If you own property or live in Northwestern Indiana, you may be forced to pay income and vehicle taxes twice in 2028. Last Thursday, the Northwest Indiana Planning Commission held a meeting where they discussed the effects of a bill that was signed into law by their legislature named Senate Enrolled Act 1.
Normally the county distributes money to municipalities based on a city’s population. This practice will end in 2027.
It will force the municipalities to collect additional income and vehicle taxes to bridge the gap. The towns will also need to pass a new set of laws annually as their funding requirements and population change.
Some are expecting this to turn into an old fashioned donnybrook.
Local town governments are concerned about their residents moving to stop from being taxed twice. They’re also concerned about residents registering their vehicles elsewhere to combat the additional transportation taxes.
This is creating a $3.6M budget gap for the town of Portage Indiana. City officials are worried that even if they increase their taxes to the maximum allowed under the law, it will not replace all of the lost revenue.
As such, they’ll be in a position where they need to reduce city services and increase taxes at the same time. Many expect a legal challenge to be forthcoming.
I just wanted you to know that it’s probably coming, so you can plan.
Let me leave you with this…
The Internal Revenue Service has reversed course on their wide ranging lay-offs. It only took them six months to figure out that their phones weren’t being answered and that taxpayer issues weren’t being handled.
According to IRS records, 25,386 employees have either left, taken a voluntary buyout under one of the deferred resignation programs, or used some other incentive to say sayonara. Another 294 employees were sent termination notices due to other workforce reductions.
These separations hit particularly hard at employees in enforcement positions, with approximately 27% of tax examiners now separated, and 26% of all revenue agents now being gone. In total, they’ve lost about 25% of their workers since January.
“IRS has identified areas where staffing reductions created a potential gap in mission-critical expertise,” said an email Wednesday from acting IRS human capital officer David Traynor and acting deputy IRS chief human capital officer David Allen. It further stated that, “As a result, IRS will utilize all available tools including details, reassignments, DRP/TDRP recissions, (and) external hiring to identify resources to fulfill the mission-critical skill sets.”
Another report released earlier last week by TIGTA found that the Service didn’t follow its own procedures when terminating thousands of probationary employees. Rather than considering an employee’s individual performance, they just sent out pink slips to everyone.
The IRS now plans to bring back 400 Revenue Agents and 300 Revenue Officers who accepted the deferred resignation offer. Also, the IRS’s Human Capital Office is reportedly no longer accepting volunteers for the Deferred Resignation Programs and plans to provide managers with additional information on how to bring back an employee who has an approved DRP/TDRP rescission agreement.
It seems as if every couple of weeks, another chapter in this soap opera emerges.
If you’ve been calling them and haven’t gotten through, don’t think that you’re alone. I’ve tried them for the past three working days, and can’t get someone on the line. And that’s with me using the super-secret telephone number that only practitioners are allowed to use.
We’ll see how this shakes out. I’ll keep you posted.
We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together.
Accounting Solutions Ltd. stands ready to complete our mission and purpose of protecting you, your family, and your business. Whether you need Payroll Services, or Accounting and Tax Work, you have but to ask. I’m here and I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Chris Amundson
President
Accounting Solutions Ltd.
773-267-7500
888-310-0300
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