Legislative Activity Infrastructure Bill Could be Packaged with Tax Reform There has been considerable discussion on the Hill and in the Trump Administration about the prospects of combining a large-scale infrastructure bill with comprehensive tax reform. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin recently met with the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Administration Indicates Turn to Tax Reform after Healthcare Fails, Potentially Moving Up Focus on Infrastructure The Trump Administration has indicated it will now turn to a comprehensive tax reform effort, as the House Republican’s healthcare reform proposal failed last week. The high-profile American Health Care Act (AHCA) failure showed starkly the divisions within … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congressional Tax-Writers Press on With Tax Reform Proposals This week, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy, chaired by Representative Charles Boustany (R-LA), will hold a hearing to examine Member proposals to improve the current U.S. tax system. This hearing is part of a series of hearings on tax reform and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax –Writers Plan to Put Out Comprehensive Blueprint by June Last Friday, April 15 (i.e., Tax Day), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) confirmed that the Tax Reform Task Force (set up earlier in the year by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI)) plans to release a comprehensive tax reform “blueprint” by … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity With Tax Extenders (Mostly) Behind Them, Tax-Writers Likely to Focus on International Tax Reform With Congress (somewhat unexpectedly) having enacted permanent tax extender legislation prior to adjourning the first session of the 114th Congress, tax-writers are now expected to move forward with their efforts on international tax reform – though the substance and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Finance Committee Tax Reform Working Groups Release Reports Last week, on Tuesday, July 8, the Senate Finance Committee released the long-awaited reports from its five bipartisan Tax Reform Working Groups, which were formed to “spur congressional comprehensive tax reform efforts in the 114th Congress.” The groups focused on: (1) Individual Income Tax; … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Republicans Focus on Small Businesses, Democrats Target Tax “Loopholes” Following a busy week for tax-writers – which included several hearings on “Tax Day” to address tax reform and the potential impact on small businesses – there is growing discussion about the possibility of pursuing business-only tax reform. To that end, Senate Finance Committee … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax Reform Working Groups to Accept Public Comments on Tax Reform Per prior coverage, the Senate Finance Committee has formed five Working Groups to “spur congressional comprehensive tax reform efforts in the 114th Congress,” including groups focused on: (1) Individual Income Tax; (2) Business Income Tax; (3) International Tax; (4) Savings and Investment; … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Ways and Means Votes to Permanently Extend Seven Tax Extenders, Finance Zeroes in on Getting to Tax Reform On Wednesday, February 3, the House Ways and Means Committee held a markup of seven bills to permanently extend certain tax provisions, including section 179 business expensing and various charitable provisions. During the 113th Congress, … Continue Reading
As was previewed in the President’s State of the Union Address, the Administration’s FY 2016 Budget includes approximately US$640 billion in proposed new revenue raisers, aimed largely at investment income, large financial institutions, and offshore income. This additional revenue would “invest in helping working families make their paychecks go further, preparing hardworking Americans to earn … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President Obama to Unveil FY 2016 Budget Later today, President Obama is set to unveil his FY 2016 Budget (Budget). We anticipate that the Budget will include various proposals previewed in President Obama’s State of the Union Address. Squire Patton Boggs will release a comprehensive Budget analysis in the days following. Senate Finance … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President Obama, Secretary Lew Outline Tax Reform Proposals As mentioned in previous coverage of the State of the Union Address, President Obama has proposed approximately $320 billion in new taxes, aimed largely at investment income and large financial institutions, with revenues raised from these proposals to be dedicated principally to a new or … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Early Outlook for Tax Activity in Congress As Congress returns to Washington, tax writers will prepare to move forward on several different fronts. As anticipated in our prior coverage, lawmakers were able to pass tax extenders legislation before the 113th Congress adjourned. The legislation, however, only provided a one-year retroactive extension of the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers to Focus on Certain Elements of Tax Reform This week, lawmakers are set to focus on various aspects of tax reform. On the Senate side, the Finance Committee will hold a hearing on reforming the retirement savings system, as well as a hearing on reforming energy tax incentives. In the House, Members … Continue Reading
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY House Tax Overhaul House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) has told GOP panel members he will release a “comprehensive discussion draft” this week of a tax code rewrite. While getting a major change in tax law this year is widely considered to be a long shot, this marks a turning … Continue Reading
Tax Legislative Activity January 1 Passes and Tax Extenders Allowed to Expire No agreement was reached by January 1, 2014 on renewing many tax code provisions that expired on December 31, 2013. These provisions, commonly referred to as “tax extenders”, include the research and development credit, wind credit and the exception for active financing, among … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Chairman Camp Announces Tax Reform Delay House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) stated last week that comprehensive tax reform legislation will not be circulated this year. The Chairman had aimed to release a comprehensive reform draft this year for markup in committee, but other occurrences like the government shutdown had slowed … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
