Business news in brief
By The Associated Press
IRS launches crackdown on 125,000 wealthy ‘non-filers’
WASHINGTON | The IRS plans to go after 125,000 high-income earners who did not file tax returns going back to 2017 — and the agency says hundreds of millions of dollars of unpaid taxes are involved in these cases.
Beginning this week, the IRS will start sending out noncompliance letters to more than 25,000 people who earn more than $1 million per year and 100,000 people with incomes between $400,000 and $1 million who failed to pay their taxes between 2017 and 2021.
X asks judge to penalize nonprofit researchers
Attorneys for X Corp. and a research organization that studies online hate speech traded arguments in court Thursday after the social media platform sued the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate for documenting the increase in hate speech on the site since it was purchased by Elon Musk.
X, formerly known as Twitter, alleges the center’s researchers violated the site’s terms of service by improperly compiling public tweets, and that its subsequent reports on the rise of hate speech cost X millions when advertisers fled.
U.S. applications for jobless benefits rise
More Americans applied for jobless benefits last week, but layoffs remain historically low even as more high-profile companies have announced job cuts this year.
Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 13,000 to 215,000 for the week ending Feb. 24, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Last week’s number was revised up by 1,000 to 202,000.
In total, 1.9 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended Feb. 17, up 45,000 from the previous week and the most since November.
Missouri House passes property tax cut
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. | Missouri residents could see a roughly $138 million tax break under legislation intended to offset a surge in local property tax collections caused by higher vehicle values.
The state House overwhelmingly passed the legislation Thursday, sending it to the Senate.
Missouri is among several states considering property tax cuts this year. Typically, the assessed value of vehicles declines as they get older. But used vehicle values surged during the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in higher tax bills for many people.
State Rep. Mike McGirl says his bill is intended to return a part of that tax “windfall” by changing how vehicle values are calculated for taxes.
—From AP reports
