Tax Time: Find Out What the 2013 Tax Rates and Standard Deductions Mean for You

Standard deductions go up, but the ceiling for itemized deductions goes down in 2013, plus other changes that will affect your taxes this year.

The Internal Revenue Service announced annual inflation adjustments for tax year 2013, including the tax rate schedules, and other tax changes from the recently passed American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.  The tax items for 2013 of greatest interest to most taxpayers include the following changes. Details on these inflation adjustments and others are contained in Revenue Procedure 2013-15, which will be published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2013-5 on Jan. 28. Other inflation adjusted items were published in October 2012 in Revenue Procedure 2012-41. -News release from the Internal Revenue Service __________________________ Please help us get to 1,000 Facebook “likes” by clicking here and “liking” us. Check out some of today's other top …

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Pine-Richland Patch: 2012 Election Guide

Here's a look at the candidates and issues most important to Pine-Richland voters in 2012.

As we look ahead to Tuesday’s elections, Pine-Richland Patch is devoted to bringing you the information you need about every race in town. Here are the people and issues you will find on your ballot. President Barack Obama vs. former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney History  Pennsylvania has delivered its 20 electoral votes to the Democratic nominee for president in the last five elections. If current polls hold steady, Obama will make it six in a row in November. The president has not taken Pennsylvania’s support for granted and has made several trips to Western Pennsylvania in the past several years, even going as far as choosing Pittsburgh to host the G-20 summit in the fall of 2009. In his October 2011 visit, the president lobbied for …

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The Debate Begins: How Did the Candidates Do?

The first debate is over. Take our poll and tell us in comments your thoughts after watching the first face-to-face debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.

In short segments that often exceeded the allocated two-minute time periods, the presidential candidates tackled economics, health care, Social Security, education, the role of goverment and the deficit in a debate that sometimes found them saying the same thing in different ways. In a debate moderated by PBS' Jim Lehrer, both Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney talked about domestic issues and how they would tackle them, if elected in November. Obama talked of working to make the middle class stronger, job training through community colleges, keeping tuition low, lowering tax rates especially for manufacturers, boosting American energy production and working to close the deficit. Romney talked…

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Bob Howard

5:43 pm on Wednesday, October 10, 2012

For Erin: Have you read Obamacare? It is not a solution to the problem of the uninsured. After it is fully implemented it is estimated that 20 million and up to 30 million will remain uninsured. If it was really about insuring the uninsured, it could be done for all the uninsured at a fraction of the costs as is currently done with auto insurance. 159 new agencies are being created. Their …   more ›

Patch Poll: PA House Panel Considers Bill To Eliminate School Property Taxes

Revenue would be made up by higher income and sales taxes.

As school districts across the state consider raising taxes to offset cutbacks in funding from Harrisburg, a state lawmaker thinks the time has come to eliminate property taxes as a way of financing public schools, and raise the personal income and sales taxes to make up the difference.  The House Finance Committee took up House Bill 1776 Monday. Sponsored by Rep. Jim Cox, R-Berks, the measure would hike the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent statewide and raise the personal income tax rate from 3.07 percent to 4 percent. In Allegheny County, the sales tax would rise to 8 percent.  In addition, many goods and services currently exempt from the sales tax would be taxable under the bill, which aims to raise $10 billion to replace the …

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Allegheny County Offers Residents Free Help Preparing Their Taxes

The Money in Your Pocket Coalition provides IRS-certified tax volunteers at 13 sites throughout the county for families with incomes of up to $40,000 a year.

Allegheny County families with incomes of up to $40,000 and individuals with incomes of up to $20,000 are being offered free help preparing their taxes. The program, the Money in Your Pocket Coalition, provides IRS-certified tax volunteers at 13 sites throughout the county. The closest location to the North Hills is the Goodwill at Northside Common Ministries at 1601 Brighton Road.  County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, in a statement announcing the launch of the program this year, said he wanted to be sure residents receive their full tax refund, including the Earned Income Tax Credit. “The Earned Income Tax Credit was created to assist hard-working people struggling to make ends meet, but it is estimated that only 75 percent of those …

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Fitzgerald: Recent Assessment Numbers 'Null and Void'

Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald said Thursday that 2012 assessments would remain at 2002 levels.

Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald said it over and over again during a news conference Thursday afternoon: When it comes to property tax reassessment, Allegheny County shouldn’t be singled out. That’s one reason Fitzgerald said he directed the certification of the 2011 assessed values for 2012 taxation purposes — values that are based on the 2002 tax year. For county property owners, that means the assessment numbers they received in the mail last week are “null and void.” Fitzgerald said new notices would be sent out Thursday, and those are “the ones that matter.” He was clear: Despite a court order mandating a property tax reassessment, he is following all state laws. “Earlier this week, I took an oath to uphold the laws of the …

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No Tax Increase Factored into Proposed School Budget

About $2 million in cuts are under consideration.

No tax increase is factored into the proposed 2011-12 budget for Pine-Richland schools, but nearly $2 million in cuts are in there. That was the upshot of Wednesday night's meeting of the school board's finance committee as it reviewed the proposed $63 million budget. It directed Pine-Richland Schools Superintendent Dr. Mary Bucci to present such a budget to the public at the school board's April 25 meeting. Bucci and administrators have struggled for months with the budget because the anticipated revenue of $63.8 million falls short of the $65.5 million in expenses. The $63.8 million figure includes adding in $850,000 from the fund balance to cover one-time capital improvements like a new phone system for Pine-Richland Middle School. …

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School Board Takes First Step in Budget Process

Preliminary budget approved in a 7-1 voted.

The Pine-Richland School Board took the first step in the budget process Monday when it approved a $65 million preliminary budget. The vote was 7-1, with Director Scott Stedeford voting against the spending plan. Finance and Operations Director Dana Siford explained that the vote did not set a millage rate. It simply allowed the board to comply with Act 1, a state law, she said. The board will not vote on a final budget and tax rate until June. "You guys have a hard job," Dan Pasqualucci said as he addressed the board. But he said he was disturbed and angry "that we are even thinking about raising taxes." "Stop the madness," said Pasqualucci, of Cloverdale Estates. "There has got to be room to cut. I strongly believe you should not raise …

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Pine, Richland Supervisors Hold Line on Taxes

Real estate millage rates remain the same.

Pine and Richland officials gave residents of their townships a holiday present in the shape of no tax increase when they set real estate tax rates this month. Pine’s Board of Supervisors voted in December to keep the millage rate at 1.2 mills and Richland’s supervisors kept their township’s rate at 2.75 mills.  In Pine, the median value for a home is $228,500, which translates into a $274.20 tax bill, according to information provided on Allegheny County’s property assessment website. For Richland, the median value is $119,800, making the tax bill for homeowners $329.45.  The bigger tax bill for Pine and Richland residents comes from the Pine-Richland School District, which already set its rate of 21.9084 in June.  Allegheny County’s …