No coronavirus relief yet, says Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Yesterday, Pelosi identified the remaining gaps between the House and White House proposals, including continued disagreement over Democratic demands for additional funding for the child tax credit and state and local governments and to roll back the CARES Act’s more generous Net Operating Loss provisions. At the same time, Democrats continue to resist Republican demands for liability protections for businesses and schools. Meanwhile, in a largely symbolic gesture, the House passed its $2.2 trillion version last night.
House Ways & Means Oversight Committee wants testimony from the IRS Commissioner. Subcommittee Chairman Bill Pascrell asked IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig to testify on "general oversight of IRS operations with a particular focus on issues of tax compliance, including those raised by the reports of Donald Trump’s tax returns, the distribution of Economic Impact Payments, backlogs and the impact of COVID-19.” If Retting agrees to come, which is far from certain, the hearing would take place next week.
US companies are still cutting a historic number of jobs. About 837,000 Americans signed up for first-time unemployment benefits last week according to the Labor Department. Meanwhile, personal incomes fell 2.7 percent in part because enhanced federal jobless benefits expired.
But at least business meals still are 50 percent deductible. The Treasury and IRS issued final regulations this week affirming that Treasury can allow taxpayers to claim partial deductions for business meals if they meet certain criteria. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the deduction for entertainment expenses, but the IRS says its final regulations “draw a clear line between meals and entertainment that taxpayers can understand and the IRS can administer.”
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