Taxes

SF Weekly Letters

OccupySF: Politicians Crash the Party

Hey, I support the movement, too! Solidarity!​Those grumbling about the caliber of people camping out at Justin Herman plaza can't be thrilled about the latest wave of demonstrators drawn to OccupySF: politicians. Last night a near-quorum of the Board of Supervisors squatted along with the squatte ... More >>

Obama Talks Jobs at LinkedIn

​On his swing through the West Coast, President Barack Obama stopped in Silicon Valley today where he answered questions for an hour at LinkedIn's campus in Mountain View. His main focus: Jobs. He deftly turned almost every question from the audience back into a endorsement; for his newly propos ... More >>

Mayor Lee Declares Soda Free Summer Because He Hates Summer

Nancy Pelosi/FlickrMayor Lee: ruiner of summer.​We love Mayor Ed Lee. The push-broom mustache, the quiet authority, the no-drama way he's run City Hall -- we'd give it five stars on Yelp. So it pains us to say this, but: Mayor Ed Lee is trying to destroy summertime. "San Francisco is fortunat ... More >>

Giving Marijuana Away? The Taxman Wants a Cut

Nancy Pelosi/FlickrMayor Lee: ruiner of summer.​We love Mayor Ed Lee. The push-broom mustache, the quiet authority, the no-drama way he's run City Hall -- we'd give it five stars on Yelp. So it pains us to say this, but: Mayor Ed Lee is trying to destroy summertime. "San Francisco is fortunat ... More >>

Here Are San Francisco's Biggest Tax Debtors

Tax delinquency: an American tradition​Nobody likes paying taxes. Granted, not all of us are "angry" enough about them to don a tricorne hat and start ranting about the Nafta Superhighway and the Federal Reserve. But the chunk of money Uncle Sam takes out of your paycheck every two weeks -- not to ... More >>

Congressman Pete Stark Aims to Save Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Big Bucks

You've got a friend in high places​As if raids from gun-toting Drug Enforcement Agency agents weren't enough to make stoners paranoid, California's medical marijuana clubs can also be shut down real fast by the IRS. That's because the Internal Revenue Service has declared that California's legal m ... More >>

Obama Asks San Francisco "Are You In" for 2012?

Are you FB friends with Obama?​After a short and public visit to Facebook in Silicon Valley, President Barack Obama headed up to San Francisco yesterday evening where he drove past the Golden Gate Bridge on his way to the Masonic Center in Nob Hill.  "One of the greatest views in the world," ... More >>

Forget Your Tax Blues at National Painkiller Day at Smuggler's Cove

Caroline on Crack/Flickr​National Painkiller Day Where: Smuggler's Cove, 650 Gough (at McAllister), 869-1900 When: Mon., Apr. 18, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Cost: $9-$22 per Painkiller (2-8 oz. of rum) The rundown: Tax day can be painful -- at least for those with less inventive tax lawyers on the payroll ... More >>

Twitter Tax Break Sails Through, Corporate Blackmail Does Work

A done deal ​As Supervisor John Avalos so bluntly put it: "The big boys won out today."Needless to say, Avalos ain't happy that his fellow supervisors approved a controversial tax-break deal that would surely keep Twitter from bolting San Francisco.  SF Weekly previously reported on the deal, ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

A done deal ​As Supervisor John Avalos so bluntly put it: "The big boys won out today."Needless to say, Avalos ain't happy that his fellow supervisors approved a controversial tax-break deal that would surely keep Twitter from bolting San Francisco.  SF Weekly previously reported on the deal, ... More >>

Bay Area Pot Clubs Audited as State Goes on Fiscal 'Witch Hunt'

Balancing the state budget with marijuana​It was big news for taxpayers and medical cannabis advocates alike when the Board of Equalization informed mega-dispensary Berkeley Patients Group that it owed some $6.4 million in back taxes. And now it appears that BPG's run-in with the taxman is not an ... More >>

