On a wing and prayer… Senator Marco Rubio takes a walk back. In an Economist interview published on Monday, Rubio said of the corporate tax reductions in the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, “There's no evidence whatsoever that the money's been massively poured back into the American worker." Yesterday, in a column in the National Review online, Rubio did some damage control: “On the whole, the tax cut bill helps workers. It's just not massive tax cuts to multinational corporations that do it.”
“Someone’s knockin’ at the door…” It’s the billionaire Koch brothers, Charles and David. They are spending $20 million to boost support for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Americans for Prosperity will use some of the money to dispatch canvassers to knock on doors in states holding key congressional races this fall.
“Somebody’s ringin’ a bell…” On a bicycle, but with no benefit under the TCJA. The new tax law suspends the Bicycle Commuter Act until 2026. That law allowed employers to reimburse employees up to $20 a month, tax free, for qualified expenses like bike repairs and improvements. Suspending the tax benefit saves about $50 million.
“Do me a favor…” Some IRS guidance, ASAP. That’s the request of the top Democrat on the House Ways & Means Committee. Rep. Richard Neal has asked Treasury and the IRS to act quickly issue guidance on the pass-through deduction for business income. Taxpayers, Neal says, are unsure how to estimate their tax payments, and a lack of guidance could give businesses a path to abuse the deduction to avoid taxes.
“Open the door” …maybe a little wider for a booming economy? TPC’s Howard Gleckman considers President Trump’s promise of TCJA “rocket fuel” to supercharge the economy. “He may, eventually, be right,” says Gleckman. “But economic data for the first months after Congress passed the law shows no evidence of a growth surge.” He shares four charts that tell the story.
“And let ‘em in…” Just like property taxes. They made their way into American tax policy hundreds of years ago, all because of public education. The Tax Hound considers their importance in her new post. “It’s a tricky thing, asking taxpayers to pay for something they don’t feel they use every day… The issue of school financing has generated national headlines over the past few months as a half dozen red states debate the trade-off between recent tax cuts and adequately funding public education.
If you’d like to tell us about a new research paper or have any comments about the Daily Deduction, TPC’s summary of the day’s tax news, write Renu Zaretsky at [email protected]. You can sign up here to receive the Daily Deduction as an email newsletter every weekday morning (Mondays only when Congress is in recess) at 8:00 am.
