Abandonment of Border Adjustment Tax may lead to Shallower, Shorter Tax Cuts
Posted on Jul 31, 2017 in News
The GOP’s decision to abandon the controversial border adjustment tax (BAT) increases the chances that ensuing tax cuts will be both temporary and shallower than envisioned. Without the BAT’s estimated $1 Trillion in revenue, and with no other plan to raise significant funds, analysts estimate the lowest possible revenue-neutral rate for corporate taxes is about 27%, significantly...
House Ways and Means Committee Democrats Critical of Republicans’ Joint Statement on Tax Reform
Posted on Jul 28, 2017 in News
In response to Congressional Republicans’ and the Trump Administration’s unveiling of their joint statement on taxes, several Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Committee issued condemnatory press releases: Ranking Member Richard Neal expressed his disappointment over the Republicans’ decision to exclude Democrats from the tax reform process, stating that partisan tax...
Joint Statement on Tax Reform Issued; BAT Abandoned
Posted on Jul 27, 2017 in Uncategorized
Today, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued a joint statement on tax reform that sets out a broad framework for moving forward on tax reform. Most notably,...
GOP to Release Tax Reform Framework
Posted on Jul 27, 2017 in News
The top Republican tax negotiators are expected to unveil a broad set of agreed tax reform principles prior to the Congressional recess. The anticipated framework is the result of ongoing deliberations between the “big six”: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, House Ways and Means Committee chairman Kevin Brady, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Finance Committee chairman...
President Trump Reiterates His Commitment to Lower Tax Rates on Corporations and Middle-Class Taxpayers
Posted on Jul 26, 2017 in News
In a wide-ranging interview with the Wall Street Journal, President Trump stated that his next priority, after healthcare, was tax reform that lowers corporate rates and reduces the tax burden on middle-class families. While he did not offer any new proposals on lowering individual tax rates, he stated that he was willing to consider taxing wealthier taxpayers more in order to offer a...
Opposition to Border Adjustment Tax Continues
Posted on Jul 26, 2017 in News
Critics, including the House Freedom Caucus and the Koch-brothers-backed Freedom Partners, as well as the retail, oil refining, and auto industry sectors, remain resolute in their position that tax reform legislation should not include a border adjustment tax (BAT). House Speaker Paul Ryan and Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady remain the BAT’s strongest supporters, but apprehension...
Business Community Urges Congress to Pass Tax Reform
Posted on Jul 25, 2017 in International Tax, News
Corporate America is encouraging Congress to pass tax reform legislation as quickly as possible. Amid apprehension that tax reform could experience delays similar to those facing other items on the Republican agenda, business leaders have pressed congressional leaders to move forward with a budget resolution to facilitate tax reform. Business groups will launch campaigns during...
Senator Hatch Weighing Corporate Integration System; Former Treasury Officials Testify in Favor
Posted on Jul 25, 2017 in News
The staff of Senator Hatch, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is reportedly investigating a proposal that will permit a corporation to deduct 40% of the dividends it pays to shareholders. Senator Hatch has previously promoted similar corporate integration measures—plans that eliminate or reduce the double taxation corporations face. The proposal is reportedly being explored...
Ways and Means Committee Hears Testimony on Simplifying the Broken Tax Code
Posted on Jul 21, 2017 in Pass-through Taxation, Uncategorized
On Wednesday July 19th, the House Ways and Means Tax Policy Subcommittee, led by Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam, held a hearing on tax reform, titled “How Tax Reform Will Simplify Our Broken Tax Code and Help Individual Families.” The hearing focused on individual tax reform. Subcommittee Chairman Roskam, in his opening statement, touted the introduction of a postcard-sized ...
Republicans Close to a Unified Tax Reform Framework
Posted on Jul 21, 2017 in News
House Speaker Paul Ryan, addressing an audience at the New Balance shoe factory in Massachusetts, stated that White House and Congressional leaders are nearing agreement on a tax reform framework. Speaker Ryan suggested that lowering the current corporate tax rate of 35 percent to a 20 percent rate, through the closing of loopholes and special interest deductions, is a realistic...
House Committee Approves 2018 Budget Resolution
Posted on Jul 20, 2017 in News
The House Budget Committee, with members voting along party lines, voted to send the recently introduced budget resolution to the House floor for consideration by the full chamber. Opposition is anticipated not only from Democratic members, but also from within the GOP rank and file, with Republican moderates disagreeing with the proposed steep cuts and Republican conservatives...
White House Reconsidering Corporate Tax Rate Goal
Posted on Jul 19, 2017 in News
The Trump Administration, according to White House officials and advisors, is considering a corporate tax rate of 20 percent to 25 percent. While this estimate is higher than the 15 percent rate set forth in the Administration’s one-page tax proposal issued in April, one senior administration official explained that the April figure was a starting point for negotiations, with the...
House Republicans Disclose Budget Plan
Posted on Jul 18, 2017 in Employee Benefits, News
The House GOP has unveiled its budget plan, calling for extensive cuts in federal spending, including federal employee benefits, financial industry regulations and welfare expenditures, that total over $200B. Along with anticipated accelerated economic growth, these cuts are intended to produce a balanced budget over the next decade. While divisions among the House Republicans make...
House Ways and Means Committee Plans to Permit Interest Deductions for Small Businesses
Posted on Jul 17, 2017 in News, Pass-through Taxation
Rep. Peter Roskam, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Tax Policy for the House Ways and Means Committee, has commented that they are “actively working” to exempt small businesses from the provision contemplated by the House Republican Blueprint that would deny deductions for net interest expense. The Chairman noted that they are sensitive to those who have no access to capital except...
Strategists Predict Regardless of Healthcare Reform’s Outcome, Tax Reform will Happen
Posted on Jul 17, 2017 in News
Political strategists predict a tax reform bill will be signed into law next year, regardless of the outcome of efforts to enact a healthcare bill. Their expectations are for smaller corporate and individual tax cuts than initially hoped, with a new corporate tax rate around 23 percent and individual cuts focused on the lower and middle class taxpayers. However, tax reform efforts...