Daily Deduction Investigations, Platforms, And Tax Bills
Renu Zaretsky
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Senate Finance Committee Republicans ask IRS and TIGTA to investigate reports of IRS employee misconduct. The panel’s top, Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, is leading the effort. In a letter to the IRS, the lawmakers request information on allegations of “heavy-handed IRS misconduct” when investigating taxpayers. The senators also sent a letter to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) requesting an investigation of one alleged incident of IRS misconduct and taxpayer intimidation.

House Ways & Means Republicans would use BEAT rules against countries that adopt a global minimum corporate tax. Politico reports on the plan developed by Ways & Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) and Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS). The proposal relies on Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) rules first put in place by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It would levy a 10 percent tax on the income of a US-based company that sends payments to a foreign affiliate, if the affiliate is operating in a country following the under-taxed profit rule, the main enforcement tool in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s global minimum tax proposal.

No labels? No details. TPC’s Howard Gleckman reviews the fiscal policy outlined in No Labels’ 63-page platform. While the group has highly specific ideas for some issues, its fiscal policy plans include few ideas. Notably, its “Common Sense” agenda makes no mention of whether to extend individual income tax cuts that will expire in 2025 or such an extension might be paid for. “Its fiscal platform delivers little more than its own version of the usual vague political promises we’ve gotten from Democrats and Republicans,” Howard writes.

With a $1.1 billion state budget surplus, Arkansas Gov. Sanders has not ruled out tax cuts. Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has not ruled out calling a special legislative session to consider income tax cuts. Arkansas ended its fiscal year June 30 with a budget surplus just north of $1 billion. In April, Sanders signed a bill that cut individual and corporate income taxes by $124 million annually. 

Wisconsin lawmakers propose eliminating nearly all state taxes on retirement income. In response to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ veto of $4 billion in tax cuts, two Republican state legislators introduced a bill with some Democratic support. Single taxpayers age 67 or older would be exempt from paying taxes on the first $100,000 of annual retirement income; joint filers in that age group would be exempt from tax on the first $150,000 of annual income. An analysis of an earlier version proposal estimated over 240,000 filers would receive a total tax cut of $422.2 million in 2024, with an average tax break of $1,749 per filer. About half of the revenue would go to those making less than $100,000 per year. 

Food for thought if you’re a $1 billion lottery winner… The Powerball jackpot is now up to $1 billion. A winner taking a lump-sum payment would immediately pay $124 million in federal income taxes, with additional taxes owed at tax filing time. 

 

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