By Corey on February 5th, 2010
SFR’s current cover story on economic inequality has been bouncing around the econoblogosphere. It’s also getting some attention in the Roundhouse. Apparently, New Mexico Lt. Gov. candidate and state Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino just plugged the story in a budget hearing. That’s according to the New Mexico Independent’s liveblog.
Here’s a visual appendix to the story that lawmakers might find useful. SFR made the following color-coded charts using Internal Revenue Service data for the 2007 tax year. The first shows that New Mexico is a solidly working-class state, with only a sliver of the population claiming even moderate wealth.
Approximately 18,500 New Mexicans reported incomes over $200,000, versus 719,200 who reported making less than $50,000.
Continue reading »
Tags: economy, GRT, income taxes, inequality, internal revenue service, IRS, jerry ortiz y pino, progressive taxation, recession, regressive taxation, sales taxes, sen jerry ortiz y pino, taxes
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
By Corey on December 1st, 2009
Interesting tidbits keep turning up in the Thornburg Mortgage bankruptcy case, one of the largest in US history.
Court documents show that in October, the company, now known as TMST, had $24 million in the bank (or rather, banks—foremost among them being New Mexico Bank & Trust). That month alone, TMST made a gross profit of $2.2 million from servicing mortgages—and has made $19.9 million since filing for bankruptcy in May. After legal fees and “general and administrative” costs, TMST has netted $816,773 since the bankruptcy. Of course, all that belongs to its creditors.
The case is also shedding light on what kind of tax burden one of Santa Fe’s largest private employers faces, or rather, doesn’t.
Since filing for bankruptcy, the company has paid a $107,850 in combined state and federal taxes—or 13 percent of its net profit in that time. For comparison’s sake, check out the federal income tax brackets. A married couple making the median income in Santa Fe is going to pay 15 percent. Such a couple is likely to pay property taxes, as well—unlike TMST, which pays no property taxes on its corporate HQ, thanks to a clever deal with the city of Santa Fe.
Click on the image below for a breakdown of TMST’s tax payments.
Note that TMST, which laid off 130 workers in April and more since, has paid all of $973 in unemployment taxes in the months since its bankruptcy. Two years ago, Gov. Bill Richardson—who has received many thousands in campaign contributions from company founder Garrett Thornburg over the years—signed into law a bill that cut employer unemployment tax payments to the lowest rate allowed by federal law, saving corporations an estimated $26 million in 2008.
More on Thornburg after the cut.
Continue reading »
Tags: bankruptcy, Clarence Simmons III, garrett thornburg, income taxes, Larry Goldstone, recession, taxes, thornburg, Thornburg Mortgage, TMST, unemployment
Posted in News | 3 Comments »
Loading ...
