ReportWire

Tag: taxes

  • Future data centers are driving up forecasts for energy demand. States want proof they’ll get built

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    HARRISBURG, Pa. — The forecasts are eye-popping: utilities saying they’ll need two or three times more electricity within a few years to power massive new data centers that are feeding a fast-growing AI economy.

    But the challenges — some say the impossibility — of building new power plants to meet that demand so quickly has set off alarm bells for lawmakers, policymakers and regulators who wonder if those utility forecasts can be trusted.

    One burning question is whether the forecasts are based on data center projects that may never get built — eliciting concern that regular ratepayers could be stuck with the bill to build unnecessary power plants and grid infrastructure at a cost of billions of dollars.

    The scrutiny comes as analysts warn of the risk of an artificial intelligence investment bubble that’s ballooned tech stock prices and could burst.

    Meanwhile, consumer advocates are finding that ratepayers in some areas — such as the mid-Atlantic electricity grid, which encompasses all or parts of 13 states stretching from New Jersey to Illinois, as well as Washington, D.C. — are already underwriting the cost to supply power to data centers, some of them built, some not.

    “There’s speculation in there,” said Joe Bowring, who heads Monitoring Analytics, the independent market watchdog in the mid-Atlantic grid territory. “Nobody really knows. Nobody has been looking carefully enough at the forecast to know what’s speculative, what’s double-counting, what’s real, what’s not.”

    There is no standard practice across grids or for utilities to vet such massive projects, and figuring out a solution has become a hot topic, utilities and grid operators say.

    Uncertainty around forecasts is typically traced to a couple of things.

    One concerns developers seeking a grid connection, but whose plans aren’t set in stone or lack the heft — clients, financing or otherwise — to bring the project to completion, industry and regulatory officials say.

    Another is data center developers submitting grid connection requests in various separate utility territories, PJM Interconnection, which operates the mid-Atlantic grid, and Texas lawmakers have found.

    Often, developers, for competitive reasons, won’t tell utilities if or where they’ve submitted other requests for electricity, PJM said. That means a single project could inflate the energy forecasts of multiple utilities.

    The effort to improve forecasts got a high-profile boost in September, when a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member asked the nation’s grid operators for information on how they determine that a project is not only viable, but will use the electricity it says it needs.

    “Better data, better decision-making, better and faster decisions mean we can get all these projects, all this infrastructure built,” the commissioner, David Rosner, said in an interview.

    The Edison Electric Institute, a trade association of for-profit electric utilities, said it welcomed efforts to improve demand forecasting.

    The Data Center Coalition, which represents tech giants like Google and Meta and data center developers, has urged regulators to request more information from utilities on their forecasts and to develop a set of best practices to determine the commercial viability of a data center project.

    The coalition’s vice president of energy, Aaron Tinjum, said improving the accuracy and transparency of forecasts is a “fundamental first step of really meeting this moment” of energy growth.

    “Wherever we go, the question is, ‘Is the (energy) growth real? How can we be so sure?’” Tinjum said. “And we really view commercial readiness verification as one of those important kind of low-hanging opportunities for us to be adopting at this moment.”

    Igal Feibush, the CEO of Pennsylvania Data Center Partners, a data center developer, said utilities are in a “fire drill” as they try to vet a deluge of data center projects all seeking electricity.

    The vast majority, he said, will fall off because many project backers are new to the concept and don’t know what it takes to get a data center built.

    States also are trying to do more to find out what’s in utility forecasts and weed out speculative or duplicative projects.

    In Texas, which is attracting large data center projects, lawmakers still haunted by a blackout during a deadly 2021 winter storm were shocked when told in 2024 by the grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, that its peak demand could nearly double by 2030.

    They found that state utility regulators lacked the tools to determine whether that was realistic.

    Texas state Sen. Phil King told a hearing earlier this year that the grid operator, utility regulators and utilities weren’t sure if the power requests “are real or just speculative or somewhere in between.”

    Lawmakers passed legislation sponsored by King, now law, that requires data center developers to disclose whether they have requests for electricity elsewhere in Texas and to set standards for developers to show that they have a substantial financial commitment to a site.

    PPL Electric Utilities, which delivers power to 1.5 million customers across central and eastern Pennsylvania, projects that data centers will more than triple its peak electricity demand by 2030.

    Vincent Sorgi, president and CEO of PPL Corp., told analysts on an earnings call this month that the data center projects “are real, they are coming fast and furious” and that the “near-term risk of overbuilding generation simply does not exist.”

    The data center projects counted in the forecast are backed by contracts with financial commitments often reaching tens of millions of dollars, PPL said.

    Still, PPL’s projections helped spur a state lawmaker, Rep. Danilo Burgos, to introduce a bill to bolster the authority of state utility regulators to inspect how utilities assemble their energy demand forecasts.

    Ratepayers in Burgos’ Philadelphia district just absorbed an increase in their electricity bills — attributed by the utility, PECO, to the rising cost of wholesale electricity in the mid-Atlantic grid driven primarily by data center demand.

    That’s why ratepayers need more protection to ensure they are benefiting from the higher cost, Burgos said.

    “Once they make their buck, whatever company,” Burgos said, “you don’t see no empathy towards the ratepayers.”

    ___

    Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter.

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  • Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont Announces Run for Third Term, Touts Record but Says There’s More to Do

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    HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont formally launched his bid for a third term Friday, highlighting his record but saying more work is needed to improve health care access, housing availability and energy affordability.

    “We’ve come a long way but the job’s not done,” the wealthy 71-year-old Democrat and former cable entrepreneur says in an upbeat, fast-paced campaign video released online. He spent the day making appearances throughout the state with Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, who is seeking a third term as well.

    Lamont’s announcement comes on the heels of successful municipal elections for Democrats in Connecticut.

    With a reputation as a fiscal moderate, Lamont is facing a primary from progressive Democratic Rep. Josh Elliott of Hamden, who has criticized the governor for being too centrist and not supporting higher taxes on the wealthy.

    Greenwich state Sen. Ryan Fazio is officially seeking the Republican nomination for governor while former Republican Mayor Erin Stewart of New Britain has said she’s considering a run.

    Lamont on Friday credited his administration with making major positive changes for the state, saying Connecticut “was in a world of hurt, lurching from deficit to deficit” when he first took office in 2019.

    “I said, ‘We’re turning around the moving vans. I want you to believe in the state of Connecticut again,’” he says in the video. Since then, he said, state investments have been made in cities and public education. There are more new jobs and income tax rates were cut.

    While criticized from some on the left for not being more combative with Republican President Donald Trump, Lamont pledged in his ad to “fight for Connecticut values,” a term he often uses.

    “He excludes some people. Some people don’t feel like they belong in Trump America,” Lamont said. “They belong in Connecticut.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Different Needs but Similar Fears Arise in Communities on Both Ends of Missouri’s Redistricting

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    The 18th and Vine community is known for a museum telling the story of segregated professional baseball in the decades before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier. Its leaders are talking about expanding the city’s streetcar line to lure more visitors to its cultural and historical attractions.

    About 100 miles (161 kilometers) east, Boonville leaders want federal help restoring an old railroad bridge to give cyclists a more direct route on a popular cross-state bike trail near the mostly white farming community.

