The elections are less than a month out, and the implications for S corporations are huge.  If Democrats retain control, we can expect two more years of policy risk, with the threat of higher rates and increased estate tax levies looming large. If Republicans take either the House or the Senate, we can expect two years of divided government, with limited opportunities for tax policy to move and the focus shifting to the policy cliff taking place at the end of 2025.

So what will it be?  Here’s how we think things will play out.

Macro Trends

Let’s start with macro trends. Earlier …

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The S Corporation Association joined with dozens of associations today to oppose the ENABLERS Act, legislation that would adversely affect millions of businesses, charities, and foundations, as well as their employees and investors. More than 75 organizations signed onto the effort, including NFIB, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Real Estate Roundtable.

The ENABLERS Act seeks to dramatically expand the reporting requirements put in place by the Corporate Transparency Act, despite the fact that final regulations under the CTA were just released today with a delayed effective date of 2024.

S-Corp initiated this effort …

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We’ve been skeptical of grandiose promises to close the so-called tax gap for years (here, here, here).  Part of that skepticism stems from the blatant self-interest of those making the estimates – we could raise billions, trillions, quadrillions if only you gave us more money! (Perhaps the CRS or JCT could be in charge of making these estimates in the future?)

Last week’s piece from The Hill is a perfect example.  Under the breathless headline, “Lucrative IRS program targeting wealthy tax cheats is withering from a lack of funds,” the article reveals many things, none of which …

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Worried about your privacy?  You should be.  Congress is back and is quietly moving legislation that threatens the privacy and security of millions of business owners, charities, foundations, and investors.

The bill is called the Establishing New Authorities for Business Laundering and Enabling Risks to Security (ENABLERS) Act, and it has already passed the House as a rider on the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

In simple terms, the Act would dramatically expand the Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA) reporting requirements imposed on business owners and their employees. Here’s how Bloomberg describes the policies:

This is where tax professionals come in. The …

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