Legislative Activity Senate to Consider Business Tax Reform Proposals Following multiple hearings on tax reform thus far this year in the House Ways and Means Committee, this week the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on business tax reform. During the hearing, the difference between Republican and Democrat approaches to taxing corporate income, including … 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
Legislative Activity Baucus Confirmed as Ambassador to China Last week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) was confirmed by the Senate to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to China. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) will assume the committee chairmanship, with speculation that the empty committee seat will be filled by Mark Warner (D-VA), although … Continue Reading
Tax Legislative Activity Uncertainty as to Timing on Extenders While Senate Democrats have suggested the possibility of taking up tax extenders early this year, Senate Republicans, including Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT), have indicated that movement on a bill may not occur within such an ambitious timeframe. The House has not shown … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity Iran As of last Friday, January 10, the bipartisan Senate bill (S. 1881) to increase sanctions on Iran had reportedly garnered a filibuster-proof majority – at least 60 Members supporting it. While speculation is high as to when the bill will come to the Senate floor, many expect the bill … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity Trade The second session of the 113th Congress convenes today. On December 20, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Sen. Baucus (D-MT) as U.S. Ambassador to China. Sen. Baucus has yet to undergo the Senate confirmation process but it is expected he will be confirmed to the position. House … 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
Tax Legislative Activity Congressman Says Tax Extenders Could be Handled this Spring Representative Richard Neal (D-MA), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, stated that if comprehensive reform stalls, the committee could take up tax extenders “sometime around February or March.” Tax extenders are provisions that are due to expire at the end … 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 Baucus Releases Final Proposal on Cost Recovery and Accounting On Thursday, November 21, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) issued his final release in a series of staff discussion drafts to reform the nation’s tax code, this one on cost recovery and accounting. Proposal Summary In making the case for reforming … Continue Reading
Tax Legislative Activity Baucus Releases Second Proposal on Tax Administration On Wednesday, November 20, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) released the second in his series of staff discussion drafts to reform the nation’s tax code, this one on tax administration. In making the case for reforming the rules regarding tax administration, Chairman Baucus … Continue Reading
Tax Legislative Activity Baucus Releases International Reform Proposal On Tuesday, November 19, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) released a staff discussion draft on international business tax reform. In his statement, Chairman Baucus indicated that today’s international reform draft is intended to be revenue neutral, but reiterated his position that, as a whole, tax … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Comprehensive Tax Reform to be Delayed House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) acknowledged last week that plans to overhaul the nation’s tax code may not make it out of committee this year. Although Chairman Camp remained hopeful, he pointed to the government shutdown as slowing momentum and demurred when asked whether … 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
Tax Legislative Activity Senate Finance to Release Tax Reform Proposals Last week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) announced that he intends to release tax reform discussion drafts in the coming weeks. Despite a considerable amount of speculation, the focus and level of specificity of the drafts remain unclear. Chairman Baucus has indicated that “anything’s … Continue Reading
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY FARM BILL On Saturday, September 28, in its fast-track rule to consider the continuing resolution, the House approved (by a vote of 226-191) a rule to merge its “agriculture-only” bill and the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013 (H.R. 3102), which would cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Update Last week, Senate Appropriations Committee members added a provision in the Senate FY 2014 State-Foreign Operations spending bill that seeks to sanction any nation that grants asylum to Edward Snowden, a former U.S. contractor facing felony charges in the U.S. for having leaked U.S. surveillance secrets. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senators Submit Tax Reform Letters to Finance Committee; Promised 50 Year Secrecy on Tax Expenditure Submissions Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) asked their Senate colleagues on June 27 to provide proposals in response to a “blank-slate” approach (i.e., assuming elimination of all tax expenditures from … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Tax Writing Committee Continues Meetings on Reform The Senate Finance Committee has continued its series of closed-door Committee meetings on tax reform, recently issuing its tenth and final option paper on non-income tax issues and related reforms. A list of all the option papers published is available here. Senate Finance Committee Chairman … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity Syria During last week’s Congressional recess, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) slipped over the Turkish border into Syria to meet with the leaders of the Free Syrian Army. Syrian opposition leaders reportedly called on the United States to increase its support by providing heavy weapons, instituting a no-fly zone and employing … Continue Reading
