Highway Debate Continues

Last week, we reported on the House’s adoption of a highway trust fund (HTF) extension through December. This extension is the first step of Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan to combine a longer term HTF extension with key international tax reforms.

Meanwhile, Senate leaders want to act now, not in December, on a longer-term extension.   Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) support a six-year highway deal which has offsets for the first three years, but does not include international tax reform.  The Senate voted 62-36 Thursday morning to begin debate on the measure.

So both the House and Senate want a multi-year bill, but McConnell wants to pass something now and avoid revisiting the issue prior to next year’s election, while Ryan would like to leverage the highway issue to get international tax reforms.  A short-term HTF extension through December gives him more time to build support for the combo package.  Rumor is he will release a detailed plan, which should track closely with the Portman/Schumer International Working Group plan, as soon as next week.

So which is it?  Will it be a multi-year HTF extension now, or HTF extension plus international tax reforms later?  The current HTF authorization expires on July 31st  so we will know next week which view prevails, and whether Congress will be debating international tax reform this fall.

Senate Finance Moves Forward on Extenders

Good news!  The Senate Finance Committee voted this week 23-3 to send a tax extender package to the Senate floor. The extensions last for two years (2015 & 2016) and include S-Corp priorities built-in gains relief and charitable contributions basis adjustment. Relative to last year’s 11th hour retroactive one-year deal, early movement on a two year extension is welcome news.

The question now is how extenders will work its way through the Congress and ultimately to the President’s desk. There was some talk about attaching extenders to the highway bill being debated by the Senate right now, but that seems remote.  Outstanding issues regarding certain provisions, including the application of the solar tax credit, appear to stand in the way.

Regarding the post-August schedule, The Hill reports:

Congress will also have to deal with a number of big-ticket items when lawmakers return from their August recess, including a Sept. 30 deadline for government funding and the recent agreement the Obama administration struck with Iran. Hatch sounded skeptical after the markup that the package of tax breaks could be added to the Senate’s highway bill, which was released Tuesday.

Even though the timeline for passing extenders may be in flux, the fact that the bill has been reported out of committee is a good sign that Congress is moving and may act well in advance of last year’s last minute extension.

Senator Thune Supports Permanent BIG Relief!

Provisions like built-in gains have been part of extenders packages for years, and we’re still fighting to make them permanent. The good news is that we have friends in high places who share that goal.  Just this week, Senator Thune (R-SD) proposed an amendment that would do just that. During the extenders markup, Sen. Thune offered up his legislation to, among other items, make permanent the five year recognition period for built in gains.  He had this to say:

“I support this legislation to ensure that American families and businesses do not find themselves facing a higher tax bill come tax season,” said Thune. “However, I believe we can do better than simply preventing a tax increase in the short term. American taxpayers deserve the certainty and predictability that only comes from making tax relief permanent, something I intend to continue to pursue on their behalf.”

As we continue working to make built-in gains relief and charitable contribution provisions permanent, Sen. Thune’s amendment shows that there is a strong constituency in the Senate for our efforts. We expect that a permanent bill on built-in gains, similar to what was proposed last year, will be introduced soon in the Senate.