Congress is back. The GOP-controlled House and Senate return today to start what will be an extremely busy session. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says his chamber will begin by taking the first step in the process of repealing key parts of the Affordable Care Act. Then, it will turn to confirmation of President-elect Trump’s cabinet choices—some of whom will be highly controversial. The House will start off by trying to roll back regulations approved by the Obama Administration.
Ten tax issues to watch this year. TPC’s Howard Gleckman outlines the top tax issues for 2017. Among them: Will Congress pass tax cuts or tax reform? Will lawmakers pass two tax bills by April, as some suggest? Will the rich get tax cuts? How much new debt will the GOP tolerate? How will tax bills be scored? And will business boom under Trumponomics?
There are some wealthy Americans whose taxes would go up under Trump. MarketWatch shows how individual tax filers with gross incomes between $112,500 and $190,150 and married or joint filers with gross incomes between $225,000 and $231,450 would see their marginal tax rate go from 28 percent to 33 percent. Overall, about 20 percent of all American households would see their taxes rise under Trump’s plan, according to TPC.
Casinos and gamblers dodge some tough new IRS reporting rules. In 2015, the IRS proposed toughening reporting requirements for slots and Keno players. But in final regs approved last week, the agency decided to keep the current rules, which require reporting of winnings of $1,200 or more from bingo and slot machines and $1,500 or more from Keno.
More online shoppers will be paying sales taxes. Online retail giant Amazon has begun collecting sales taxes in four more states--Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Utah. For example, the New Year sees Amazon collecting Utah’s 4.7 percent sales tax on purchases, as well as any local option sales taxes. Utah has lost as much as $200 million a year in tax revenue in large part because so few of its online shoppers report their purchases. Amazon is now collecting sales tax in 32 states.
From Russia: A tax. Russia began 2017 by levying an 18 percent value-added tax on foreign companies engaged in online sales of electronic content. Russian companies using foreign marketplaces for selling content may have to pay the VAT twice.
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