Thursday, May 7, 2020
Take Advantage of Free Filing Software Online and Maintain Social Distancing
The New York State Department of Taxation
and Finance today announced more than 185,400 taxpayers have filed both
their federal and New York State personal income tax returns for free
through the department’s website, www.tax.ny.gov.
That’s already nearly a 20% increase from last year with two months
still to file ahead of the extended July 15 deadline. Additionally, the
Free File program has saved New York taxpayers $39 million on tax
preparation fees.
A Tax Department awareness campaign
launched in January helped drive the spike in use. It included a
targeted email to millions of eligible taxpayers, partnerships with
other state agencies and community organizations, media interviews, and
social media engagement. In addition, more than 85% of those who used
the free tax preparation software to complete and file their returns
reported that it was easy.
To be directed to the free filing options, simply click Free File your income tax return on the Tax Department’s website.
Each year, millions of New Yorkers qualify to file their personal income tax returns for free from the convenience of their homes. Taxpayers who earned $69,000 or less in 2019 are eligible to file both their federal and New York State income tax returns by using the Free File software available online.
To ensure you're
not charged a fee, you must go to the Tax Department’s website to
complete your return. You’ll save preparation fees, prevent costly
errors, and ensure that you receive any refund you’re owed in the most
efficient way possible.
The Tax Department has produced a series of video tutorials to assist New Yorkers with the tax return filing process. Topics range from gathering the necessary documents to choosing the right software. You can view the videos at our Get ready to e-file your income tax return webpage.
“We urge eligible taxpayers to take advantage of the Free File program—an especially important resource now during this time of social distancing,” said New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Michael Schmidt. “The available tax preparation software guides them through the process and helps ensure they don’t overlook beneficial tax credits and deductions.”
Tax filing tips
Prepare and file
your return electronically. E-filing speeds processing times so you
receive your refund sooner, reduces errors and subsequent requests for
additional information, and is more secure than sending your return
through the mail.
Have driver licenses handy. You must provide driver license information for you and your spouse. This guards against fraudulent returns and erroneous refunds claimed by identity thieves.
Be sure to provide correct social security numbers for you, your spouse, and your dependents to prevent processing and refund delays.
Choose direct deposit as your refund method. To do this, simply check direct deposit on your tax return, then be sure to enter your correct bank account and routing numbers. When you combine the power of e-file and direct deposit, you can receive your New York State tax refund up to two weeks sooner than if you filed on paper and requested that a refund check be mailed to you.
Check the status of your refund online. The Check your Refund application is the fastest, most convenient way to determine when to expect your refund. It’s available 24/7 and provides the same information available to Tax Department phone representatives.
Report estimated tax payments accurately. Create an Online Services account at the Tax Department website and you'll be able to pay estimated tax electronically, check your balances, and review your payment history.
Include all required forms and schedules. Paper filers must include Form IT-2, Summary of W-2 Statements.
Include the information that shows eligibility for any claims for credits or deductions. Paper filers must attach supporting documentation to their return, which is another reason we encourage the switch to e-filing; the tax preparation software automatically includes this information.
Tax preparation software does the math for you automatically. If you're doing your own math, double check your calculations.
If you do forgo the simplicity and convenience of direct deposit, make sure your mailing address is correct when requesting a refund check by mail. Any error can delay the delivery of your refund.
Reminder: The Tax Department has extended the due date for New York State personal income tax returns to July 15, 2020. The original due date was April 15, 2020. See Tax Department response to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for additional information.
Have driver licenses handy. You must provide driver license information for you and your spouse. This guards against fraudulent returns and erroneous refunds claimed by identity thieves.
Be sure to provide correct social security numbers for you, your spouse, and your dependents to prevent processing and refund delays.
Choose direct deposit as your refund method. To do this, simply check direct deposit on your tax return, then be sure to enter your correct bank account and routing numbers. When you combine the power of e-file and direct deposit, you can receive your New York State tax refund up to two weeks sooner than if you filed on paper and requested that a refund check be mailed to you.
Check the status of your refund online. The Check your Refund application is the fastest, most convenient way to determine when to expect your refund. It’s available 24/7 and provides the same information available to Tax Department phone representatives.
