On Tax Day, an extension may be better than rushing a return
WASHINGTON (AP) — Monday is Tax Day, the federal deadline for individual tax filings and payments. The IRS expects to receive tens of millions of last-minute filings electronically and through paper forms. The executive director of the National Society of Tax Professionals, Nina Tross, says if people haven’t filed their taxes by now they’re better off filing an extension. Tross adds that filing an extension has “zero effect” as long as filers have paid their income taxes by Tax Day. Tross warns that rushing a return to meet the deadline only to have to amend it later is likely to draw a second look by the IRS.
Biden to require US-made steel, iron for infrastructure
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is taking a key step to ensure federal dollars will support U.S. manufacturing. New guidance issued Monday will require material for projects like bridges, highways and broadband internet funded by last year’s infrastructure package be produced in the U.S. Waivers can be granted if the material costs too much or cannot be sufficiently provided by domestic factories. Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, President Joe Biden hopes to create more jobs, ease supply chain strains and reduce the reliance on China. He’s betting that more domestic production will ultimately reduce price pressures to blunt Republican attacks that his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package triggered higher prices.
Congress seeks compromise to boost computer chip industry
WASHINGTON (AP) — A global computer chip shortage has made it harder for consumers to get their hands on cars, computers and other modern-day necessities. Congress is looking to boost chip manufacturing and research in the United States with billions of federal dollars. Both the House and the Senate have passed major legislation on the matter. The bills are one of the final opportunities before the November elections for lawmakers to show they are addressing strained supply chains. But there are big differences between the two bills. Democrats will need support from at least 10 Republican senators to get a bill signed into law.
Bank of America Q1 profits fall 12%, much less than rivals
NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America posted a 12% decline in first-quarter profits from a year earlier, a decline that was much less than the ones its rivals had reported the previous week. The nation’s second-largest bank was helped by higher net interest income and modest exposure to Russian assets. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank said it earned of $7.1 billion, or 80 cents a share, compared with $8.05 billion, or 86 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. The results were better than what analysts had forecasted, according to FactSet.
Mexican leader fails to pass limits on foreign energy firms
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has failed to get enough votes to pass a constitutional reform limiting private and foreign firms in the electrical power industry. The reforms would have undone much of the market opening in power generation carried out by his predecessor in 2013. The lower house of Congress voted 275 to 223 in favor of the measure, but that was well short of the 333 votes needed for constitutional changes. The vote marked one of the few legislative setbacks López Obrador has suffered since taking office in late 2018. But he has vowed to submit separately a bill that would nationalize the mining of lithium.
France: EU fraud agency investigating candidate Le Pen
PARIS (AP) — Paris prosecutors are studying a report by the EU fraud agency accusing French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen of misusing public funds while serving in the European Parliament. The report also names other members of her nationalist party, which seeks to diminish the EU’s powers. The report was disclosed by French investigative news site Mediapart days before Le Pen faces incumbent Emmanuel Macron in a runoff election Sunday that could determine Europe’s future direction. The party’s lawyer says Le Pen denies wrongdoing. Macron, a pro-EU centrist, leads Le Pen in polls ahead of Sunday’s vote. But the race is tighter than when he beat her in the 2017 runoff.
Justices reject states’ appeal over cap on tax deductibility
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected a challenge from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland to the 2017 tax law that capped federal tax deductions for state and local taxes. The lawsuit had previously been dismissed by lower courts. The suit argued that the Republican-led tax law, signed by then-President Donald Trump, unfairly singled out high-tax states in which Democrats predominate. The law caps a deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT, at $10,000. The lawsuit claimed lawmakers crafted the provision to target Democratic states, interfering with the states’ constitutionally granted taxing authority. Legislation to raise the cap has passed the House but not the Senate.
Tesla stockholders ask judge to silence Musk in fraud case
DETROIT (AP) — A group of Tesla shareholders suing CEO Elon Musk over some 2018 tweets about taking the company private is asking a federal judge to order Musk to stop commenting on the case. The lawyers also say the judge in the case has ruled that Musk’s tweets about having “funding secured” to take Tesla private were false. They allege that the tweets manipulated Tesla’s stock price and cost them money. Musk said Thursday that he had the money to take Tesla private, and he agreed to settle only because bankers told him he had to or they would stop lending money. But the stockholders’ lawyers say Musk is trying to influence potential jurors. Musk’s lawyer says he truthfully tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private and could have done it.
Wall Street opens mixed after long holiday weekend in US
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are mixed in the early going on Wall Street Monday as traders get back to work after a holiday weekend. The S&P 500 was up 0.2%. The benchmark index is coming off its second weekly loss in a row. Banks and other financial companies were in focus as more of them reported their latest quarterly reports. Bank of America rose 2% after turning in results that beat forecasts and were better than its competitors, while Schwab sank 9% after turning in a weaker-than-expected quarterly report. Twitter headed lower after the company adopted a takeover defense against Tesla CEO Elon Musk.