    The two areas are thrust together under a new map Missouri Republicans passed in September in response to President Donald Trump’s push to give the GOP another winnable seat ahead of next year’s elections. Texas answered Trump’s call first, tilting five seats toward Republicans, but lawmakers in both major political parties are fighting a mid-decade, state-by-state battle to squeeze extra territory out of states they control. In California, voters approved a new House map to boost Democrats.

    Missouri Republicans targeted Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, shaving off portions of his Kansas City district and stretching it into Republican-heavy rural areas.

    Congressional districts often mix rural and urban areas, but redoing boundaries can alter priorities and change which federal projects representatives pursue and how they pursue things like health care, housing and education funding. When Congress debates a farm bill, is protecting food assistance benefits more important than preserving crop insurance? It often depends on who’s being represented.

    That might explain why Robert Sylvan, an 81-year-old Kansas City resident who attends Cleaver’s church, worries “the whole set of dynamics that impact us” could be upended.


    Voters fear being forgotten

    Even with U.S. politics deeply polarized, there’s bipartisan agreement on Sylvan’s point.

    Republican state Rep. Tim Taylor, who represents the Boonville area in the Legislature, said farmers Cleaver previously represented didn’t feel he understood them or came around much.

    “Where he lives, things are different than they are here,” said Taylor, who voted for the redistricting plan despite misgivings about it.

    It’s unclear how any Republican challenging Cleaver in the redrawn district would balance the needs of the two communities. So far, no likely contender is from Kansas City.

    Some Kansas City residents don’t expect people around 18th and Vine to get much attention if Cleaver loses. Cleaver was raised in public housing in Texas and preached about social justice as a Methodist pastor in a predominantly African American congregation.

    “Naturally, 18th and Vine is kind of his baby,” said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. “I don’t want it to be forgotten.”

    Fewer than 11% of Boonville’s residents are Black, while more than 64% are in 18th and Vine. The new Missouri map could have the state going from having people of color hold two of its eight House seats to one. Non-Hispanic white people are 62% of Missouri’s population but would hold 88% of its seats.

    “We could potentially have folk representing us who have no interaction and have never had any interaction with people of color and have no idea of what goes on in the urban context,” said Cleaver’s son, Emanuel Cleaver III.

    The areas often see common needs differently. Is the pressing problem with health care cuts that they cause rural hospitals to struggle or that millions of Americans don’t have insurance? An 18th and Vine resident is nearly twice as likely as a Boonville resident to have no health insurance. Boonville has been without a hospital since 2020.

    Other differences: Buses stop every 15 minutes in 18th and Vine but must be prescheduled in Boonville. Kansas City leaders want more gun laws to combat violence while Republicans like Taylor have fought to expand gun rights. Trump won 67% of Boonville’s vote, compared with 14% of 18th and Vine’s.

    The Kansas City neighborhood, celebrated for barbecue and jazz joints, hosted a 1920 meeting that founded the Negro National League, where Robinson got his start. Later, the area fell into disrepair.

    Cleaver helped change that, seeking taxpayer dollars for 18th and Vine since 1989, first as a city councilman and then mayor before his two decades in Congress. The city’s spending has exceeded $100 million, helped by federal grants. Most recently, Cleaver helped obtain $15.5 million in federal money to renovate the nation’s oldest Black-owned housing cooperative, which he called “one of the citadels for the African American community.”

    That project followed Cleaver’s efforts to bring money to neighborhoods on the historically Black side of Troost Avenue, long known as the city’s unofficial racial dividing line. It’s now one of his new district’s borders, which he finds outrageous.

    “I feel more skeptical about the society’s direction than I did when I was a kid growing up in public housing,” Cleaver lamented during an interview at the church his son now leads.

    Now, 18th and Vine also is home to all-night jazz jam sessions, a dance company, an arts center and an MLB Urban Youth Academy. Kendrick’s museum hopes to raise $35 million to triple exhibit space.

    If there’s unease among locals, it’s that they might be priced out as taxpayer money helps transform the area. The city is working on a pedestrian plaza and a parking garage. Local officials are studying a streetcar line extension. There’s no cost estimate yet, but the latest streetcar extension got $174 million in federal funds.

    Carmaletta Williams, executive director of the Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City, an area museum, wonders about a new representative: “Will they see the value in what’s going on?”


    A bike trail lures tourists to Boonville

    Boonville is surrounded by row crops and cattle ranches. One local school district graduates fewer than 10 students a year.

    Yet it lures tourists with the Katy Trail. At 240 miles (386 kilometers), it’s the longest trail built on former rail lines in the U.S., and work on it began at nearly the same time as the rebuilding in 18th and Vine.

    Taylor said after the trail’s first section opened in 1990 it was instrumental in reviving a town that was “pretty much dying” when he was a teenager in the 1980s. His wife runs Taylor’s Bake Shop & Espresso downtown.

    Heading into Boonville, bikers detour off the railroad’s original path, crossing the Missouri River on a highway bridge that includes a designated bike path. The path leads them away from a 1932 railroad bridge, which trail riders would love to see refurbished. The city applied unsuccessfully last year for a $236,000 federal planning grant.

    “The Katy Bridge is like the Eiffel Tower of Missouri if it would only be fixed,” said Annie Harmon, who runs a store in downtown Boonville called Celestial Body that sells essential oils, herbs, tie-dyed clothing and crystals.

    Missouri has received $30 million in federal funds over the years for the Katy Trail and a related trail-building effort that cycling enthusiasts hope will loop almost 450 miles (724 kilometers), said Brandi Horton, a spokeswoman for the Rails to Trails Conservancy, a Washington-based nonprofit.

    “You can’t do trail development at this scale,” Horton said, “without the dollars and the investment that the federal government can uniquely provide.”

    Hanna reported from Topeka, Kan.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Trump is ramping up a new effort to convince a skeptical public he can fix affordability worries

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is adjusting his messaging strategy to win over voters who are worried about the cost of living with plans to emphasize new tax breaks and show progress on fighting inflation.

    The messaging is centered around affordability, and the push comes after inflation emerged as a major vulnerability for Trump and Republicans in Tuesday’s elections, in which voters overwhelmingly said the economy was their biggest concern.

    Democrats took advantage of concerns about affordability to run up huge margins in the New Jersey and Virginia governor races, flipping what had been a strength for Trump in the 2024 presidential election into a vulnerability going into next year’s midterm elections.

    White House officials and others familiar with their thinking requested anonymity to speak for this article in order to not get ahead of the president’s actions. They stressed that affordability has always been a priority for Trump, but the president plans to talk about it more, as he did Thursday when he announced that Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk would reduce the price of their anti-obesity drugs.

    “We are the ones that have done a great job on affordability, not the Democrats,” Trump said at an event in the Oval Office to announce the deal. “We just lost an election, they said, based on affordability. It’s a con job by the Democrats.”

    The White House is keeping up a steady drumbeat of posts on social media about prices and deals for Thanksgiving dinner staples at retailers such as Walmart, Lidl, Aldi and Target.

    “I don’t want to hear about the affordability, because right now, we’re much less,” Trump told reporters Thursday, arguing that things are much better for Americans with his party in charge.

    “The only problem is the Republicans don’t talk about it,” he said.

