The GOP's Donald Trump, in a stunning upset, defeats Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. TPC's analysis of his tax plan is here. The GOP also retained control of the Senate and House. There's lots of uncertainty about a Trump Administration but one thing seems certain: A big tax cut is in our future.
What about state ballot initiatives? California, Massachusetts and Nevada voters agreed to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in their states, opening up a potential source of tax revenue. Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota voters chose to allow marijuana use for medical purposes. Washington state voters rejected a ballot initiative to create the nation's first carbon tax. More results will be available over the coming days.
Just in time for the President-Elect: The CBO has an update on the Fiscal Year 2016 budget deficit. That fiscal year ended on September 30, and the federal budget deficit totaled $587 billion. That’s up $148 billion from the last fiscal year. As a share of Gross Domestic Product the deficit increased over that same period from 2.5 percent to 3.2 percent.
A bitcoin tax gap? The Wall Street Journal reports (paywall) that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found “little evidence of coordination” within the IRS in policing virtual currencies such as bitcoin. As a result, taxable sales using bitcoin could go undetected.
It’s official: Ireland will appeal the EU’s decision on Apple. Finance minister Michael Noonan told a European Parliament committee that Ireland will appeal the EU decision that Apple pay €13 billion in back taxes. Said Noonan: “We don't believe that Apple owed this money in Ireland at all. We share the OECD view that whatever they owe they owe to the United States and they paid everything that was due to be paid in Ireland.”
EU: Just because a jurisdiction has a zero tax rate doesn’t mean it’s a tax haven. The announcement came from Italy’s finance minister, who cited an agreement among European Union finance ministers. This could reduce the scope of an EU “blacklist” of offending jurisdictions.
Congress is still in recess, but the Daily Deduction resumes it regular schedule this week to report on national, state and local elections.
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