Legislative Activity Lawmakers Look at Specific Tax Policy Priorities with an Eye Toward Tax Reform in 2017 With the House last week having passed various targeted pieces of tax legislation, it is clear that much of the rest of this Congress will be devoted to more narrow asks, though continued efforts in anticipation of tax … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity As June Nears, Tax-Writers Press Forward with Tax Reform Proposals Following last week’s Senate Finance Committee hearing to discuss Chairman Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) “corporate integration” proposal as relates to the pros and cons of a dividends paid deduction regime, this week, on Tuesday, May 24, the Committee will hold its second in a … 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 House Tax-Writers Continue Moving Forward with Work on Tax Reform This week, on Wednesday, April 13, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy will hold a hearing to continue the Committee’s efforts to examine “fundamental tax reform proposals.” In March, Ways and Means Committee members examined legislative proposals related to cash-flow … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity International Tax Reform v. Inversions Following up on Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) recent acknowledgment that his “corporate integration” proposal has been delayed, at least by “a few weeks,” it now appears that the House Ways and Means Committee may miss its self-imposed goal of March 31 by which to release … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity “Corporate Integration” Proposal Delayed As the House Ways and Means Committee continues moving forward with its international tax reform proposal, last week the Senate Finance Committee indicated that its “corporate integration” proposal has been delayed. The proposal, which would lower the effective rate for corporations by eliminating a double layer of taxation, is … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Democratic Tax-Writers Remain Focused on Inversions, Despite Push for International Tax Reform Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee held its first hearing on international tax reform this session. During the hearing, Members and witnesses discussed the need for tax reform, the benefits and challenges that come from doing international tax reform … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Continue Push for International Tax Reform As part of House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady’s (R-TX) continued commitment to moving forward with international tax reform – at least to some extent – this Congress, on Wednesday, February 24, the Committee will hold a hearing to discuss international tax reform. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Tax Writers to Hold Retreat as Senator Hatch Hatches His Own Plan for Reform After being delayed due to winter weather, the House Ways and Means Committee is set to hold its retreat this week. As expected, the retreat will afford Republican tax-writers an opportunity to flesh out their agenda for the … 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 Tax-Writers Begin to Focus on BEPS, Tax Extenders Still Remain Though international tax reform negotiations may have fallen apart for 2015, tax-writers this week will hold their first hearings to address efforts by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to counter corporate tax avoidance as part of more than two years … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Lawmakers Schedule Markup of Transportation Bill Without Revenue Provisions Last week, on Friday, October 16, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released a six-year, $325 billion highway funding bill (the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015); a markup of the legislation is scheduled for Thursday, October 22. Notably, while the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Releases Highway Bill, Markup Scheduled This Week On Friday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) released its long-awaited surface transportation reauthorization bill and scheduled the markup of the bill for this Thursday, October 22. The House provides six years of authorizations from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity International Tax Reform-Highway Funding Negotiations Stall Following months of coordination between House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and senior Senate Finance Committee member Chuck Schumer (D-NY) regarding tying international tax reform to highway funding, aides for the two lawmakers last week announced that negotiations had stalled as a result of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax Reform Still in Ryan’s Sights Despite Boehner’s Departure Last week, following the sudden announcement by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) that he would be stepping down from Congress at the end of October, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and various other Committee members quickly confirmed that the Committee … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax-Writers May Punt Highway Bill…Again On July 29, just prior to adjourning, the House overwhelmingly approved a three-month compromise highway spending bill. This three-month extension, which also costs $8 billion and expires on October 29, was passed with hopes that both chambers will now have sufficient time to negotiate a compromise on tax … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Process All But Over, CR Likely The appropriations process is almost certainly over and when Congress returns from the August recess there will be just ten legislative days before federal funding runs out, hardly enough time to negotiate a budget deal or an omnibus spending bill. As anticipated, Congress will likely pass … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax-Writers Running Out of Time on Highway Bill Following the passage last week of the House’s $8 billion five-month highway patch, the Senate continues to remain focused on moving forward with its own bill, which provides for a six year highway reauthorization and three years’ worth of funding (more than $47 billion), with … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax-Writers Running Out of Time on Highway Bill Last week, the House of Representatives passed by a vote of 312-119 an $8 billion five-month highway patch that includes various tax compliance-related pay-fors, which themselves raise nearly $5 billion. If the House is successful in getting the Senate to agree to its short-term extension … 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 Deadline for Senate Finance Committee Working Groups’ Proposals Nears, Talk of International Tax Reform Continues After being delayed for a second time, the Senate Finance Committee Tax Reform Working Groups are expected to submit their reports to the full Committee on Tuesday, July 7. Presently, it is unclear the extent to which (if … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Concerned with BEPS, International Tax Reform Moves Forward Last week, G-7 leaders (i.e., finance ministers and central bank governors from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) met in Germany to renew their commitment to coming together on a “feasible” proposal to address base erosion and profit … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Vote on Repealing Medical Device Tax House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced last week that the House plans to take up legislation to eliminate the excise tax on medical devices during the week of June 15. The Protect Medical Innovation Act (H.R. 160), which was introduced by Representative Erik Paulsen … Continue Reading