    The outlook for inflation is unclear

    As of now, the inflation outlook has worsened under Trump. Consumer prices in September increased at an annual rate of 3%, up from 2.3% in April, when the president first began to roll out substantial tariff hikes that suddenly burdened the economy with uncertainty. The AP Voter Poll showed the economy was the leading issue in Tuesday’s elections in New Jersey, Virginia, New York City and California.

    Grocery prices continue to climb, and recently, electricity bills have emerged as a new worry. At the same time, the pace of job gains has slowed, plunging 23% from the pace a year ago.

    The White House maintains a list of talking points about the economy, noting that the stock market has hit record highs multiple times and that the president is attracting foreign investment. Trump has emphasized that gasoline prices are coming down, and maintained that gasoline is averaging $2 a gallon, but AAA reported Thursday that the national average was $3.08, about two cents lower than a year ago.

    “Americans are paying less for essentials like gas and eggs, and today the Administration inked yet another drug pricing deal to deliver unprecedented health care savings for everyday Americans,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai.

    Trump gets briefed about the economy by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other officials at least once a week and there are often daily discussions on tariffs, a senior White House official said, noting Trump is expected to do more domestic travel next year to make his case that he’s fixing affordability.

    But critics say it will be hard for Trump to turn around public perceptions on affordability.

    “He’s in real trouble and I think it’s bigger than just cost of living,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, a liberal economic advocacy group.

    Owens noted that Trump has “lost his strength” as voters are increasingly doubtful about Trump’s economic leadership compared to Democrats, adding that the president doesn’t have the time to turn around public perceptions of him as he continues to pursue broad tariffs.

    New hype about income tax cuts ahead of April

    There will be new policies rolled out on affordability, a person familiar with the White House thinking said, declining to comment on what those would be. Trump on Thursday indicated there will be more deals coming on drug prices. Two other White House officials said messaging would change — but not policy.

    A big part of the administration’s response on affordability will be educating people ahead of tax season about the role of Trump’s income tax cuts in any refunds they receive in April, the person familiar with planning said. Those cuts were part of the sprawling bill Republicans muscled through Congress in July.

    This individual stressed that the key challenge is bringing prices down while simultaneously having wages increase, so that people can feel and see any progress.

    There’s also a bet that the economy will be in a healthier place in six months. With Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s term ending in May, the White House anticipates the start of consistent cuts to the Fed’s benchmark interest rate. They expect inflation rates to cool and declines in the federal budget deficit to boost sentiment in the financial markets.

    But the U.S. economy seldom cooperates with a president’s intentions, a lesson learned most recently by Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, who saw his popularity slump after inflation spiked to a four-decade high in June 2022.

    The Trump administration maintains it’s simply working through an inflation challenge inherited from Biden, but new economic research indicates Trump has created his own inflation challenge through tariffs.

    Since April, Harvard University economist Alberto Cavallo and his colleagues, Northwestern University’s Paola Llamas and Universidad de San Andres’ Franco Vazquez, have been tracking the impact of the import taxes on consumer prices.

    In an October paper, the economists found that the inflation rate would have been drastically lower at 2.2%, had it not been for Trump’s tariffs.

    The administration maintains that tariffs have not contributed to inflation. They plan to make the case that the import taxes are helping the economy and dismiss criticisms of the import taxes as contributing to inflation as Democratic talking points.

    The fate of Trump’s country-by-country tariffs is currently being decided by the Supreme Court, where justices at a Wednesday hearing seemed dubious over the administration’s claims that tariffs were essentially regulations and could be levied by a president without congressional approval. Trump has maintained at times that foreign countries pay the tariffs and not U.S. citizens, a claim he backed away from slightly Thursday.

    “They might be paying something,” he said. “But when you take the overall impact, the Americans are gaining tremendously.”

    _____

    Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

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  • Opinion | Escape From Zohran Mamdani’s New York

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    Arnold Toynbee’s “Cities on the Move” (1970) documents the history of big cities around the world becoming impoverished and insolvent—some never to recover. Many of the patterns he describes apply to New York now.

    Real estate contributed roughly $35 billion of the $80 billion in city tax receipts in fiscal 2025, and personal taxes another $18 billion. The financial sector, real estate, construction, tourism and retail trade sectors are the major contributors to these revenues.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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    Reuven Brenner

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  • Voters’ anger at high electricity bills and data centers looms over 2026 midterms

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    Voter anger over the cost of living is hurtling forward into next year’s midterm elections, when pivotal contests will be decided by communities that are home to fast-rising electric bills or fights over who’s footing the bill to power Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers.

    Electricity costs were a key issue in this week’s elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, a data center hotspot, and in Georgia, where Democrats ousted two Republican incumbents for seats on the state’s utility regulatory commission.

    Voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City all cited economic concerns as the top issue, as Democrats and Republicans gird for a debate over affordability in the intensifying midterm battle to control Congress.

    Already, President Donald Trump is signaling that he’ll focus on affordability next year as he and Republicans try to maintain their slim congressional majorities, while Democrats are blaming Trump for rising household costs.

    Front and center may be electricity bills, which in many places are increasing at a rate faster than U.S. inflation on average — although not everywhere.

    “There’s a lot of pressure on politicians to talk about affordability, and electricity prices are right now the most clear example of problems of affordability,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of politics and government and pollster at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.

    Rising electric costs aren’t expected to ease and many Americans could see an increase on their monthly bills in the middle of next year’s campaigns.

    Higher electric bills on the horizon

    Gas and electric utilities are seeking or already secured rate increases of more that $34 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, consumer advocacy organization PowerLines reported. That was more than double the same period last year.

    With some 80 million Americans struggling to pay their utility bills, “it’s a life or death and ‘eat or heat’ type decision that people have to make,” said Charles Hua, PowerLines’ founder.

    In Georgia, proposals to build data centers have roiled communities, while a victorious Democrat, Peter Hubbard, accused Republicans on the commission of “rubber-stamping” rate increases by Georgia Power, a subsidiary of power giant Southern Co.

    Monthly Georgia Power bills have risen six times over the past two years, now averaging $175 a month for a typical residential customer.

    Hubbard’s message seemed to resonate with voters. Rebecca Mekonnen, who lives in the Atlanta suburb of Stone Mountain, said she voted for the Democratic challengers, and wants to see “more affordable pricing. That’s the main thing. It’s running my pocket right now.”

    Now, Georgia Power is proposing to spend $15 billion to expand its power generating capacity, primarily to meet demand from data centers, and Hubbard is questioning whether data centers will pay their fair share — or share it with regular ratepayers.

    Midterm battlegrounds in hotspots

    Midterm elections will see congressional battlegrounds in states where fast-rising electric bills or data center hotspots — or both — are fomenting community uprisings.

    That includes California, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

    Analysts attribute rising electric bills to a combination of forces.

    That includes expensive projects to modernize the grid and harden poles, wires and substations against extreme weather and wildfires.

    Also playing a role is explosive demand from data centers, bitcoin miners and a drive to revive domestic manufacturing, as well as rising natural gas prices, analysts say.

    “The cost of utility service is the new ‘cost of eggs’ concern for a lot of consumers,” said Jennifer Bosco of the National Consumer Law Center.

    In some places, data centers are driving a big increase in demand, since a typical AI data center uses as much electricity as 100,000 homes, according to the International Energy Agency. Some could require more electricity than cities the size of Pittsburgh, Cleveland or New Orleans.

