Details yet to be released on US-China trade deal. President Trump canceled a tariff increase that would have gone into effect yesterday on $160 billion in Chinese goods. He also agreed to cut in half a 15 percent tariff on about $120 billion in Chinese goods. China agreed to cancel its tariffs on US products that would have gone into effect yesterday. The White House says that China has also agreed to unspecified structural changes and purchases of an extra $200 billion in US agricultural, energy and manufactured goods. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says the details of the Phase One deal will be released in coming weeks.
US Supreme Court will consider President Trump’s bid to keep financial records from Congress and a New York grand jury. Trump wants the court to limit Congress’s powers and give the president immunity from state criminal investigations while he holds office. Congressional committees have subpoenaed Mazars, Trump’s accounting firm, for years of Trump’s personal and business financial records. The Manhattan District Attorney has asked for Trump’s tax returns. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the spring and rule by the end of June.
Utah passes state income tax cut. On a vote with only Republican support, lawmakers approved tax measures that cuts Utah’s income tax by roughly $630 million. It also increases the sales tax by $475 million, largely through a tax increase on grocery sales and new taxes on the sale of motor and diesel fuels. Overall, the bill cuts taxes by $160 million.
Massachusetts’ state income tax will drop to 5 percent on January 1. The current rate is 5.05 percent. Nearly twenty years ago, Massachusetts voters approved a ballot measure to reduce the income tax rate from 5.95 percent to 5 percent. The state stretched out the reduction to gradually lower the rate only when the state was doing well financially. The final reduction of 0.05 percent will save taxpayers $88 million in fiscal year 2020, which ends June 30, 2020, and $185 million in the following fiscal year.
Missouri state lawmaker proposes repeal of personal property tax. Republican state Senator Bill Eigel says people “want a fair system of taxation that doesn’t involve an annual punishment just for owning a car.” But in Camden County, the personal property tax generated about $14.2 million in 2019; absent the tax, the county assessor says increased levies would have to make up the difference. If Eigel’s bill passes in both chambers of the Missouri legislature, voters will decide its fate in a ballot measure.
For the latest tax news, subscribe to the Tax Policy Center’s Daily Deduction. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekdays at 8:00 am (Mondays only when Congress is in recess). We welcome tips on new research or other news. Email Renu Zaretsky at [email protected].
