Interest Rates Projected to Rise

U.S. core inflation rises; higher interest rates likely
U.S. core inflation, which excludes food and fuel prices, rose 0.3% in May, the biggest one-month increase in the past five years. The annual core inflation rate for the first five months of this year is 2.4%. The accelerating rate is likely to trigger interest-rate increases, experts said. TheFiscalTimes.com (6/27), iMarketNews.com (6/27), Reuters (6/27)

New Auto Mileage Rates for Business Use

Starting July 1, motorists who use their personal vehicles for business will be able to deduct 55 1/2 cents a mile from their taxable income, the agency announced Thursday. That's an increase of 4 1/2 cents from the first six months of the year.

Tax Freedom Day 2011

America Celebrates Tax Freedom Day®

Tax Freedom Day® will arrive on April 12 this year, the 102nd day of 2011. That means Americans will work well over three months of the year, from January 1 to April 12, before they have earned enough money to pay this year's tax obligations at the federal, state and local levels.
Tax Freedom Day arrives three day later in 2011 than it did in 2010, but nearly two weeks earlier than in 2007. This shift toward a lower tax burden since 2007 has been driven by three factors:

• The Great Recession has reduced tax collec­tions even faster than it has reduced income.

• President Obama and the Congress, after a long debate, extended the Bush-era tax cuts for two additional years.

• As part of the extension agreement, the Making Work Pay tax credit was replaced with the 2 percent reduction in the payroll tax.

Despite these tax reductions, Americans will pay more in taxes in 2011 than they will spend on groceries, clothing and shelter combined.

Source: The Tax Foundation @thetaxfoundation.org.