See Jane Kim Run -- to the Right

Balancing the state budget with marijuana​It was big news for taxpayers and medical cannabis advocates alike when the Board of Equalization informed mega-dispensary Berkeley Patients Group that it owed some $6.4 million in back taxes. And now it appears that BPG's run-in with the taxman is not an ... More >>

America's Cup: How City Would End Up On the Hook for $55 Million

​During a lengthy Wednesday hearing regarding the America's Cup -- which was far less thrilling than a yachting race and had far more nautically themed public comment -- the city's budget analyst made an emphatic point. Based on the "Northern Waterfront Alternative" plan which is currently en vogu ... More >>

Wesley Snipes Tax Evasion Sentence Outrages Libertarian Party

Wesley Snipes: Tax protester and vampire hunter​The leader of the nation's Libertarian Party said today he's outraged that Wesley Snipes has been sentenced to three years in prison, citing it as an example of the IRS' unfair "selective enforcement," and of the fact evaders evade because "THE TAX I ... More >>

FAIR-y Tales

Wesley Snipes: Tax protester and vampire hunter​The leader of the nation's Libertarian Party said today he's outraged that Wesley Snipes has been sentenced to three years in prison, citing it as an example of the IRS' unfair "selective enforcement," and of the fact evaders evade because "THE TAX I ... More >>

Tax Delinquent List Posted -- 'Target' Owes What?

​The state of California has, once again, updated its list of California's biggest sales tax delinquents -- and the No. 1 target is, well, Target. But not the Target you're thinking of. The big-box retailer with the checkered record regarding gay rights that has San Franciscans enraged has, ostens ... More >>

Court Saves S.F. $10 Million, Throws Out Challenge to Payroll Tax

Gloria In Excelsis Deo!​San Francisco isn't getting many financial gifts this holiday season. So it's with great cheer we welcome a recent decision by the California Court of Appeal to throw out a lawsuit challenging the legality of the city's payroll tax. Wait, what's that under the tree? Another ... More >>

California Has a Budget -- Only 100 Days Late

The lady and the bear have been waiting a long time...​Following an all-night session of wheeling and dealing -- and a record 100-day impasse -- the state senate moments ago approved a budget for California. Details on the budget -- and the most recent impasse -- are forthcoming; it closes a $19 b ... More >>

Tom Ammiano Tries, Tries Again With Marijuana Bill

Will Tom Ammiano's latest marijuana legislation puff, puff, pass? ​Everybody knows California is broke, and those same everybodies know that thar's a gold mine waiting to be unearthed -- when and if the state starts taxing adult-use recreational marijuana (everybody *could* also be wrong, but ... More >>

S.F. Taxpayer-Funded Poll Reveals S.F. Taxpayers Don't Want to Pay Taxes

San Francisco voters say 'Bah Humbug' to new taxes, poll claims...​A poll commissioned by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority revealed that city voters are in no mood to pay the taxes the Board of Supervisors will likely today move to place on the ballot -- where voters will eventual ... More >>

Your E-Filed Taxes Saved IRS $195M (and Counting). But Post Office Not Thrilled.

​Yesterday we reported that nearly eight of every 10 tax forms received by the IRS by early April was sent electronically. This put members of the United States Postal Service in the position of another blue-uniformed figure with little to do: The Maytag repairman. With the late-evening Tax Night ... More >>

'Truth' Takes Back Seat in Health Care Debate

Yes, Virginia, she's infected -- with socialism! ​Health care, undoubtedly, is the subject du jour. We are in the midst of a crescendo of health care coverage so overpowering and unrelenting -- well, it could make you sick. But are we learning anything via the nonstop written and televised coverag ... More >>

Stimulating Debate

S.F.'s employment rate is relatively good, but city leaders can still create more jobs. Here's how.

New York Times Debuts Bay Area Section Today. Our Verdict: Meh.

