Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Across the country, conservative lawmakers and anti-tax activists are mounting an aggressive campaign to erase property tax bills for homeowners, recasting one of the most stable pillars of local finance as an unacceptable burden. The push stretches from the Plains to the Southeast, with proposals that range from gradual exemptions to sweeping constitutional bans and…
Calls to tax second homes more heavily usually come from housing campaigners and local officials, not from the people who own the keys. Yet one particular kind of second home owner has spent years insisting that the bill should be bigger, not smaller. The argument is simple: if you can afford a vacation mansion, you…
Tax season 2026 is shaping up to be the strangest in years: refunds are projected to be bigger on average, yet the rules for who benefits, how fast money arrives, and what it really means for your budget are shifting underfoot. Many filers are expecting a simple windfall, but the real story is more complicated,…
Vehicle buyers in 2026 are navigating a very different tax landscape than they saw a few years ago, and the rules around writing off sales tax on a car are more nuanced than ever. The Internal Revenue Service still allows deductions tied to vehicle purchases, but they are tightly woven into broader limits on state…
President Donald Trump has opened a new front in his long running battle over his finances, filing a lawsuit that seeks at least 10 billion dollars from the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department. The complaint accuses federal officials of failing to protect his confidential tax information and allowing it to leak to news…
New rules for charitable giving in 2026 are quietly turning donations into one of the most efficient ways to boost your refund. Two fresh tax breaks, layered on top of a stricter regime for high earners, mean everyday taxpayers can get more back while directing money to causes they care about. Used strategically, these changes…
Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire are pushing to repeal a long standing property tax break for homes and businesses that install solar panels, a move that would effectively raise taxes on thousands of clean energy systems. The fight over this exemption has turned a once obscure line in the tax code into a test of…
President Donald Trump’s new $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department is framed as a historic bid to hold Washington accountable for a massive breach of taxpayer privacy. The case centers on a former IRS contractor who admitted leaking Trump’s tax information, along with data from some of the wealthiest…
President Donald Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of eliminating the federal income tax and replacing it with tariffs or other levies, raising a high-stakes question for states that depend heavily on Washington. If the income tax, which currently delivers $2.18 trillion in federal revenue, disappeared without a fully reliable substitute, the shock would ripple…
Tax season is officially underway, and for Americans in their mid‑60s and beyond, one new rule stands out: an extra deduction of up to $6,000 that can sharply cut what they owe. The so‑called “senior bonus” is layered on top of existing breaks for older filers, but it only helps if you know you qualify…