Will a South Dakota GOP congresswoman make the House add an online sales tax to the omnibus spending bill? National Journal reports that Republican Rep. Kristi Noem may force a vote on the House floor on a bill that would allow states to require companies to collect online sales tax no matter the location of a company. Said Noem of Speaker Paul Ryan’s reluctance to add the bill to the spending package due next week, “If this doesn’t get done in the omni, I’m going to have to use whatever tool is available to get it on the floor.”
What about energy-related “tax extenders?” The House Ways & Means Committee began reviewing tax breaks that expired in 2017 this week. Some of these breaks have been renewed regularly, including those affecting renewable energy, motorsports and horse racing. Washington Democrat and Senate Finance Committee member Maria Cantrell hopes that renewable energy tax credits are in the omnibus spending bill, reports TaxNotes (paywall). The problem is: Can Congress agree on whether and how to offset their cost?
Speaking of cost: CRFB says servicing debt will overtake spending on defense by 2024. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has a new report that also finds that debt servicing will require more money than Medicaid by 2021. Under current law, by 2028 annual interest payments will grow to $965 billion. That will reflect 3.3 percent of GDP, the highest level of spending devoted to interest payments on record. If there’s a “phase 2” of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and Congress makes individual income tax cuts permanent, the cost of servicing the debt will climb to $1.05 trillion by 2028, or 3.6 percent of GDP, making debt servicing the fastest-growing category in government spending.
Next week on the Hill, in addition to a spending bill. The Senate Budget Committee will review the Economic Report of the President on Wednesday, March 21. Kevin Hassett, Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, will testify before the committee.
Five of Michigan’s eight gubernatorial candidates have released their tax returns. Saying the public deserves to know even though the state does not require it, Republican candidates Dr. Jim Hines and Lt. Governor Brian Calley and Democratic candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed released their 2016 tax returns this week. They join Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette and former Democratic legislative leader Gretchen Whitmer in the disclosure. Two other Democratic candidates, Shri Thanedar and Bill Cobbs, have not released their tax returns, nor has Republican Patrick Colbeck. Colbeck says nobody has asked him to disclose his returns, while his spokesperson added, “The media assumes that somehow this is an indicator of how a candidate will act in office.”
The European Union may levy a new 3 percent digital tax. Claiming that US tech companies are not paying their fair share of taxes, the EU may tax companies with more than 100,000 users in Europe in three ways by taxing advertising revenues, fees from digital subscribers, and revenue from firms selling digital data to third parties. All 28 EU members must approve the plan. Low-tax countries like Ireland may object.
The Russians are coming… or, are already here. Hackers from nations including Russia and Romania have had a hand in the publication of about two-thirds of the US tax returns available on the “dark web.” Cybersecurity consultancy Kroll reports that it found 4,268 tax forms on the dark web in the first quarter of 2017. That’s the time period during which employers send workers their W-2 forms and individuals prepare to file their taxes. Only one-third of the forms could be sourced to US hackers.
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