TaxEsqBlog -by Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M.(Tax)

U.S. Economy Growing Fast During the third quarter the economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.2%, more than twice the rate in the previous three months and far ahead of what most observers had expected. My clients have not seemed to experience this trend, although there is a definite economic upswing. More Details

IRS To Focus on "Tax Cheats" Surprisingly, only 12% of Americans think it is okay to cheat on taxes. Compared to Italy and most countries, this low figure would be considered a huge governmental success. Nevertheless, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue wants to increase tax law enforcement against taxpayers at all income levels. Full Article

Application Fee for Offers in Compromise Beginning November 1, 2003, the IRS will charge a $150 application fee for the processing of offers in compromise. The IRS expects that this fee will "help offset the cost of providing this service, as well as reduce frivolous claims." In other words, make it more expensive to try and pay something to the government.

Federal Reserve Board may lower Funds Rate to 0% One Governor of the Fed indicated that if inflation continues to hover under 1%, the Fed might have to reduce interest rates. The current 1% rate could be lowered to 0%. See the full Article: Fed Rate Artilce

BigBrother comes to Walmart Wal-Mart will put Radio Frequency I.D. sensors on shelves stocked with RFID-tagged Gillette products, but they'd rather you didn't know about it, because, you might not like it, and then you might make noise and then they'd have a big PR mess on their hands. You might even stop buying Gillette products or, say, refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. These chips, researched at M.I.T.'s Auto-ID Center are about the size of a grain of sand. Chipsters say the technology will only be used to help retailers keep track of inventory - like bar codes. But privacy-loving consumers question the very concept of a device that sends out radio waves to "readers" that not only identify the article, but where and with whom it's going. Wal-Mart is starting this at its Brockton, MA store which is in a low-income, minority area.

BigBrother comes to Walmart Wal-Mart will put Radio Frequency I.D. sensors on shelves stocked with RFID-tagged Gillette products, but they'd rather you didn't know about it, because, you might not like it, and then you might make noise and then they'd have a big PR mess on their hands. You might even stop buying Gillette products or, say, refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. These chips, researched at M.I.T.'s Auto-ID Center are about the size of a grain of sand. Chipsters say the technology will only be used to help retailers keep track of inventory - like bar codes. But privacy-loving consumers question the very concept of a device that sends out radio waves to "readers" that not only identify the article, but where and with whom it's going. Wal-Mart is starting this at its Brockton, MA store which is in a low-income, minority area.

Jobless Rate 6.4% The jobless rate hit 6.4 per cent - a much worse reading than the 6.2 per cent projected by private economists. It was up 0.3 of a percentage point from May's 6.1 per cent, to a level not reached since April 1994, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Even though the service sector is employing more people, total payrolls have lost 400,000 jobs since January.