Not a disaster, no -- but not 'King of the World' either...​The nation's paper of record launched its new Bay Area section today to compete with San Francisco's paper of record. So how does the Times' San Francentric coverage measure up? Well, let's just say the Times is no Chronicle. And, bel ... More >>

Chronic City: Marijuana, Money, and the Media

Compassion Family MinistriesYes, Grasshopper... Money grows on killa trees.Things are smoking on the marijuana front, and I'm not just talking about the ringing cash registers at newly emboldened dispensaries statewide. Time after time this week, the media brought together money and marijuana in pub ... More >>

S.F. Treasurer Admits City Goofed on Payroll Taxes, Hit Up Companies That Don't Owe Any

Treasurer Jose Cisneros: Sorry, our badYesterday we reported that it appeared the city's tax collectors forgot about an overwhelmingly approved ballot proposition that raised the payroll a business must pay out in order to to owe San Francisco payroll taxes. City Treasurer Jose Cisneros today confir ... More >>

S.F. Assessor Phil Ting Takes on the Catholic Church Tomorrow Morning

Nobody expects Phil Ting!Tomorrow morning, assessor Phil Ting will be arguing in front of the San Francisco Appeals Board that the Catholic Church owes San Francisco up to $15 million in transfer taxes -- one of the largest tax bills in the city's history. The hearing will be held at 1 South Van Nes ... More >>

That's Just the Sound of the Employment Rate Whizzing Past Your Ears

The California Employment Development Department released their latest statistics pertaining to unemployment and industry today, and guess what? They are not awesome. California hit a record high of 11.2 percent unemployment in March, which is nearly five points higher than March of last year. San F ... More >>

Taxi Driver Offers Rides Around City In Exchange For Innocuous Swag (and Bullets)

Travis Bickle, too, had a soft-spot for tax preparationSo, you remember that old Sesame Street game "One of these things is not like the others"? Let's see if you can apply that logic to this ad from Craigslist's "barter" section, in which a San Francisco taxi driver offers to ferry folks around tow ... More >>

Election Night Storylines

Travis Bickle, too, had a soft-spot for tax preparationSo, you remember that old Sesame Street game "One of these things is not like the others"? Let's see if you can apply that logic to this ad from Craigslist's "barter" section, in which a San Francisco taxi driver offers to ferry folks around tow ... More >>

Mad As A Wet Haine

Travis Bickle, too, had a soft-spot for tax preparationSo, you remember that old Sesame Street game "One of these things is not like the others"? Let's see if you can apply that logic to this ad from Craigslist's "barter" section, in which a San Francisco taxi driver offers to ferry folks around tow ... More >>

Double Bogey

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

SF Weekly Letters

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

IRS Goes After Examiner Owner

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

SF Gov InAction: Same Old Shit Gets Bigger Tax Breaks; Jake McGoldrick's Charter Amendment Retirement Tour Heats Up, and Did Somebody Say "Peaker Plants?"

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

EFF, ACLU Go to Bat for Wikileaks

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

Make A Few Deductions and Some Tricks For Tax Day

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

Your accountant can no longer sell your social security number to Russian hackers

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

Week of September 26-October 2, 2007

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

Hopefully Our Last Post re: Michael Moore's New "Comedy," SiCKO

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

Follow the Money

Why does Gavin Newsom need a backer like the California Urban Issues Project?

Building Up California

A high-rise condo boom in San Diego may show the way out of a statewide housing and sprawl problem

Letters to the Editor

Week of May 14, 2003

A Moving Experience

Delays and mismanagement endangered a $20 million federal reconstruction grant for North Beach Place. So the Housing Authority tried to speed the project up -- by tricking longtime, elderly residents into leaving.

Paying the Price: Why Are S.F. Gas Prices So High?

Bay Area motorists pay the highest gas prices in the state

Mecklin

On the Money

Falling Through The Gap

On the Money

Welcome to S.F. Give Us Your Money

On the Money

Dollars Without Sense

For 25 years, Harvey Ross has rooted out the waste and lies of politicians and bureaucrats. But some say he's too lost in the line items to see the big picture