Report estimated tax payments accurately. Create an Online Services account at the Tax Department website and you'll be able to pay estimated tax electronically, check your balances, and review your payment history.
Include all required forms and schedules. Paper filers must include Form IT-2, Summary of W-2 Statements.
Include the information that shows eligibility for any claims for credits or deductions. Paper filers must attach supporting documentation to their return, which is another reason we encourage the switch to e-filing; the tax preparation software automatically includes this information.
Tax preparation software does the math for you automatically. If you're doing your own math, double check your calculations.
If you do forgo the simplicity and convenience of direct deposit, make sure your mailing address is correct when requesting a refund check by mail. Any error can delay the delivery of your refund.
Reminder: The Tax Department has extended the due date for New York State personal income tax returns to July 15, 2020. The original due date was April 15, 2020. See Tax Department response to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for additional information.
Source: The New York State Department of Taxation
and Finance
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
COVID-19 Deaths in New York Nursing Homes: The Irrefutable Truth
The following reports, which were the result a five-year investigation conducted by The G-Man Interviews, will provide a great deal of information and insight on New York's nursing home crisis.
Additionally, these reports detail how years of mismanagement, a lack of federal and state oversight, and an egregious record of violations by nursing home operators has exacerbated the COVID-19 situation in senior care facilities.
At Least 20 Bodies Removed from Harlem Nursing Home During Coronavirus Pandemic
However, State Data Only Shows Five COVID-19 Deaths
Click here for the report.
Source: The New York Daily News
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Missouri’s Attorney General is Fighting for the Right to Keep an Innocent Man in Prison
Lamar Johnson
Marcus Boyd and
Gary Elking were sitting in the dark on the stoop of Boyd’s apartment
in St. Louis, Missouri, when two masked men brandishing guns ran up to
them and started to fire. Boyd was shot multiple times and died at the
scene. Elking, terrified but unharmed, fled on foot.
Days later, Elking would tell the police that he couldn’t identify either of the assailants because they wore dark clothing and black ski masks that covered all but their eyes. The only other person at the scene, Boyd’s girlfriend, Leslie Williamson, was similarly unable to identify the attackers. She’d been upstairs drawing a bath for the couple’s young daughter when she heard the popping of gunfire; she made it down to the porch in time to glimpse a man in black holding a gun.
The police had nothing concrete to go on. But by the time they finally interviewed Elking, they had already latched onto a suspect: 20-year-old Lamar Johnson.
Click here for the full report.
Source: The Intercept_
Days later, Elking would tell the police that he couldn’t identify either of the assailants because they wore dark clothing and black ski masks that covered all but their eyes. The only other person at the scene, Boyd’s girlfriend, Leslie Williamson, was similarly unable to identify the attackers. She’d been upstairs drawing a bath for the couple’s young daughter when she heard the popping of gunfire; she made it down to the porch in time to glimpse a man in black holding a gun.
The police had nothing concrete to go on. But by the time they finally interviewed Elking, they had already latched onto a suspect: 20-year-old Lamar Johnson.
Click here for the full report.
Source: The Intercept_
Ceremonial Swearing-In for Representative Kweisi Mfume
C-SPAN: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds a ceremonial swearing-in for former Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), who returns to Congress after 24 years to fill the seat of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).
Senate Republican Leadership News Conference
C-SPAN: Senate Republicans hold a news conference on the legislative agenda,
including the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Senator
McConnell says any future bill will include liability protection,
insisting it remains a red line.
Bonus Report: Senate Democratic Leader Schumer News Conference
Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Dispute Over HIV/AIDS Funding
CBS News: The Supreme Court will convene Tuesday, May 5 for the second day of arguments conducted remotely by telephone due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has left the stately courtroom closed to the public and forced the high court to embrace technology. In an hour-long session, the justices are set to hear arguments in a dispute over whether a condition for federal funding imposed on organizations fighting HIV/AIDS abroad is constitutional.
SPLC: Voting May Become a Matter of Life and Death in Alabama. We’re Suing to Stop That.
The following report was submitted by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
No one should have to risk their life to vote. That was true in the
days of the civil rights movement, when thousands of Black Americans put
their lives on the line to claim the voting rights they had been
unjustly denied. And it is equally true today in the midst of a deadly
pandemic that makes in-person voting a serious and unnecessary risk,
especially for medically susceptible people and communities.
