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New Finance Committee Chair

February 14, 2014

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) took the helm of the Finance Committee this week.  What does this mean for tax policy?  Here’s what the press has to say:

  • The Hill tells us he blames Republicans for gridlock on tax reform;
  • Roll Call says he’s the “most liberal [Finance Chair] ever”;
  • Forbes says he wants to level out rates on ordinary and investment income; and
  • Politico observes he has a “penchant for big ideas.”

Beyond that, a couple consistent items do stand out.  First, it appears the new chairman is with us on the need for comprehensive, rather than corporate only,

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2019-02-01T20:05:24+00:00February 24, 2014|

CBO Gets Effective Rate Wrong

February 6, 2014

The tax reform effort may face significant headwinds, but the debate over who pays what continues, with the business community doing a good job of articulating just how much they pay in taxes and entities like the Congressional Budget Office, well, not.

Embedded in yesterday’s economic update is a section entitled “Corporate Income Taxes” that includes a chart showing the effective tax rate of the domestic profits of C corporations declining over time.  The effective corporate tax rate was in the 30s during the 1970s, in the 20s during the 1980s and 1990s, but now is down in

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2019-02-01T20:05:25+00:00February 24, 2014|

Entitlement Death Spiral

February 5, 2014

Yesterday’s CBO report has started a firestorm here in DC, with most of it focused on the portion that says Obamacare will result in 2 million fewer workers by the year 2017.  That’s certainly an eye-opening number, and it adds to the long list of reasons why the health reform effort is deeply unpopular.

The White House was quick to respond by pointing out that those 2 million lost jobs are the result of workers voluntarily leaving the workforce – rather than employers cutting jobs — but we’re not sure that makes much difference.  Either way, the

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2019-02-01T20:05:25+00:00February 24, 2014|

SOTU Commentary and Response

January 29, 2014

While the President’s State of the Union address last night covered a range of topics, it did little to move the needle on tax reform. The full transcript of the speech can be seen here, but the President’s only mention of tax reform came about 20 minutes into his address:

Both Democrats and Republicans have argued that our tax code is riddled with wasteful, complicated loopholes that punish businesses investing here, and reward companies that keep profits abroad. Let’s flip that equation. Let’s work together to close those loopholes, end those incentives to ship jobs overseas, and

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2019-02-01T20:05:25+00:00February 24, 2014|

S-Corp Comments to Senate Finance

January 17, 2014

Senator Baucus is headed to China but his discussion drafts remain, as does the January 17th deadline for commenting on them.

So earlier today, the S Corporation Association submitted comments in response to the Senate Finance Committee’s discussion draft on international tax reform. Released late last year, the staff discussion draft was the first in a series of proposals put out by Chairman Baucus to spark conversation about how best to overhaul the tax code.

Generally speaking, the comments provided S-Corp with a good opportunity to educate policymakers (and ourselves) on the presence of pass-through businesses with

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2019-02-01T20:05:25+00:00February 24, 2014|