    While many states have sought to attract data centers as an economic boon, legislatures and utility commissions were also flooded with proposals to try to protect regular ratepayers from paying to connect data centers to the grid.

    Meanwhile, communities that don’t want to live next to one are pushing back.

    It’s on voters’ minds

    An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from October found that electricity bills are a “major” source of stress for 36% of U.S. adults.

    Now, as falls turns to winter, some states are warning that funding for low-income heating aid is being delayed because of the federal government shutdown.

    Still, the impact is still more uneven than other financial stressors like grocery costs, which just over half of U.S. adults said are a “major” source of stress.

    And electric rates vary widely by state or utility.

    For instance, federal data shows that for-profit utilities have been raising rates far faster than municipally owned utilities or cooperatives.

    In the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid from Illinois to New Jersey, analysts say ratepayers are paying billions of dollars for the cost to power data centers — including data centers not even built yet.

    Next June, electric bills across that region will absorb billions more dollars in higher wholesale electricity costs designed to lure new power plants to power data centers.

    That’s spurred governors from the region — including Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, Illinois’ JB Pritzker and Maryland’s Wes Moore, all Democrats who are running for reelection — to pressure the grid operator PJM Interconnection to contain increases.

    High-rate states vs. lower-rate rates

    Drew Maloney, the CEO of the Edison Electric Institute, a trade association of for-profit electric utilities, suggested that only some states are the drivers of higher average electric bills.

    “If you set aside a few sates with higher rates, the rest of the country largely follows inflation on electricity rates,” Maloney said.

    Examples of states with faster-rising rates are California, where wildfires are driving grid upgrades, and those in New England, where natural gas is expensive because of strained pipeline capacity.

    Still, other states are feeling a pinch.

    In Indiana, a growing data center hotspot, the consumer advocacy group, Citizens Action Coalition, reported this year that residential customers of the state’s for-profit electric utilities were absorbing the most severe rate increases in at least two decades.

    Republican Gov. Mike Braun decried the hikes, saying “we can’t take it anymore.”

    ___

    Associated Press reporter Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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  • OR Department Of Revenue: Get Ready For Kicker – KXL

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    Acquired Through MGN Online on 08/14/2025

    SALEM, OR – The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis has confirmed a more than $1.41 billion revenue surplus in the 2023-2025 biennium, triggering a tax surplus credit, or “kicker,” for the 2025 tax year.

    The surplus will be returned to taxpayers through a credit on their 2025 state personal income tax returns filed in 2026. It is not sent to taxpayers in a check. The kicker credit will either increase a taxpayer’s Oregon state income tax refund or decrease the amount of state taxes they owe.

    Only taxpayers who filed a tax year 2024 return and also file a tax year 2025 return can receive a kicker. The credit is a percentage of Oregon personal income tax liability for the 2024 tax year. Taxpayers who have not yet filed a 2024 tax return, should file now. That will allow them to claim their kicker credit when they file their 2025 tax return next year.

    To calculate the amount of their credit, taxpayers can multiply their 2024 personal income tax liability before any credits—line 24 on the 2024 Form OR-40 filed earlier this year—by 9.863 percent. This percentage is determined and certified by OEA. Taxpayers who claimed a credit for tax paid to another state would need to subtract the credit amount from their liability before calculating the credit.

    Personal income taxpayers can also determine the amount of their kicker using a “What’s My Kicker? calculator available on Revenue Online. To use the calculator, taxpayers will need to enter their name, Social Security Number, and filing status for 2024 and 2025.

    Taxpayers who don’t have a filing obligation for 2025, still must file a 2025 tax return to claim their credit.

    The 2025 Oregon personal income tax return instructions will include detailed information on how to claim the credit. Full-year Oregon residents will use Form OR-40. Part-year residents will use Form OR-40-P. Non-residents will use Form OR-40-N. Composite and fiduciary-income tax return filers are also eligible.

    Taxpayers should keep in mind that the state may use all or part of their kicker to pay any state debt they owe. These debts can include taxes due for other years, child support, court fines, or school loans.

    Taxpayers can donate their kicker to the Oregon State School Fund for K-12 public education, but they must donate the entire amount. The donation is permanent and cannot be taken back.

    Taxpayers also have the option of donating part or all their refund to any or all the 29 charities approved by the Charitable Checkoff Commission. Taxpayers use Form OR-DONATE to designate their donation to charity.

    For more information, go to the Oregon surplus “kicker” credit page of the Department of Revenue website.

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    Tim Lantz

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  • IRS Direct File won’t be available next year. Here’s what that means for taxpayers

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — IRS Direct File, the electronic system for filing tax returns for free, will not be offered next year, the Trump administration has confirmed.

    An email sent Monday from IRS official Cynthia Noe to state comptrollers that participate in the Direct File program said that “IRS Direct File will not be available in Filing Season 2026. No launch date has been set for the future.”

    The program developed during Joe Biden’s presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. However, it faced criticism from Republican lawmakers, who called it a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist (though they are difficult to use), and from commercial tax preparation companies, which have made billions from charging people to use their software.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is also the current IRS commissioner, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that there are “better alternatives” to Direct File. “It wasn’t used very much,” he said. “And we think that the private sector can do a better job.”

    The Center for Taxpayer Rights filed a Freedom of Information Act request for IRS’ latest evaluation of the program and the report says 296,531 taxpayers submitted accepted returns for the 2025 tax season through Direct File. That’s up from the 140,803 submitted accepted returns in 2024.

    Direct File was rolled out as a pilot program in 2024 after the IRS was tasked with looking into how to create a “direct file” system as part of the money it received from the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by Biden in 2022. The Democratic administration spent tens of millions of dollars developing the program.

    Last May, the agency under Biden announced that the program would be made permanent.

    But the IRS has faced intense blowback to Direct File from private tax preparation companies that have spent millions lobbying Congress. The average American typically spends about $140 preparing returns each year.

    The program had been in limbo since the start of the Trump administration as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency slashed their way through the federal government. But The Associated Press reported in April that the administration planned to eliminate the program, with its future becoming clear after the IRS staff assigned to it were told to stop working on its development for the 2026 tax filing season.

    As of Wednesday, the Direct File website states that “Direct File is closed. More information will be available at a later date.”

    The Washington Post and NextGov first reported on the email to state comptrollers confirming the program would not be offered next year.

    Adam Ruben, a vice president at the liberal-leaning Economic Security Project, said “it’s not surprising” that the program was eliminated.

    “Trump’s billionaire friends get favors while honest, hardworking Americans will pay more to file their taxes,” he said.

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  • Taxes, talent add to draw for fintechs to expand AI ops in Ireland 

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    At least six fintechs have said over the past five months that they will expand their AI and fintech operations in Ireland.  In fact, more than 430 companies have chosen to make Ireland their gateway to Europe in the past decade, including CRM service provider Zendesk and $371 billion State Street Bank. According to Ireland […]

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    Vaidik Trivedi

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  • Tax Pros on Call: Get your tax filing questions answered

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    As we approach the end of the year, 5 On Your Side is here to get your tax preparation questions answered.

    5 On Your Side is partnering with the North Carolina Society of Enrolled Agents to answer your tax planning questions – for free! 

