Donald Trump might change his tax plan, but he won’t release his tax returns. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee now says he does not plan to release his tax returns before November, after all. “There’s nothing to learn from them,” and voters aren’t interested anyway, Trump insists. Voters may, however, be interested in his amended tax plan. Trump reportedly has asked Heritage Foundation’s Stephen Moore and CNBC’s Larry Kudlow to trim the cost of his plan. TPC estimates his current plan would add $9.5 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years.
One Texas tycoon gets hit with a tsunami of a tax bill. A federal bankruptcy judge ruled that for nearly 25 years Sam Wyly engaged in “deceptive and fraudulent actions” to dodge taxes on more than $1 billion held in offshore trusts. Wyly will have to pay as much as $1.4 billion in back taxes and penalties to the IRS.
Some Californians will soon decide on a new tax for the environment. Voters in nine Bay Area counties will decide on June 7 whether to levy a $12 annual parcel tax. The ballot measure would raise up to $500 million to restore marshes and mitigate the expected rise in sea level. The unusual tax is levied on units of property rather than assessed value. That means the tax is the same for a Silicon Valley mansion or a Castro Valley tract house.
Further south, Los Angeles County officials may levy a millionaire tax to address homelessness. A new income tax on personal income over $1 million could pay for housing programs and services for the county’s homeless population. County supervisors were to vote on the measure yesterday, but will now vote next week. The delay came after one supervisor raised concerns over a poll used to gauge voter support for the tax and the annual county wide count of homeless people.
In South Asia, India closes a tax loophole. India will close a tax loophole that allowed its citizens to move income through the island of Mauritius without paying taxes. Next year, India will levy a capital gains tax on investments routed through the tropical island. The loophole has been around since 1993, when the two countries signed a treaty designed to prevent double taxation.
Speaking of double taxation, the Senate Finance Committee will look at tax integration next week. The panel will hold a hearing on May 17. Witnesses will include TPC’s Steve Rosenthal, Columbia University law professor Michael Graetz, University of Houston law professor Bret Wells, and Judy Miller of the American Retirement Association. Committee chair Orrin Hatch is working on a corporate tax reform bill built around the idea of ending double-taxation of corporate profits.
Maybe an invisibility cloak would have been more realistic? Emma Watson, or “Hermione” of Harry Potter’s wizarding world fame, admitted to having an offshore company named in the Panama Papers. Her intent, she says, was to protect her privacy. She says she receives no tax or monetary advantages from the company.
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