A Trump dump of tax returns will come soon, maybe… GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump says he plans to release his “very big” tax returns “probably over the next few months.” He says he tries to pay as little as possible because of the way government spends his money. Speaking of government spending: Without very large spending cuts, Trump’s tax plan “could increase the national debt by nearly 80 percent of gross domestic product by 2036.”
And speaking of spending cuts… House GOP leaders are trying to smooth friction within the party about how much spending they’d support in the 2017 budget. Last fall’s deal between the White House and then-Speaker John Boehner allowed for $112 billion in increased spending above the old sequester caps. But some GOP hard-liners want to roll that back by $30 billion. Speaker Paul Ryan, Boehner’s replacement, gets to sort it out.
A very masculine debate on taxing a very feminine product—and some others. In Utah, all the members of the House tax committee happen to be men. But they’ll review a bill sponsored by Democratic state Representative Susan Duckworth that would exempt feminine hygiene products, as well as adult incontinence products and children's diapers, from the state’s sales tax. The exemption could cost the state $1 million next year. Duckworth admits the chances of her bill getting through the GOP-controlled legislature are slim, but she’s not planning to give up.
Hacked: The IRS. Shortly after the start of tax filing season, criminals used stolen personal information and an automated “bot” to compromise the agency’s electronic filing system. They tried to collect IRS personal identification numbers—used to verify identities when filing online— for more than 464,000 stolen Social Security numbers and succeeded with 101,000. The IRS says criminals did not steal any other taxpayer information. The agency will notify affected taxpayers by snail mail, not email.
Today on the Hill. The Senate Finance Committee hears from Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell on the President’s fiscal year 2017 budget.
And tonight on television, or in person, in Milwaukee… Another Democratic debate! Presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will, perhaps, promote their respective tax plans. Or not. If they don’t, at least you can.
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