Tax Policy - The S Corporation Association

Baucus III

The tax community is still waiting for the third version of the Baucus substitute to be released. A “trial balloon” draft circulated yesterday made certain changes, but failed to address many of the sticking points holding up the overall bill.

Meanwhile, Senators Baucus and Reid spent most of yesterday negotiating with swing Republican votes — at this point, just Maine Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins — to identify what changes are necessary in order to gain the 59^th and 60^th votes needed. As CongressDaily reports:

The chief target appears to be $24 billion to extend higher Medicaid matching funds …

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admin2019-02-06T17:20:59+00:00June 23, 2010|

Latest On Extenders and the Payroll Tax

So the Senate just adopted a stand-alone, six month Doc Fix. Adoption of this provision sends a couple signals for the broader extender package.

This action follows on last night’s failed 56-40 cloture vote on Baucus II. While this vote represented a significant improvement over the 45 votes in support of Baucus I, it still signaled to the Senate (and House for that matter) that the extenders plus package was not going to be completed this week. Hence the need for the stand-alone Doc Fix. Moreover, the adoption of this very large — and ultimately offset — spending item suggests that …

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admin2019-02-06T17:20:59+00:00June 18, 2010|

Baucus Substitute, Part II

After falling 15 votes shy of the 60 needed to close debate and move forward on the “extender plus” package, Finance Chairman Max Baucus offered up a second substitute last evening and Senator Reid immediately filed a cloture motion to end debate. That motion requires 60 votes and the vote would take place on Friday.

The new Baucus substitute is “slimmer” than the previous effort and apparently was designed to mirror the deficit impact of the House-passed bill. As such, its goal is not only to attract 60 votes in the Senate, but also to pass the House as well. As …

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admin2019-02-06T17:20:59+00:00June 17, 2010|

Latest on Payroll Tax Hike and Extenders

Earlier today, the Senate voted earlier on its version of the “extenders plus” bill passed by the House a few weeks back. The vote, on a motion to waive a Budget Act point of order, failed miserably (45-52), indicating the Senate Leadership has a long way to go before they gather the sixty votes necessary to move forward.

With this morning’s vote behind us, the process moving forward is becoming clearer–Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) is expected to introduce a new substitute today. According to BNA:

Baucus is expected to draw up a new substitute amendment that will be a slimmed-down …

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admin2019-02-06T17:20:59+00:00June 16, 2010|

Senators Snowe and Enzi Take On Small Business Tax Hike

The payroll tax hike in the House-passed extenders bill moves to the front burner in the Senate this week.

Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) introduced an amendment late last week to strike the provision from the bill. As a potential swing vote on the overall package, Snowe’s opposition in particular is sure to catch Leadership’s eye.

“At a time when Congress continues to dither on enacting a small business jobs bill, Section 413 is a poison pill in this tax bill, robbing American small businesses of the capital they need to create new, good-paying jobs,” Senator Snowe said in …

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admin2019-02-06T17:20:59+00:00June 14, 2010|