Warren’s Medicare for All “Employer Medicare Contribution” is a distortionary and regressive tax. TPC’s Len Burman explains why. He also suggests options to improve the plan: “Add the charge to Medicare payroll taxes, which would be much more progressive.” Or better yet, “the best choice would be to finance government insurance via a broad-based tax, which could be made even more progressive.”
TCJA may cost even more than previously thought. TPC’s Ben Page considers a recent Congressional Budget Office review of its declining revenue projections. He explains that “the evolution of CBO’s projections suggests that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) may cost considerably more in foregone revenue than was originally forecast.” For example, CBO has lowered its projection of corporate taxes by $400 billion over 10 years and of individual income taxes by $100 billion.
How would the Supreme Court rule in New York’s efforts to subpoena President Trump’s tax returns? NBC News notes that past high court rulings have upheld subpoenas directed at presidents. In a case that Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow vows to take to the Supreme Court, Manhattan prosecutors have subpoenaed Trump’s tax records from an accounting firm, not the president. While the Justice Dept. has adopted a policy that sitting presidents cannot be charged with crimes, the Supreme Court never has declared investigations off-limits.
The IRS has its auditing eye on companies with offshore profits. BloombergTax reports that the agency has made the levies companies owe on their accumulated offshore earnings an area of focus for its auditors. The IRS earlier noted that the TCJA’s Section 965 repatriation tax payments are ripe for abuse if companies try to reduce tax bills by minimizing foreign profits.
How did “death taxes” become so unpopular? Tax Historian Joe Thorndike, in an interview with TaxNotes, tells the story of how estate and inheritance taxes ultimately fell out of favor—even when so few ultimately pay them.
If your product ships out of a state and you didn’t know, do you still have to collect sales tax? California says you do. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on California’s attempt to collect taxes from a Philadelphia area Amazon seller. He could owe as much as $1.6 million in sales tax that he did not collect. Those sales occurred on Amazon, and Amazon had stored its goods in a California warehouse. He didn’t know that — until he got the tax bill.
For the latest tax news, subscribe to the Tax Policy Center’s Daily Deduction. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekdays at 8:00 am (Mondays only when Congress is in recess). We welcome tips on new research or other news. Email Renu Zaretsky at [email protected].
