Tax reform will happen this year, promise Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Speaker Ryan. Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the House Speaker, Senate leaders, and he are “100 percent committed to getting it done this year.” Ryan concurred in his speech on taxes yesterday, calling for permanent tax cuts and saying “We cannot let this once-in-a-generation moment slip.” TPC’s Howard Gleckman says that Ryan and Mnuchin must still resolve seven basic policy issues before they can get any bill passed.
Tune in starting at 9am: The 7th Annual Joint IRS-TPC Research Conference on Tax Administration. It’s the only annual conference focused exclusively on tax administration. Researchers from the IRS, other government agencies, academia, and private organizations will discuss ways to make tax administration as effective as possible. The day-long event will stream live here.
Leaving some top Treasury jobs unfilled. Mnuchin says the department may not make appointments for a half-dozen or so political jobs. "There's three or four positions that frankly we don't think we need to fill,” Mnuchin told CNBC. He did not say what they are.
A Senate debt limit bill in July? Politico reports that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants a Senate vote before the August recess. Unclear how he’ll navigate between moderates who want a clean debt bill and conservatives who want to see spending cuts and process reforms. The Administration seems divided over that choice as well.
North Carolina lawmakers plan tax cuts for 2019. They’ve reached a final budget compromise that would reduce the corporate income tax rate from 3 percent to 2.5 percent and the personal income tax from 5.499 percent to 5.25 percent. The plan would also raise the standard deduction from $17,500 for married couples to $20,000, and cut the business franchise tax paid to a flat $200 tax on the first $1 million of a firm’s net worth. The deal reduces state revenues by about $530 million over two years.
More backing for a carbon tax—from oil companies. The Climate Leadership Council announced that Exxon, BP, Shell and Total are among “Founding Members” of a campaign to levy a tax on carbon dioxide emissions. Former Treasury Secretary James Baker and former Secretary of State George Schultz lead the Council, which continues to seek Republican support for a carbon tax.
Lawmakers want to keep the state and local tax deduction. A group of 70 representatives on both sides of the aisle urge Treasury to retain the deduction from federal income taxes. They say it would unfairly burden their constituents. Meanwhile, TPC’s Frank Sammartino explains how doing away with the deduction as well as the Alternative Minimum Tax could have unintended effects, given the relationship between the two provisions.
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