Tax Legislative Activity
Senate Finance Chairman Announces Drafts to be in Legislative Language
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) announced last week that tax reform discussion drafts to be released in the coming weeks will be written in legislative language.
This suggests that the drafts will be detailed, allowing for a full public preview of comprehensive tax reform priorities, particularly with respect to scaling back tax expenditures. Chairman Baucus indicated that the 10 tax reform option papers released earlier this spring and summer have been helpful in shaping the draft legislative language that will be released.
Democratic Senators Call for Sector-by-Sector Analysis of Tax Reform
Four Democratic Senators, Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Robert Casey (D-PA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) have penned a letter to the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) calling for the JCT to prepare a sector-by-sector analysis of comprehensive tax reform draft proposals that could affect the economy.
Tax Regulatory Activity
Treasury Issues Final Regulations on Nonrecognition Treatment for Swaps
On Tuesday, November 5, Treasury issued final regulations on the transfer or assignment of derivatives contracts. The final regulations provide guidance to the nonassigning counterparty to a derivatives contract and an assignee on certain notional principal contracts that are derivatives contracts.
IRS Updates FATCA Intergovernmental Agreements
Quietly, on November 4, 2013, the IRS updated the drafts of the intergovernmental agreements (IGAs). Work continues as the United States looks to move forward on coming to an agreement with other nations on either a Model 1 or Model 2 IGA. So far, the United States has reached an agreement with nine countries.
