The revised BCRA hasn’t changed much—except for taxes. Significant reductions in Medicaid and in individual insurance subsidies included in the House and first Senate bill remain. As for taxes: The revised Better Care and Reconciliation Act keeps the Affordable Care Act’s net investment income tax and Medicare payroll tax surcharge for high income households but repeals other ACA tax increases. TPC finds that the revised tax provisions would be less regressive than the initial version. TPC’s Howard Gleckman explains.
CBO: Trump fiscal plan won’t balance the budget by 2026. Although the White House promised its fiscal plan would eliminate the federal deficit by 2027, CBO is projecting $720 billion in red ink that year. Over 10 years, CBO figures the Trump plan would boost the debt by $6.8 trillion, twice what the Trump Administration projected. The big difference: CBO projects $3.6 trillion, or 8 percent, less revenue over the decade.
So easy… In an interview on the “700 Club,” President Trump told Pat Robertson, "I think after health care, taxes are gonna be so easy…Health care is very hard…because you'll do something a little bit this way, and you'll pick up that final vote and you lose four votes over here."
Another tax reform hearing next week. The House Ways & Means Tax Policy Subcommittee will hold a hearing Wednesday, July 19, on how tax reform might help individuals and families.
No more pot shortage in Nevada. The state’s retail marijuana market opened July 1 and sales in licensed dispensaries exceeded expectations. But most current retailers were licensed to distribute under a 2-year-old medical marijuana program. They stocked up and distributed to themselves, anticipating a delay in state licensing of new recreational pot distributors. The catch: Only liquor distributors could apply, and no liquor distributors had been approved. Until yesterday: One liquor distributor got its license, and the state's taxation commission voted on emergency regulations to expand licensing beyond liquor distributors. That's good news for the state fisc: Nevada tax officials expect pot sales to generate $100 million in tax revenue over the next two years.
Maine lawmakers try to find the pot-tax sweet spot. Voters expressed support for a 10 percent tax on recreational marijuana last fall, but now lawmakers want more. The legislature’s marijuana legalization committee may back a mix of sales and excise taxes that could double the rate to 20 percent or more. The panel hopes to decide by the end of the month and have a bill ready by the fall.
The French government wants tax cuts in 2018 after all. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe indicated last week that tax cuts could be delayed given France’s budget deficit. But now President Emmanuel Macron’s government will move ahead with $12.6 billion, or €11 billion, in tax cuts next year. France will also have to find €20 billion in savings to keep the deficit under 3 percent of GDP, as required by the European Union.