    Tax Pros On Call is Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 4-7 pm.

    From 4 to 7 p.m. next Wednesday, you’ll be able to speak with a tax professional about your questions or issues.

    Call 919-234-5007 to talk to tax pros for free!

    This event is all about answering your questions about filing taxes. Federally licensed enrolled agents will be taking your calls, answering questions about everything from the best ways to file, avoiding penalties and changes to tax law.

    Best of all: The information is completely free!

    FAQ: IRS tax questions and answers

    If you can’t call in, check out the links below for resources to help you get your tax questions answered.

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  • IRS Direct File won’t be available next year. Here’s what that means for taxpayers

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    WASHINGTON — IRS Direct File, the electronic system for filing tax returns for free, will not be offered next year, the Trump administration has confirmed.

    An email sent Monday from IRS official Cynthia Noe to state comptrollers that participate in the Direct File program said that “IRS Direct File will not be available in Filing Season 2026. No launch date has been set for the future.”

    The program developed during Joe Biden’s presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. However, it faced criticism from Republican lawmakers, who called it a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist (though they are difficult to use), and from commercial tax preparation companies, which have made billions from charging people to use their software.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is also the current IRS commissioner, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that there are “better alternatives” to Direct File. “It wasn’t used very much,” he said. “And we think that the private sector can do a better job.”

    The Center for Taxpayer Rights filed a Freedom of Information Act request for IRS’ latest evaluation of the program and the report says 296,531 taxpayers submitted accepted returns for the 2025 tax season through Direct File. That’s up from the 140,803 submitted accepted returns in 2024.

    Direct File was rolled out as a pilot program in 2024 after the IRS was tasked with looking into how to create a “direct file” system as part of the money it received from the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by Biden in 2022. The Democratic administration spent tens of millions of dollars developing the program.

    Last May, the agency under Biden announced that the program would be made permanent.

    But the IRS has faced intense blowback to Direct File from private tax preparation companies that have spent millions lobbying Congress. The average American typically spends about $140 preparing returns each year.

    The program had been in limbo since the start of the Trump administration as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency slashed their way through the federal government. But The Associated Press reported in April that the administration planned to eliminate the program, with its future becoming clear after the IRS staff assigned to it were told to stop working on its development for the 2026 tax filing season.

    As of Wednesday, the Direct File website states that “Direct File is closed. More information will be available at a later date.”

    The Washington Post and NextGov first reported on the email to state comptrollers confirming the program would not be offered next year.

    Adam Ruben, a vice president at the liberal-leaning Economic Security Project, said “it’s not surprising” that the program was eliminated.

    “Trump’s billionaire friends get favors while honest, hardworking Americans will pay more to file their taxes,” he said.

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  • IRS Direct File Won’t Be Available Next Year. Here’s What That Means for Taxpayers

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON (AP) — IRS Direct File, the electronic system for filing tax returns for free, will not be offered next year, the Trump administration has confirmed.

    An email sent Monday from IRS official Cynthia Noe to state comptrollers that participate in the Direct File program said that “IRS Direct File will not be available in Filing Season 2026. No launch date has been set for the future.”

    The program developed during Joe Biden’s presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. However, it faced criticism from Republican lawmakers, who called it a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist (though they are difficult to use), and from commercial tax preparation companies, which have made billions from charging people to use their software.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is also the current IRS commissioner, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that there are “better alternatives” to Direct File. “It wasn’t used very much,” he said. “And we think that the private sector can do a better job.”

    The Center for Taxpayer Rights filed a Freedom of Information Act request for IRS’ latest evaluation of the program and the report says 296,531 taxpayers submitted accepted returns for the 2025 tax season through Direct File. That’s up from the 140,803 submitted accepted returns in 2024.

    Direct File was rolled out as a pilot program in 2024 after the IRS was tasked with looking into how to create a “direct file” system as part of the money it received from the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by Biden in 2022. The Democratic administration spent tens of millions of dollars developing the program.

    Last May, the agency under Biden announced that the program would be made permanent.

    But the IRS has faced intense blowback to Direct File from private tax preparation companies that have spent millions lobbying Congress. The average American typically spends about $140 preparing returns each year.

    The program had been in limbo since the start of the Trump administration as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency slashed their way through the federal government. But The Associated Press reported in April that the administration planned to eliminate the program, with its future becoming clear after the IRS staff assigned to it were told to stop working on its development for the 2026 tax filing season.

    As of Wednesday, the Direct File website states that “Direct File is closed. More information will be available at a later date.”

    The Washington Post and NextGov first reported on the email to state comptrollers confirming the program would not be offered next year.

    Adam Ruben, a vice president at the liberal-leaning Economic Security Project, said “it’s not surprising” that the program was eliminated.

    “Trump’s billionaire friends get favors while honest, hardworking Americans will pay more to file their taxes,” he said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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    Associated Press

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  • An update on trust tax return filings for 2025 – MoneySense

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    What is a trust?

    A trust is a legal arrangement whereby a settlor transfers assets to a trustee or trustees who hold and manage those assets for a beneficiary or beneficiaries. The trustee is responsible for making decisions for the trust and there may be very specific instructions for how the assets are to be administered, and why and when the assets can be used on behalf of or paid to a beneficiary. 

    The most common types of trusts for individuals are testamentary trusts and inter vivos trusts.

    • A testamentary trust comes into existence upon the death of an individual. A common example is if a parent or grandparent dies and leaves assets to a minor beneficiary who is too young to receive an inheritance directly. They may also be used for disabled or spendthrift beneficiaries, inheritors with substance abuse issues, or to provide asset protection from a family law perspective. 
    • Inter vivos trusts are living trusts set up during an individual’s life. A common example includes a trust to own small business shares to multiply the lifetime capital gains exemption for family members upon the sale of a company. Another example is when money is held in trust for a spouse, child, or grandchild for income splitting purposes. Seniors can also set up special trusts that can act as power of attorney equivalents and bypass probate and estate administration tax. 

    Related reading: Estate planning for singles—is a trust company the answer?

    What is a bare trust?

    A bare trust is a type of inter vivos trust that may not appear to be a trust to the untrained eye. Most trusts are created using legal documents like a will or a trust deed. A bare trust can arise simply based on the facts of a situation.

    According to the Canada Revenue Agency: 

    “In a bare trust, the separation of legal and beneficial ownership means that although trust property is registered under the trustee’s name, the beneficial owner has the rights or attributes of ownership in the property: (a) possession, (b) use, (c) risk and (d) control. Not all of these attributes will be present in every case, and some factors will be given more weight in certain cases. For example, a beneficial owner may not always have possession of the property.”

    So, in a case where one person owns an asset (legal ownership) but some or all of it belongs to someone else (beneficial ownership), this may be considered a bare trust. For example:

    • Someone may open an investment account for a child or grandchild, but only the parent or grandparent’s name is on the account. 
    • A parent may co-sign for their child’s mortgage so they can get approved by the bank and be registered as a 1% owner on the property title—even though the home is considered 100% that of the child.
    • A parent might add their child’s name onto their home’s title as a joint owner in an effort to avoid probate (despite the significant risks with this strategy) while the property technically remains 100% that of the parent.

    These are just a few examples of potential bare trusts.

