Democrats, Biden, and tax hikes on businesses and the rich. The New York Times takes a deeper look at President Biden’s infrastructure proposals and how he’d pay for them. Will congressional Democrats and the White House agree on how sharply taxes should rise and who, exactly, should pay the bill?
A preview of the political battle over corporate taxes. At last week’s Senate Finance Committee hearing on international taxation, Democrats charged the minimum tax provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are too weak and still encourage US firms to shift profits to lower tax countries. Republicans insisted the TCJA’s GILTI minimum tax is unnecessarily onerous and makes US firms uncompetitive. They say they’d oppose moves to make it even tougher.
Senate confirms Adeyamo. Last week the Senate confirmed Wally Adeyemo to be deputy secretary of the Treasury. He is the department’s first Black number two official.
High stakes for Treasury ARP guidance on state tax cuts. TPC’s Richard Auxier reviews the broad nature of the American Rescue Plan’s curbs on states using ARP financial support to cut taxes. The language is so broad that all 50 states eagerly await official guidance from Treasury on what they can and cannot do. Richard outlines what states want to cut taxes and the very different fiscal circumstances they face.
Some taxpayers may be able to deduct PPE expenses. The IRS announced that taxpayers who’ve spent at least 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income on personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes “for the primary purpose” of curbing the pandemic can deduct those costs from their taxes. Taxpayers can also use funds from certain tax-exempt health savings accounts for PPE.
Slemrod and Keen on this week’s episode of The Prescription: Joel Slemrod, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan and Michael Keen, Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs at the International Monetary Fund will be this week’s guests on TPC’s webcast The Prescription. They are co-authors of the new book “Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue,” an entertaining look at what they call the sometimes weird, sometimes gruesome but always fascinating history of taxation from ancient times to today. Register here to tune into the virtual event on Thursday at Noon.
TPC’s Lubick Symposium on April 7: Can the IRS administer a complicated tax system on its budget? The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) faces extraordinary challenges in administering a complicated tax code, made more daunting by a decade of large funding cuts. The fifth annual Donald C. Lubick Symposium will feature Maurice Foley, chief judge of the United States Tax Court. He will be followed by a panel of experts who will discuss the impact of the IRS’s budget cuts on its compliance programs for large businesses. Learn more and register here for the noontime event.
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