A $363,000 Tax Bill to Widow Led to Obama Shift in Defense of Marriage Act [Bloomberg]
Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer had a 40-year engagement and a two-year marriage, starting with a wedding in Canada recognized under the laws of New York, where they lived, and ending when Spyer died two years ago. Her death triggered a $363,053 federal tax bill from which her widow would have been exempt had she been married to a man, because the federal Defense of Marriage Act bars the U.S. government from recognizing same-sex unions.
JPMorgan fund eyes 10% stake in Twitter [FT]
The fund hopes to acquire 10 per cent of the online messaging service for $450m, valuing Twitter at $4.5bn, according to people familiar with the plans.It is not clear if the JPMorgan fund will make a direct investment or buy out existing investors and shareholders with Twitter’s approval. But the fund does not intend to buy shares on the secondary market, the people said. The deal has not closed.
Are Amazon.com’s Days Of Tax Free Selling Numbered? [Forbes]
Retail analyst David Strasser, a managing director at Janney Montgomery Scott, suggests that they could be. “There’s a lot of momentum building,’’ he said Friday. “(Amazon founder) Jeff Bezos has built a company strategically around avoiding sales tax. But they’re going to have to deal with this,” he added.
By the Numbers: $75,000 The value of a 2011 Oscars swag bag [DMWT]
Those Kim Kardashian watches will be a collector’s item.
Tax breaks on real estate deals for people like A-Rod cost city 900M a year [NYDN]
Popcorn-free hands can afford great tax planning.
What To Do When You Are Bored With Your Job [BZUK]
As if that ever happens. But just in case.
After winning tanker contract, Boeing questioned on tax bill [The Hill]
In a Friday release, Citizens for Tax Justice declared that Boeing basically did not pay any U.S. corporate income taxes between 2008 and 2010, even as it reported around $10 billion in profits.
