Tennessee Senator slows amendment debate after CBO report on deficits. Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty opposed the bipartisan infrastructure bill because of a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score finding it would increase the deficit by $256 billion. The bipartisan group of senators who developed the deal said it would be fully offset. Said Hagerty, “There’s no purpose in my view to allow an acceleration of that given what has happened here.”

A bigger speed bump: Cryptocurrency tax reporting. The Washington Post reports on a coalition of liberals and conservatives who object to a provision of the infrastructure bill that would require tax reporting by cryptocurrency brokers. There are now two competing amendments to the infrastructure bill that would affect the tax reporting provision: An amendment proposed by  Sens. Ron Wyden, Pat Toomey, and Cynthia Lummis and lauded by the cryptocurrency community would exclude crypto-miners and developers from the reporting requirement. Sens. Rob Portman, Mark Warner, and Kyrsten Sinema offered an amendment that slightly changes definition of “broker,” a measure called “disastrous” by the industry.

How are tax professionals doing, 18 months into a pandemic? TaxNotes interviewed tax professionals on stress and burnout in their industry. Said Jan Lewis, chair of the American Institute of CPAs’ Tax Executive Committee, “It’s not that the work is overwhelming, because it is. . . . It is just the absolute uncertainty and helplessness and not feeling in control of what we do every day.” The committee plans a task force this month to explore CPA experiences and challenges during the pandemic, “which has to include mental health,” Lewis said.

In case you missed TPC’s Prescription last week… You can watch here the conversation between Daniel Hemel and TPC’s Steve Rosenthal. They discussed the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap and other tax reform proposals. 

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].