GOP congressman demands a vote this week to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Louisiana’s John Fleming and his Freedom Caucus colleagues say that Koskinen impeded a congressional investigation into IRS scrutiny of Tea Party groups’ applications for tax-exempt status. Fleming says those who vote against impeachment “would have to answer to their own constituents why they’re not willing to hold high-level officials accountable for their corrupt activities.” Senate GOP leaders say they’d bury the resolution if it gets to them. Fleming is currently running for the Senate.
Are US taxpayers on the hook if Apple pays that $14.5 billion Irish tax bill? If Apple brings all of its offshore profits to the United States, it could claim a foreign tax credit and reduce its US tax bill. But Janet Novack at Forbes points out that Apple CEO Tim Cook has no apparent plans to do so.
Donald Trump fleshes out his child care tax subsidy. The GOP nominee would allow families to deduct expenses for the care of up to four children or elderly dependents. It would be available for individuals earning less than $250,000 a year ($500,000 for joint filers). Low-income families would receive a “rebate” of as much as $1,200. Trump also would allow individuals to contribute up to $2,000 a year in tax-free Dependent Care Savings Accounts.
GOP VP nominee Mike Pence saved a bundle on taxes, thanks to Bill Clinton and Obama. Urban Institute’s Matthew Chingos says the Indiana governor’s "tax bill would have been 72 percent higher had it not been for $5,000 in higher education tax credits enacted under Presidents Clinton and Obama, which have been increasingly demonstrated to be ineffective and regressive."
Tax reform? Us? Three months ago, the House GOP leadership, including Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, endorsed a major tax reform that would eliminate targeted tax subsidies in exchange for lower rates. Today, Brady and his committee will create a handful of new tax breaks, just like those they decried. TPC’s Howard Gleckman looks at how this happens—all the time.
Newly sworn-in Brazilian President Michel Temer has an idea for tax revenue. He’d like the federal government to sell about 120 billion reals of uncollected tax debt to investors in order to raise as much as $22 billion. Brazil’s state governments would securitize the back taxes by selling them to banks and credit managers at a 40 percent discount. The governments would be responsible for collecting the debt and paying investors. Only a few other countries—Portugal, Belgium, Italy, and Greece—have tried the move.
The Danes don’t want a tax cut. Denmark’s tax burden is the highest in Europe and Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen's center-right government wants to cut the top income tax rate by 5 percentage points and raise personal allowances. The plan would boost after-tax incomes by 7 percent for the nation’s lowest income households. But a new poll shows 60 percent of Danes don’t like the plan. Aarhus University political science professor Rune Stubager isn’t surprised by the choice, since the top marginal rate cut would only benefit a small group of voters.
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