Schumer: A spending deal under the tree. Congressional negotiators reached a bipartisan deal on the framework of a year-end omnibus spending deal. They agreed on top-line defense and domestic spending numbers and agency budgets could soon follow. The agreement may also include the Electoral Count Act and more funding for Ukraine. But the fate of several unresolved tax provisions remains uncertain. Congress is likely to adopt a one-week spending bill to buy time to complete a bill.
European Union reaches provisional deal on a carbon tax on imports. The deal is not yet final, but member nations are edging closer to a carbon tax on imports of polluting non-EU products, including iron and steel, cement, aluminum, fertilizers, and electricity. The tax is designed to level the playing field for EU companies that would otherwise face higher costs meeting climate targets than companies in countries without such targets, such as the US.
IRS issues (some) guidance on EV tax credits. The agency released new guidance aimed at helping automakers and dealers comply with electric vehicle tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act. But the notice does not address the highly controversial issues of how manufacturers can meet highly controversial Buy America provisions. Those requirements set off a firestorm among US trading partners in Europe and Asia, and President Biden has vowed to find a way to address their concerns.
Billionaire sues IRS over data breach. Hedge fund manager and prominent Republican donor Ken Griffin has sued the IRS and Treasury for damages from the disclosure of his tax records that were published by ProPublica. It’s not clear how the news organization received tax information on Griffin and other wealthy individuals. Griffin’s lawsuit argues the Treasury inspector general has revealed gaps in IRS information security.
TPC’s State Tax and Economic Review for the second quarter of 2022 is out. TPC’s Lucy Dadayan reports that strong growth continued in the second quarter of 2022. Tax collections increased by 14.5 percent (6.4 percent in real, inflation-adjusted terms) relative to a year earlier. Personal and corporate income tax revenues, as well as sales tax revenues, grew over the past year. However, revenue growth weakened in the third quarter and the longer-term outlook for state and local budgets remains uncertain.
A Debt Limit Bomb? TPC co-founder Len Burman will join Howard Gleckman on Thursday at Noon for the next episode of TPC’s webcast The Prescription. The topic: Will Congress raise the debt limit? And what happens if it doesn’t? Len describes some of the potentially catastrophic consequences here. Register for the webcast here.
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