Christine Walizer, Author at The S Corporation Association

Senate Finance Committee Shakeup

Yesterday we got word that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus is headed to Beijing to serve as the next Ambassador to China. For tax policy, the move changes our outlook in the following ways.

First, it increases the focus on a possible extenders package early in 2014. Baucus made clear in his comments yesterday that he plans to spend the rest of his time as Finance Chair seeking to move an extenders package. It shouldn’t take more than a month or two for his nomination to move through the Senate, but that should give him time to get something …

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admin2019-02-01T20:19:28+00:00December 20, 2013|

Tax Reform Rehash

The release of Finance Committee tax reform discussion drafts on cost recovery and international tax have laid bare a reality that’s been hiding just below the surface for two years now the visions for reform embraced by the key House and Senate tax writing committees are dramatically different and move in opposite directions.

The international drafts are a good example. The Ways and Means draft would move the tax treatment of overseas income towards a territorial system, while the Baucus draft would move towards a more pure worldwide system by largely eliminating deferral. Here’s how the Tax Foundation described it:

Of …

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admin2019-02-01T20:19:33+00:00December 12, 2013|

S Corp Payroll Tax Hike Resurfaces

Last week, Senate Democrats released a paper highlighting a dozen tax increases they would like to use to offset spending cuts in the current budget negotiations. As Politico reported:

Tax expenditures topping the list include the deduction corporations take when they move operations overseas and the carried interest loophole, which allows private equity and some other investment advisers to pay the lower capital gains tax rate on some of their income.

Also on the list is our old nemesis, the S corporation payroll tax hike. Labeled the Edwards Loophole by Republicans and the Gingrich Loophole by Democrats, the issue is …

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admin2019-02-01T20:19:39+00:00November 14, 2013|

Budget & Tax Policy Outlook

The agreement earlier this month between Senators Reid and McConnell reopened the government for a few months, but it failed to resolve any of the issues that precipitated the shutdown in the first place.B Thereb s still no consensus on spending levels or tax policy beyond the end of the year.B Key dates in the agreement are:

December 13^th — Target for budget conferees to agree to a uniform budget
January 15^th — Current government funding resolution (CR) expires
February 7^th — Debt limit reached again

At this point, agreeing to a budget resolution would be a big deal.B Not only could …

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admin2019-02-01T20:19:44+00:00October 31, 2013|

Forbes on Pass Through Businesses

Marty Sullivan always writes interesting and provocative pieces on tax policy, so when we saw his recent piece in Forbes on tax reform Should Small Business Have Veto Power Over Corporate Tax Reform, we read it eagerly.

It’s provocative, alright, but we do have a couple observations.

Marty argues that pass through business advocates “willfully omit the existence of the corporate double tax from their spin and howl” regarding tax reform. Really?

We don’t howl, and we don’t ignore the existence of the double corporate tax. It’s a central part of our message on how to build a foundation for good tax …

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admin2019-02-01T20:08:23+00:00October 16, 2013|