Withholding

WASHINGTON -- A review of classified documents by former members of the Sept. 11 commission shows that the panel made repeated and detailed requests to the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 and 2004 for documents and other information about the interrogation of operatives of al-Qaida and was told by a top CIA official that the agency had "produced or made available for review" everything that had been requested. The review was conducted earlier this month after the disclosure that in November 2005, the CIA destroyed videotapes documenting the interrogations of two Qaida operatives.

Members of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants are answering readers' tax questions through April 15.I work for a company that was acquired and on March 31 I received a severance package. When I received my severance pay, Social Security was withheld in excess of the maximum owed. After March 31, I was employed by three different companies and Social Security was withheld from each paycheck. By the end of the year I had well paid over the limit. How do I get this back?

POTOMAC ELECTRIC Power Co. stock is listed under "Group 1-High Quality," and Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. is ranked "Group 2-Good-To-High-Quality" in Argus' April ranking of utilities.Twelve stocks that keep growing, according to Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, are: Avery Dennison Corp., Baker Hughes Inc., Carnival Corp., Citicorp, Franklin Resources Inc., Harley-Davidson Inc., Intel Corp., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Manpower Inc., Newell Co. and Paychex Inc. The magazine says, "You can buy these growth stocks and keep on buying them -- with assurance of stable gains over time."

Showing a healthier economy, Maryland's sales and use tax receipts climbed by 7.3 percent in the first three months of 1997, compared with the corresponding period last year. The state's comptroller of the treasury took in $465.3 million for the period.Sales and use tax growth accelerated from a robust performance in the last three months of 1996, when the tax generated $570.7 million, up 6.6 percent. Both results far outpaced inflation, which has been running at about 3 percent annually.

A consumer health organization is accusing the Johns Hopkins University and other U.S. research institutions of violating international rules of ethics by withholding proven AIDS treatments from women and children in overseas experiments.Public Citizen Health Research charged that nine federally funded experiments could cause about 1,000 newborns in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean to die needlessly. Six of the studies are under Hopkins supervision."It's Tuskegee Part Two, and this time many more people will die," said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of the Washington-based advocacy group.

The Maryland State Comptroller's Office has mailed more than 121,000 employers in the state a tax withholding guide for 1998 that explains the latest changes to the law.The guide provides both instructions and tables stating how much employers should withhold from weekly, biweekly and monthly pay checks.It also reminds employers that the tax deduction applies only to the state income tax.The state income tax rate drops to 4.95 percent from 5 percent next year, and the personal exemption increases to $1,400 from $1,200.

Representatives of the state comptroller's office met yesterday in Rockville with supervisors of high school guidance counselors, as part of an effort to get the word out about a new withholding exemption form.Students and other part-time workers earning less than $6,800 do not need to have taxes withheld from their paychecks, but must file a new form to be exempted from withholding.Those filing by Dec. 31 will avoid withholding in the new year and may not have to file a 1998 state return at all, said Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein.

NEWARK, N.J. -- One week after fining Prudential Insurance Co. $1 million for allowing the destruction of documents, a federal judge appointed an independent investigator to look into new allegations of document-shredding and the withholding of evidence from regulators.The action was taken yesterday by U.S. District Judge Alfred M. Wolin, who is presiding over an extensive class-action lawsuit on behalf of as many as 10.7 million Prudential policyholders. The lawsuit alleges a pattern of fraud by the company in the sale of life insurance.

The body of a 67-year-old woman who might have been fatally beaten was found yesterday in her North Baltimore apartment, police said.When the victim failed to report to work yesterday, her employer called a neighbor who entered the apartment in the 600 block of Gorsuch Ave. in Waverly about 2 p.m. and found the woman lying across her bed. She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.Police were withholding the name of the victim, a Monumental Life Insurance Co. telephone operator, pending notification of relatives.

Take tax exemption, summer workers urgedAttention, summer workers!If you expect to earn less than $6,400 a year, you can avoid having state taxes withheld from your paycheck. The interest-free loan to the state isn't worth the hassle of processing paperwork and issuing refund checks.That's the message Maryland Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein wants to send to students planning to hold jobs this summer.Every year, his office mails out about 176,000 tax refunds to summer workers who could have had slightly bigger paychecks.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a month old today, but there is still a lot of confusion about the tax breaks. Tax professionals have been answering readers' questions on the stimulus package on our consumer blog at www.baltimoresun.com/consuminginterests. Here are answers to frequent questions: First-time homebuyer credit This is worth 10 percent of the purchase price, up to a maximum credit of $8,000. To get it, you must buy a house between Jan. 1 through Nov. 30 this year.

