Rise up: Gasoline prices are set to start rising again in the spring and summer to mark the seasonal shift to a busier driving season with more expensive summer-grade fuels. As FuelFix.com reports, late February typically marks the time when many of the nation’s oil refineries undergo seasonal maintenance to begin churning out the more costly, cleaner-burning gasoline types that are less prone to evaporation during the hotter summer months. Most parts of the country will see prices peak at under $3 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. While that’s cheaper that some previous years, it still represents higher pricing than the past two years. Read the full story.
Bowing out: Andrew Puzder says he is withdrawing as President Donald Trump’s nominee for labor secretary, The Associated Press reports. The fast food executive says in a statement provided to The AP that he was “honored to have been considered by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Labor and put America’s workers and businesses back on a path to sustainable prosperity.” Puzder says “while I won’t be serving in the administration, I fully support the President and his highly qualified team.” Puzder’s confirmation hearing was scheduled for Thursday. But some Republicans had raised concerns about his failure to pay taxes for five years on a former housekeeper who wasn’t authorized to work in the U.S. Puzder is CEO of CKE Restaurants Inc. Read the full story.
Giving a break: The Internal Revenue Service says it will not systematically reject income tax returns that fail to disclose whether the tax filers have health insurance, as the Affordable Care Act requires. CNBC reports the IRS quietly made the move on Feb. 6 in response to an executive order by President Donald Trump. The order authorized federal agencies to lower the financial burden of complying with ACA rules. The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has since 2014 has required nearly all Americans to have some form of health coverage or pay a tax penalty. The IRS decision had reportedly been disclosed two weeks ago to tax preparation companies, but was not publicly announced. The IRS today noted that tax filers remain responsible for any Obamacare penalty they owe. Read more.
