The House Ways & Means Committee will vote tomorrow on an extender/EITC bill. The panel plans to mark up a bill on Thursday to restore a package of expired tax breaks through 2020. The measure also would triple the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit for adults without children living at home, make the Child Tax Credit fully refundable; and expand the dependent care credit.
Post-TCJA, Americans gave less to charities. Giving USA reports that charitable giving by individuals fell by 3.4 percent after adjusting for inflation in 2018, the first full year after enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This is partly because the TCJA raises the standard deduction, reducing the incentive for many middle-income taxpayers to take charitable deductions for donations. Total giving by individuals, corporations, and foundations fell by 1.7 percent. Will giving fall more sharply in 2019?
Klobuchar’s tax agenda. Democratic presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar released a detailed campaign platform yesterday that includes several tax items. She’d expand the EITC and the CTC, and pay for the changes by rolling back “regressive” elements of the TCJA and taxing capital gains and ordinary income at the same rate.
Monetary stimulus in Europe? President Trump calls it a trade foul. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicates that the bank may move to stimulate the economy by, for instance, delaying its next interest rate increase. That sent the euro lower against the dollar. And it prompted Trump to tweet that it is now “unfairly easier for [Europe] to compete against the USA.” Are more tariffs on the horizon, or will the president continue to pressure the Fed to cut rates?
Ohio Senate wants a 17 percent tax on vaping products. The Senate Finance Committee chairman says the tax is needed because vaping—which can deliver nicotine—has been attracting Ohio teens. But industry opposes the tax, insisting that vaping products should not be taxed like tobacco.
Foreign citizens hit extra hard by TCJA. To encourage international firms to bring assets back to the US, the TCJA requires international businesses to pay tax on money held overseas, though at a reduced tax rate. Thing is, this law applies to individual business owners too., One case: A doctor who was born in the US to Dutch parents has lived in Amsterdam for most of her life. She now owes an estimated $100,000 in US taxes. “It's not favorable at all for individuals,” said TPC’s Eric Toder. “Had they thought about it, they probably would have thought of some clause to prevent this from happening."
New IRS regulations are out. The IRS announced Notice 2019-27 which contains a proposed revenue procedure to calculate W-2 wages for purposes of the form. The Treasury Department and the IRS yesterday issued legal guidance and information on certain deductions to cooperatives and their patrons.
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