    Compare the best TFSA rates in Canada

    Filing a T3 trust return

    Most trusts need to file an annual tax return called a T3 Trust Income Tax and Information Return. These returns must be filed within 90 days of the trust’s tax year-end, which is December 31 for most trusts. So, March 31 is generally the deadline for most trust returns (March 30 in leap years). If the deadline falls on a weekend, there is an extension to the next business day. 

    Income can be taxed in the trust or allocated to the beneficiaries. When the income is allocated to the beneficiaries, it must be paid to them, spent on their behalf, or documented as being owed to them in the future. 

    Article Continues Below Advertisement


    A beneficiary’s income is reported on a T3 slip (Statement of Trust Income Allocations and Designations). A trust files a T3SUM (Summary of Trust Income Allocations and Designations) with all T3 slips for the trust.

    2025 tax filing requirements for trusts and bare trusts

    The deadline to file T3 returns with a December 31, 2025 year-end is March 31, 2026. 

    Trustees of bare trusts are once again wondering what their obligations are for 2025 and beyond. As it stands, some bare trusts have an exemption from filing, while others may have to file a return. 

    Exemptions may apply if:

    As it stands, the bare trust exemptions have not yet been enacted into law. This ambiguity makes planning difficult for taxpayers and tax professionals alike.

    That said, CRA recently clarified with CPA Canada’s director of tax, Ryan Minor, that they will “extend the bare trust administrative filing waiver if legislative changes are not enacted well in advance of the filing deadline.”

    It was originally proposed by the Ministry of Finance that bare trusts would have filing requirements for the 2023 tax year; however, last-minute changes meant they were not required to file for either 2023 or 2024.

    If CRA makes a direct request to file, a bare trust is required to file, however unlikely. And barring legislative progress on bare trusts, it may be that there is a third exemption year for bare trust tax return filings.

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    Jason Heath, CFP

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  • Rivian’s CFO hints the end of EV tax credits means manufacturers are being forced to finally make more affordable electric cars | Fortune

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    As the EV market enters choppy waters, legacy automakers are pulling back on electrification plans, delaying EV launches, and cutting production at EV plants.

    That’s not an option for pure-play EV makers like Rivian. Instead, the Irvine, California-based manufacturer has its sights set firmly on the launch next year of its second-generation product: a midsize SUV called the R2 that’ll start at $45,000.

    “One of our core strategies and approaches to offset some of the impacts of the…elimination of some of the credits for consumers is to bring a product to market that opens up the addressable market of consumers that can now say yes to a Rivian,” Claire McDonough, Rivian’s CFO, said during a Reuters automotive conference in Detroit on Wednesday.

    Goodbye, tax credits: President Donald Trump’s tax and budget bill ended tax credits of up to $7,500 on eligible EV purchases as of Sept. 30, and EV demand is expected to cool without federal incentives. Rivian recently cut 4.5% of its workforce, or about 600 workers, The Wall Street Journal reported.

    “With the changing operating backdrop, we had to rethink how we are scaling our go-to-market functions,” CEO RJ Scaringe wrote to employees, per the WSJ.

    Pricing starts above $70,000 for the EV maker’s current passenger vehicles.

    “It meant that we needed to reduce our costs in our vehicle roadmap,” McDonough said of the end of the EV tax credits. “And the key strategy for us is to bring to market a more mass-market-priced product, which is coming out next year.”

    R2: Rivian employees have been building R2 prototypes in California, and the vehicle is now going through various validation and durability tests, McDonough said. The manufacturer has added a 1.1 million-square-foot expansion to its Normal, Illinois, plant to support R2 production. The company remains “on track” to launch production in the first half of next year, according to McDonough.

    “As we look at R2, that’s where we’re opening up a much larger aperture of potential new customers into the brand and business,” McDonough told reporters at an earlier event. “We’re really excited about the opportunity to take younger consumers, older consumers that don’t necessarily need a three-row SUV, for example.”

    The Illinois plant delivered just over 50,000 R1 units last year. With R2, the capacity of the plant can go up to 215,000 units annually. And Rivian plans to break ground on a new plant in Georgia next year to support production of the R2 and the future R3.

    “You’ll see additional savings as we reduce and spread our overhead and cost across a much larger volume of products,” McDonough said.

    As for Rivian’s path to profitability, McDonough noted cost savings derived from the launch of the second-generation R1 last year, and said the company will achieve further reductions with the R2.

    Rivian employees were able to cut the material costs in half compared to R1, and to reduce manufacturing costs via scale and design efficiencies. McDonough also pointed to opportunities to raise awareness of the brand with the introduction of R2, for a company that she acknowledged is “not yet a household name.”

    Execs also see opportunities to advance the company’s autonomous features with the R2, which will feature in-house-designed cameras.

    “That allows us to have a closed, end-to-end data loop, and being vertically integrated across our software stack, across the hardware design of the product, and then the buildout of our large driving model as well, which is an in-house neural net that’s capturing data from our customer fleet over time,” McDonough said. “R2 is also really important for Rivian as we think about the continued progress of our autonomous growth, given the proliferation of our car park with a product like R2.”

    This report was originally published by Tech Brew.

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    Jordyn Grzelewski, Tech Brew

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  • Deal between the US and China is undoing damage from a self-inflicted trade war

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    BUSAN, South Korea (AP) — Three-digit tariffs are off the table, but import duties on each other are higher than in January.

    Rare earth materials will flow more smoothly, but China has put in place an export permitting regime that it can tighten or loosen as needed.

    Port fees will go away, but only for one year.

    And Beijing is again buying U.S. soybeans after it had abruptly cut off American farmers.

    After months of posturing, arguing and threatening, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have essentially turned back the clock. While the meeting between the two leaders was hailed by Trump as a “roaring success,” the agreement that came out of it may only serve to undo some of the damages Trump inflicted with his trade war upon his return to the White House.

    “It is hard to see what major gains the U.S. has made in the bilateral relationship relative to where things stood before Trump took office,” said Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University.

    On the Senate floor, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday denounced the deal out of South Korea as leaving the U.S. as “no better off.”

    “If anything, things are worse: Prices have gone up and China has agreed to nothing of substance that will improve trade between our nations,” the Democrat senator said, adding that Trump “started a trade war, created a giant mess for businesses, consumers, and soybean farmers, and then he celebrates for trying to clean up the very mess he created in the first place.”

    Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel.


    Follow on

    Nevertheless, the deal has injected a degree of stability, giving the world’s two largest economies — as well as the rest of the world — time and room to readjust.

    Washington and Beijing still need to finalize their agreements, a process that always has the potential for fresh disputes. But for now, Xi appears interested in moving past the latest tensions.

    In an official statement, Xi referred to “recent twists and turns” that “offered some lessons for both sides.” He said they should be “focusing on the benefits of cooperation rather than falling into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation.”

    Both sides reduce tariffs, resume soybean sales to China

    Trump fired the first shot in the trade war in February when he imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods over the allegation that Beijing failed to stem the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl. That soared to as much as 145% after China retaliated, but Trump walked it back following market meltdowns.

    The two sides in May slashed their massive tariffs to 10% on each other, while Washington retained the 20% fentanyl-related tariff, and China its retaliatory tariffs of 10% or 15% on U.S. farm goods.