WASHINGTON -- A review of classified documents by former members of the Sept. 11 commission shows that the panel made repeated and detailed requests to the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 and 2004 for documents and other information about the interrogation of operatives of al-Qaida and was told by a top CIA official that the agency had "produced or made available for review" everything that had been requested. The review was conducted earlier this month after the disclosure that in November 2005, the CIA destroyed videotapes documenting the interrogations of two Qaida operatives.

Editor's note: Every Tuesday through the end of tax season, The Sun will run an edited transcript of Baltimoresun.com's weekly tax-advice column featuring three experts from the Hunt Valley accounting firm SC&H Group. If you have a married couple with children living in the house, can one parent file for the head of household tax break or is that just for single parents? - Thomas, Baltimore Ordinarily a taxpayer must not be married at the end of the year to qualify as head of household.

What's done is done. It cannot be undone until tax time next year. So if you aren't liking the way your taxes are turning out for 2006, you can plan ahead so you have a better chance to secure a more palatable outcome for 2007. With the hard lessons of 2006 fresh in your mind, you may spot some common tax-saving measures that might make your return less alarming at this time next year. Consider these: Adjust your withholding. Nothing hurts worse than having to dig into your pocket to come up with cash for Uncle Sam. If you have underpaid your taxes during the year by $1,000 or more, you could be subject to a penalty.

Baltimoresun.com's tax advice column features three experts from the Hunt Valley accounting firm SC&H Group answering questions about preparing a return. Here is an edited excerpt of this week's column: I am already claiming my two kids and myself. I always get a refund at tax time. How can I readjust my taxes so that I get more every pay [period] and do away with the year-end refund? I am in the process of purchasing a home, and the extra money could go to mortgage payments. - Dexter, Baltimore You should increase the number of withholding allowances you are claiming on your wage income, which will decrease the amount of tax withheld from each paycheck.

Q. I read your article arguing that people shouldn't be glad to be getting a tax refund because it is really a lousy deal. My husband and I have been getting a tax refund of about $6,000 for several years. We've used it for vacations before but recently to pay off debts (don't ask). We are now thinking of having less money withheld from his paycheck. However, last year my sister decided to change her W-4 form at work to have less money withheld and, instead of getting her usual huge refund, the IRS decided they didn't take near enough from her and she ended up owing more than $2,000.

NATIONAL School win recruiting battle A federal appeals court yesterday barred the Defense Department from withholding funds from colleges and universities that deny access to military recruiters. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a decade-old federal law which allows withholding funds infringes on the free speech rights of schools that wish to limit on-campus recruiting in response to the military's ban on homosexuals. [Page 3a Army helicopter crash kills 7 An Army Black Hawk carrying seven soldiers crashed and burned in Texas yesterday after hitting a web of support wires on a television transmission tower whose warning lights had been knocked out in a storm last week, officials said.

Though Maryland officials closed the last fiscal year with a $300 million surplus, Howard County took in just $750,000 more than expected last fiscal year, budget director Raymond S. Wacks revealed last week. But Wacks and finance director Sharon Greisz said the year-end bonus, while small compared with annual county surpluses of $6 million to $12 million before the recession, is one signal of brightening fiscal fortunes. The budget year ended June 30, but figures became available last week.

If you are one of the millions of taxpayers who got a refund this year, you've probably been chided for giving the federal government an interest-free loan. You may view that refund, which has averaged $2,063, as an automatic savings plan, but it doesn't earn you a cent in interest. And if you would rather mind your own money, then you will want to reduce how much your employer withholds in federal taxes from your paycheck. At www.irs.gov, they'll do the calculations for you. You'll need a recent pay stub and your last income tax return.

YOU COULD ALMOST hear the hoofbeats as Mayor Martin O'Malley arrived at a City Hall press conference yesterday to announce that a deal had been struck to lend the school system the $16 million it needs to keep going - and just in the nick of time. Only hours remained before the school board was to meet and decide whether to impose furloughs, pay cuts or widespread layoffs on the city's teachers. It was crisis management, and the results are laudable - though Baltimoreans might wonder why it had to come to this.