confidence in Wall Street’s troubled credit markets?

The answer: NOTHING.

This appears to be an attempt by global warming fanatics to lay the foundation for an economy-killing carbon tax just like the “cap-and-tax” system that is now destroying European industry.