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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|

Letter from Chairman Simmons

Dear S-CORP Member:

As the President of a multi-generation family business, the question Ib m often asked is b Why has the McIlhenny Company stayed private all these years?b B Why, indeed.

We do face limitations as a family-owned S corporation.B We pay higher tax rates on our business income and we have limited access to the capital markets.B Unlike Apple, we canb t borrow money every time we pay a dividend.B Dividends come from earnings, or they donb t come at all.

But being a family business is part of our identity.B It means every decision we make is made here at

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2019-02-01T20:19:22+00:00January 10, 2014|

Senate Finance Committee Shakeup

Yesterday we got word that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus is headed to Beijing to serve as the next Ambassador to China. For tax policy, the move changes our outlook in the following ways.

First, it increases the focus on a possible extenders package early in 2014. Baucus made clear in his comments yesterday that he plans to spend the rest of his time as Finance Chair seeking to move an extenders package. It shouldn’t take more than a month or two for his nomination to move through the Senate, but that should give him time to get something

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2019-02-01T20:19:28+00:00December 20, 2013|