State officials of both parties across the nation have taken decisive
steps to ensure voting is safe for all during this public health crisis
— measures like expanding absentee voting, waiving onerous absentee
ballot rules and increasing early voting opportunities.
Yet Alabama, so far, has done very little.
Alabamians cannot wait. They have the right to vote without placing
themselves, their families and their communities in danger. That’s why,
on Friday, we sued Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and other top officials
over the state’s lack of safe and accessible voting processes amid the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the midst of a pandemic, Alabama can make our elections more
secure, more efficient and more accessible to all eligible voters while
still protecting public health and safety,” said Caren Short, senior
staff attorney for the SPLC. “We are filing this lawsuit to ensure that
Alabama voters are not forced to choose between their health and their
vote.”
The federal lawsuit — filed in partnership with the NAACP Legal
Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and the Alabama Disabilities
Advocacy Program (ADAP) — requests that a federal court instruct state
officials to make absentee and in-person voting more accessible to
protect the health and safety of Alabama voters.
The lawsuit also notes that these measures are particularly important
for older voters, voters with disabilities and Black voters, who have
been severely and disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Despite
making up about one-fourth of the state’s population, Black people
account for 45 percent of Alabama’s COVID-19-related deaths.
“No one should have to choose between their life or their vote,” said
LDF Senior Counsel Deuel Ross. “[Alabama’s] burdensome voting
requirements weigh heavily on Alabamians during all elections. But
requiring voters to comply with these restrictions during the COVID-19
pandemic needlessly endangers lives.”
For more, please read our press release about the filing or the full complaint.
Arc of New Jersey Supporting People with Disabilities Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
PIX11 News: Executive director Tom Baffuto spoke with PIX11’s Dan Mannarino about the ways his staff members are keeping people engaged during a time of social isolation.
NYPD Commissioner Talks Social Distancing, Crime Rates
This report was published on YouTube on May 4.
PIX11 News: Commissioner Shea spoke with Tamsen Fadal about a range of things, including social distancing measures and a violent Manhattan arrest.
New York Attorney General Investigating NBC News
The Daily Mail: The New York Attorney General is
investigating NBC News over claims of historical sexual assault,
DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.
The revelation comes one day after it was announced that NBC chairman Andy Lack is out at the peacock network.
More
than a dozen women have been interviewed by officials from a Civil
Division department dubbed 'The Weinstein Unit' following its
investigation into the disgraced movie mogul who was jailed earlier this
year after being convicted of rape.
In
an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, former NBC News anchor Linda
Vester said she was one of the women interviewed about alleged
violations at the network.
Click here for the report.
Monday, May 4, 2020
'Future Hope' Column: On Lying and the 2020 Presidential Election
By Ted Glick
I was raised by my parents to never lie, and I know that this is true
for almost everybody in the world who is now an adult. From what I’ve
learned via reading and personal experience, the vast majority of the
world’s people are raised that way.
Even though, in practice, a small minority of adults do lie, or live a
lie, and a larger minority too often slip up, a big majority of us make
genuine efforts to be truthful people.
Mafioso Don, of course, is on the farthest end of the truth-to-liar
spectrum, and his 13,000 or so lies since becoming President are
certainly a world record for duplicity. Among those many lies is his
denial of ever sexually harassing or attacking any of the two dozen or
so women who have come forward accusing him of these actions.
Joe Biden has just publicly denied the account of one person, Tara
Reade, who has accused him of sexual assault 27 years ago. I watched the
interview Friday morning on MSNBC where he did so.
Taking everything into account that I’ve seen about this accusation, I believe Tara Reade, and I think Biden is lying.
I believe this in part because of what happened during the last Presidential debate on March 15 between him and Bernie.
Click here for the full article.
Source: tedglick.com
Supreme Court Streams Oral Arguments for First Time Ever with Trademark Dispute
CBS News: The Supreme Court will make history May 4 as it conducts oral arguments remotely by telephone conference and makes the live audio available to the media for the first time. Kicking off the historic two weeks is U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com, a bid by the online reservation company to trademark the name after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refused registration because the term "booking" is generic.
Israel's Elected Coalition Government Faces Major Legal Hurdle
This report was published on YouTube on May 3.
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