    Now, Trump said he has removed one 10% fentanyl tariff in exchange for Beijing’s cooperation in fighting the illicit drug.

    U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said China would also withdraw the retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural products. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Beijing would “adjust accordingly” its countermeasures without giving details.

    In addition, China has agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. beans through January, and will buy at least 25 million metric tons annually for next three years, Rollins said on Thursday.

    That compares to China buying 17 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in the first eight months of this year but importing zero in September. In 2024, China bought 22 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, according to state media.

    Although China did not confirm the details of the latest soybean deal, the spokesperson for the Chinese commerce ministry said the two sides have reached “consensus” to expand agricultural trade.

    One-year truce on export controls and port fees

    In April, China used its monopoly power in the processing of critical minerals to institute a permitting requirement for the export of several rare earth elements. On October 9, Beijing expanded the export rules, apparently in response to the U.S. decision to extend export controls to businesses affiliated with already-blacklisted foreign companies.

    Furious, Trump threatened to impose a new 100% tariff on China, but the two sides managed to cool down in time for Trump to meet Xi in South Korea.

    Beijing on Thursday said it would pause for a year the rare earth export rules from October to “conduct research to refine specific plans,” while the U.S. will suspend its affiliate rule for one year.

    The delay by Beijing “provides just enough time for the United States to accelerate investment in capabilities and innovation for rare earths and permanent magnets,” said Wade Senti, president of the U.S. permanent magnet company AML. “This needs to be on warp speed and at a scale never seen before since the COVID-19 response,” he said.

    Another fresh thorn was the U.S. introduction of port fees in October targeting China-linked vessels, as part of a plan to restore America’s shipbuilding capabilitie s. Beijing answered with countermeasures against the U.S.

    The port fees on each other are not removed but will be suspended for one year, the Chinese commerce ministry said.

    The future is still uncertain

    Whether Trump accepts a return to the status quo or pushes to address fundamental issues that have persisted for years between the U.S. and China remains unclear. Nothing about Thursday’s meeting — the first between Trump and Xi in six years — affects Chinese manufacturing dominance that Trump has blamed for the loss of American blue collar jobs.

    Sean Stein, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, called the latest developments “very encouraging” and added: “We hope that future negotiations will address long-standing market access barriers, help level the playing field for U.S. companies, and bring long-term predictability to the bilateral trade relationship.”

    There are more opportunities on the horizon to keep working on these challenges. Trump said he will go to China in April and Xi will visit the U.S. after that.

    If Trump isn’t successful, this period could be remembered for a lot of sound and fury but no change in the basic trajectory of China’s ascendant economy.

    “Generally, Trump grows impatient with anything beyond the immediate, and it is the Chinese that play for longer term advantage,” said Kurt Campbell, a former deputy secretary of state in the Biden administration and now chairman of The Asia Group.

    ___

    Tang and Wiseman reported from Washington. AP writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Neb., contributed to the report

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  • Italian Police Seize $1.5B in Assets From Campari’s Controlling Shareholder Amid Tax Fraud Probe

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    MILAN (AP) — Italian tax police said they are seizing assets worth 1.29 billion euros ($1.5 billion) from a Luxembourg-based holding company’s shares in spirits maker Campari Group as part of a fraud investigation.

    Luxembourg-based Lagfin is the controlling shareholder of Campari, which was founded in 1860 and is one of the largest players in the premium spirits industry.

    A judge in Monza, northeast of Milan, approved the seizure order, which police described as precautionary as they look into allegations of tax evasion. The investigation began with a tax audit following a merger in which Lagfin absorbed its Italian subsidiary.

    Lagfin said in a statement Friday that the investigation “is connected to a tax dispute that started approximately two years ago and that has never involved Campari Group in any manner whatsoever.”

    Lagfin said it has always “acted in the most scrupulous respect of any applicable laws and regulations, including any Italian tax laws,” and “will defend itself vigorously.”

    Campari Group didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Lagfin said that since it holds more than 80% of Campari’s voting rights, the seizure is “absolutely unable” to affect its position as Campari’s controlling shareholder. With ties to the family of Campari Group Chairman Luca Garavoglia, Lagfin started in 1995 and its primary purpose is as Campari’s controlling stakeholder, with more than 50% of its shares.

    Known for its namesake red aperitif, Campari also owns Aperol and several global brands, including Grand Marnier, tequilas and some American bourbons.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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    Associated Press

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  • Deal between the US and China is undoing damage from a self-inflicted trade war

    [ad_1]

    BUSAN, South Korea — Three-digit tariffs are off the table, but import duties on each other are higher than in January.

    Rare earth materials will flow more smoothly, but China has put in place an export permitting regime that it can tighten or loosen as needed.

    Port fees will go away, but only for one year.

    And Beijing is again buying U.S. soybeans after it had abruptly cut off American farmers.

    After months of posturing, arguing and threatening, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have essentially turned back the clock. While the meeting between the two leaders was hailed by Trump as a “roaring success,” the agreement that came out of it may only serve to undo some of the damages Trump inflicted with his trade war upon his return to the White House.

    “It is hard to see what major gains the U.S. has made in the bilateral relationship relative to where things stood before Trump took office,” said Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University.

    On the Senate floor, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday denounced the deal out of South Korea as leaving the U.S. as “no better off.”

    “If anything, things are worse: Prices have gone up and China has agreed to nothing of substance that will improve trade between our nations,” the Democrat senator said, adding that Trump “started a trade war, created a giant mess for businesses, consumers, and soybean farmers, and then he celebrates for trying to clean up the very mess he created in the first place.”

    Nevertheless, the deal has injected a degree of stability, giving the world’s two largest economies — as well as the rest of the world — time and room to readjust.

    Washington and Beijing still need to finalize their agreements, a process that always has the potential for fresh disputes. But for now, Xi appears interested in moving past the latest tensions.

    In an official statement, Xi referred to “recent twists and turns” that “offered some lessons for both sides.” He said they should be “focusing on the benefits of cooperation rather than falling into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation.”

    Trump fired the first shot in the trade war in February when he imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods over the allegation that Beijing failed to stem the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl. That soared to as much as 145% after China retaliated, but Trump walked it back following market meltdowns.

    The two sides in May slashed their massive tariffs to 10% on each other, while Washington retained the 20% fentanyl-related tariff, and China its retaliatory tariffs of 10% or 15% on U.S. farm goods.

    Now, Trump said he has removed one 10% fentanyl tariff in exchange for Beijing’s cooperation in fighting the illicit drug.

    U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said China would also withdraw the retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural products. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Beijing would “adjust accordingly” its countermeasures without giving details.

    In addition, China has agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. beans through January, and will buy at least 25 million metric tons annually for next three years, Rollins said on Thursday.

    That compares to China buying 17 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in the first eight months of this year but importing zero in September. In 2024, China bought 22 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, according to state media.

    Although China did not confirm the details of the latest soybean deal, the spokesperson for the Chinese commerce ministry said the two sides have reached “consensus” to expand agricultural trade.

    In April, China used its monopoly power in the processing of critical minerals to institute a permitting requirement for the export of several rare earth elements. On October 9, Beijing expanded the export rules, apparently in response to the U.S. decision to extend export controls to businesses affiliated with already-blacklisted foreign companies.

