The Washington Wire Archive - The S Corporation Association

Congress Reaches Deal on Stimulus

Sometimes, Congress meets a deadline. Six weeks ago, congressional leadership and the new Obama Administration had set out the Presidents’ Day recess as the deadline for getting the economic stimulus package to the President’s desk.

With the House’s vote on final passage today and the Senate expected to consider the bill as early as this evening, all indications are they’ll make it. Here’s a quick summary of the $789 billion package as outlined by the conferees:

$301 billion in family and business tax relief (down from $350 billion in the Senate bill).
$70 billion in renewable and energy efficiency provisions.
$140 billion in higher …

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admin2019-02-06T17:22:35+00:00February 13, 2009|

Stimulus Update

The Washington Post reports that the Senate Stimulus bill is short of the 60 votes needed for it to move through the chamber. As the Post noted:

Senate Democratic leaders conceded yesterday that they do not have the votes to pass the stimulus bill as currently written and said that to gain bipartisan support, they will seek to cut provisions that would not provide an immediate boost to the economy.

The vote in the House did not help, with all Republicans and 11 Democrats opposing the House version of the package. The unified …

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admin2019-02-06T17:22:35+00:00February 4, 2009|

BIG Reform Included in Finance Committee Mark!

Big news for S corporations! S-CORP champions Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have succeeded in securing BIG reform in Senator Baucus’ (D-MT) version of a stimulus package! As S-CORP readers know, BIG reform has been a top priority for S-CORP. BIG reform could potentially free up billions in locked-up capital that could be used to buy new equipment, build more plants and hire new workers - exactly what the economy needs …

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admin2019-02-06T17:22:35+00:00January 27, 2009|

Stimulus Introduced in House

The House Leadership released an outline of its proposed stimulus package yesterday with few surprises. The total package is $825 billion with $550 billion in new spending and $275 billion in tax relief. On the spending side, the package includes $550 billion in spending, and $275 billion for tax cuts. Some of the tax highlights include:

Making Work Pay Credit – offsets payroll taxes on the first $8,100 of earnings
Expanded Earned Income Tax Credit
Bonus depreciation
A five year carry-back of net operating losses (excluding companies receiving TARP benefits, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac)
Extension of increased small business expensing
Tax-exempt bond provisions to help state …

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admin2019-02-06T17:22:35+00:00January 16, 2009|

Estate Tax Compromise Under Development

Looks like Congressional Democrats and President-elect Obama’s economic team are already beginning work on legislation to prevent a full repeal of the estate tax in 2010. The Wall Street Journal reports that President Obama’s plan will come out in February as part of his FY 2010 budget proposal and could be acted on by the House and Senate soon after. As the Journal reports:

The estate tax would be locked in permanently at the rate and exemption levels that took effect this year. That would exempt estates of $3.5 million — $7 …

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admin2019-02-06T17:22:36+00:00January 14, 2009|