Tax Policy - The S Corporation Association

Debate Over Taxing Hedge Funds

Under the category of “We Told You So,” yesterday’s CongressDaily includes an analysis by Martin Vaughn that makes a point similar to the theme of our last Wire – that the debate over how to tax hedge funds is just the beginning of the debate over how to define and tax all sorts of income from ownership. Here’s how Martin sees it:

Forget Blackstone. Many smart people on both sides of the argument over whether to raise taxes on private equity and hedge fund managers’ profits see this as a proxy debate for whether the tax code should …

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admin2019-02-06T18:44:37+00:00July 20, 2007|

Treasury Holds Conference on Business Tax Issues

Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson will hold a one day conference on July 26th to focus attention on the US tax treatment of business income and how it might be improved. The conference will include a larger meeting in the Treasury Cash Room open to the press followed by at least two “break out” sessions for conference participants.

Why focus on corporate tax policy now? The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Markets, and other …

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admin2019-02-06T18:44:37+00:00July 13, 2007|

Accountants Weigh in on Tax Gap

First, the “Big Four” accounting firms weighed in on the Tax Gap. Now, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the trade association for the accounting community, has added its input.

While only 1.3 percent of accountants believe that honest errors are the main source of the Tax Gap — no surprise there, since these are the same folks who prepare our taxes — nearly half suggested the small business community was responsible for the underpayment of the remainder of taxes owed.

The survey is on their website, but just one more reason for the small …

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admin2019-02-06T18:44:37+00:00July 10, 2007|

Lessons from the Failed Senate Energy Tax Package

As reported in the press, last week the Senate failed to add a sizable energy tax package to its comprehensive energy bill prior to adoption.

The Senate voted 57-36 not to end debate (60 votes are needed) on the tax package that was offered as an amendment to the broader energy bill. This vote fell short despite the fact the Finance Committee reported the package out by a bipartisan vote of 15-5 vote just a few days earlier.

While the package itself has little directly affecting S corporations, there are a couple lessons to draw from the challenge Senate leadership is having …

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admin2019-02-06T18:44:37+00:00June 29, 2007|

Small Business Tax Package Signed Into Law

Congress returns this week following its Memorial Day recess. As expected, the Small Business tax package was signed into law along with the Iraqi War funding just before they left. This package included a number of S corporation reforms that we have been working on for years, and represents a significant improvement to the rules governing how S corporations operate.

Key reforms included relief from the dreaded “sting tax” as well as allowing trusts that hold S corporation stock to deduct their interest expenses, something other trusts have long been allowed to do. And while we did not get everything we …

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admin2019-02-06T18:44:38+00:00June 5, 2007|