There’s been little headway on coronavirus relief. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talked again on Friday, and again made little progress on a new stimulus bill. House Democrats, who passed a $3 trillion relief bill three months ago, say they would bring their top-line number down to $2.2 trillion. Pelosi insists she does not support anything less than that. Meadows reportedly says he won’t go higher than $1.3 trillion, up a bit from earlier offers.
Trump’s tax policy is bullet-point list, again. TPC’s Howard Gleckman reports that President Trump’s second-term tax agenda is nothing more than 5 bullet points: Cut taxes to boost take-home pay and keep jobs in America; ”Made in America" tax credits; expand Opportunity Zones; tax credits for companies that bring back jobs from China; allow 100-percent expensing deductions for essential industries. While aides promise more details, it is unlikely Trump will be much more forthcoming over the remaining 2 months of the campaign.
IRS: Employers will need to collect payroll taxes after Trump’s deferral ends. IRS issued guidance late Friday to fill in Trump ‘s Aug. 8 executive order calling on employers to defer collecting their employees’ portion of the payroll tax. Employers that defer the tax collections from Sept. 1 through year’s end will need to collect unpaid taxes starting on Jan. 1 and remit them by April 30. Employers “may make arrangements to otherwise collect the total applicable taxes from the employee.”
Tune in Thursday to The Prescription. In the next conversation in the TPC series this Thursday at noon, former IRS commissioner Charles Rossotti will talk with TPC’s Howard Gleckman (@howard_gleckman) about the agency’s challenges during the pandemic and its ability to increase federal revenues by modernizing tax administration and compliance.
New Jersey’s gasoline tax will climb by 9 cents per gallon in October. The increase will bring the tax to 50.7 cents a gallon. It results from a 2016 law that requires the state fund for bridge and road infrastructure to maintain a $2 billion annual balance. Gasoline consumption dropped by 39 percent from March to May during the coronavirus outbreak, leading to a decline in fuel tax receipts.
Alabama’s online sales tax receipts help keep local governments afloat. The state’s 8-percent tax on online sales has generated strong year-over-year revenue growth for municipal and county governments. It has so far generated $309 million for the fiscal year ending September 30—nearly doubling the $155.1 million in online sales tax revenue generated last year.
Members of each chamber of Congress will be in their home districts until Congress and the White House reach a deal on coronavirus relief. Barring such a deal, the Daily Deduction will post Mondays only until September.
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