    Furious, Trump threatened to impose a new 100% tariff on China, but the two sides managed to cool down in time for Trump to meet Xi in South Korea.

    Beijing on Thursday said it would pause for a year the rare earth export rules from October to “conduct research to refine specific plans,” while the U.S. will suspend its affiliate rule for one year.

    The delay by Beijing “provides just enough time for the United States to accelerate investment in capabilities and innovation for rare earths and permanent magnets,” said Wade Senti, president of the U.S. permanent magnet company AML. “This needs to be on warp speed and at a scale never seen before since the COVID-19 response,” he said.

    Another fresh thorn was the U.S. introduction of port fees in October targeting China-linked vessels, as part of a plan to restore America’s shipbuilding capabilitie s. Beijing answered with countermeasures against the U.S.

    The port fees on each other are not removed but will be suspended for one year, the Chinese commerce ministry said.

    Whether Trump accepts a return to the status quo or pushes to address fundamental issues that have persisted for years between the U.S. and China remains unclear. Nothing about Thursday’s meeting — the first between Trump and Xi in six years — affects Chinese manufacturing dominance that Trump has blamed for the loss of American blue collar jobs.

    Sean Stein, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, called the latest developments “very encouraging” and added: “We hope that future negotiations will address long-standing market access barriers, help level the playing field for U.S. companies, and bring long-term predictability to the bilateral trade relationship.”

    There are more opportunities on the horizon to keep working on these challenges. Trump said he will go to China in April and Xi will visit the U.S. after that.

    If Trump isn’t successful, this period could be remembered for a lot of sound and fury but no change in the basic trajectory of China’s ascendant economy.

    “Generally, Trump grows impatient with anything beyond the immediate, and it is the Chinese that play for longer term advantage,” said Kurt Campbell, a former deputy secretary of state in the Biden administration and now chairman of The Asia Group.

    ___

    Tang and Wiseman reported from Washington. AP writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Neb., contributed to the report

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  • Life hack: Buying a private jet, yacht, or expensive car can help you save money through Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ | Fortune

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    Don’t cry because you’re not going to Aspen this year, smile because a ski family might avoid paying some taxes by flying there privately. Bloomberg reported yesterday that ultra-wealthy Americans are taking full advantage of a new rule in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that allows them to completely write off certain high-value assets.

    ICYMI: President Trump’s landmark legislation expanded a tax break known as bonus depreciation, which now lets business owners deduct 100% of certain purchases from their taxable income. Eligible splurges include yachts, cars, racehorses, and private jets—as long as they’re used for business more than half of the time. Demand is climbing:

    • Sales of private jets are up by 11% from this time last year, according to data from the jet broker Global Charter.
    • Horse sales at the world’s largest thoroughbred auction in Kentucky grew by 24% last month compared to 2024.

    Gas stations and car washes also qualify. Sales of these establishments spiked after Trump temporarily expanded bonus depreciation in 2017. One entrepreneur told Bloomberg that he avoided millions of dollars in taxes by buying several car washes, which offset income from the sale of his family business.

    Looking ahead…this rule will cost the IRS $363 billion in lost revenue over the next decade, according to estimates by Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation.—ML

    This report was originally published by Morning Brew.

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    Molly Liebergall, Morning Brew

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  • Meta shares slide after company projects higher expenses for 2026

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    Meta’s stock slid in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the tech giant posted strong third-quarter results but warned that its expenses will be significantly higher in 2026 than this year.

    Like its rivals, Meta Platforms Inc. has been on an artificial intelligence spending spree and said its costs will grow much faster next year, driven by infrastructure costs and employee compensation as it has hired AI experts at eye-popping compensation levels.

    “Employee compensation costs will be the second largest contributor to growth, as we recognize a full year of compensation for employees hired throughout 2025, particularly AI talent, and add technical talent in priority areas,” Meta said.

    Menlo Park, California-based Meta Platforms Inc. earned $2.71 billion, or $1.05 per share, in the July-September period. Excluding tax-related special expenses, the company would have earned $7.25. Revenue rose 26% to $51.42 billion from $40.59 billion.

    Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $6.72 per share on revenue of $49.51 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

    Meta’s daily active user base on its apps — Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram and Threads — was 3.54 billion on average for September, up 8% year-over-year.

    For the current quarter, Meta is forecasting revenue in the range of $56 billion to $59 billion. Analysts are forecasting $57.36 billion for the October-December quarter.

    Despite the stock drop, analysts were less concerned about Meta’s spending spree than shareholders appeared to be.

    “For Meta, advertising is the foundation; AI is the growth engine,” said Debra Aho Williamson, founder and chief analyst at Sonata Insights. “There’s a lot of focus on Meta’s capital expenditures related to AI, which is completely warranted. The spending is absolutely massive. But with 26% growth in revenue in Q3, it’s clear that what Meta is doing to integrate AI into its ad products is working.”

    Andrew Rocco, stock strategist at Zacks Investment Research, said “the quarter was not terrible, and forward statements continue to be positive. Most importantly, management confirmed that they expect ad revenue to remain strong.”

    Meta also cautioned that it is facing a slew of legal and regulatory issues in the U.S. and the European Union that could hurt its bottom line.

    “In the U.S., a number of youth-related trials are scheduled for 2026, and may ultimately result in a material loss,” the company said.

    In the U.S., Meta is facing an antitrust case that’s now awaiting a judge’s decision and could force the company to break off WhatsApp and Instagram, startups Meta bought more than a decade ago that have since grown into social media powerhouses.

    Meta’s shares fell $57.67, or 7.7%, to $694 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed up slightly at $751.67.

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  • Meta Shares Slide After Company Projects Higher Expenses for 2026

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    Meta’s stock slid in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the tech giant posted strong third-quarter results but warned that its expenses will be significantly higher in 2026 than this year.

    Like its rivals, Meta Platforms Inc. has been on an artificial intelligence spending spree and said its costs will grow much faster next year, driven by infrastructure costs and employee compensation as it has hired AI experts at eye-popping compensation levels.

    “Employee compensation costs will be the second largest contributor to growth, as we recognize a full year of compensation for employees hired throughout 2025, particularly AI talent, and add technical talent in priority areas,” Meta said.

    Menlo Park, California-based Meta Platforms Inc. earned $2.71 billion, or $1.05 per share, in the July-September period. Excluding tax-related special expenses, the company would have earned $7.25. Revenue rose 26% to $51.42 billion from $40.59 billion.

    Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $6.72 per share on revenue of $49.51 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

    Meta’s daily active user base on its apps — Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram and Threads — was 3.54 billion on average for September, up 8% year-over-year.

    For the current quarter, Meta is forecasting revenue in the range of $56 billion to $59 billion. Analysts are forecasting $57.36 billion for the October-December quarter.

    Meta also cautioned that it is facing a slew of legal and regulatory issues in the U.S. and the European Union that could hurt its bottom line.

    “In the U.S., a number of youth-related trials are scheduled for 2026, and may ultimately result in a material loss,” the company said.

    In the U.S., Meta is facing an antitrust case that’s now awaiting a judge’s decision and could force the company to break off WhatsApp and Instagram, startups Meta bought more than a decade ago that have since grown into social media powerhouses.

    Meta’s shares fell $57.67, or 7.7%, to $694 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed up slightly at $751.67.

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    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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