Home/Tag: tax relief

Estate Tax Fix Poses Threat for Family Businesses

As we have noted, the stars appear to have aligned for a big estate tax compromise later this year, most likely to be focused on freezing the 2009 rules for at least a year. This means the current top tax rate of 45 percent and $3.5 million exclusion will stay the same for a while. But there’s lots of mischief that can take place under those broad levels.

As tax reformers will tell you, the base is just as important in determining your tax burden as the rates.

With that in mind, several S-Corp allies have pointed out legislation introduced by Congressman

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2019-02-06T17:22:35+00:00February 20, 2009|

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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2019-02-06T17:22:35+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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2019-02-06T17:22:35+00:00February 4, 2009|

Stimulus Package Discussed

Following a closed-door planning session today of members of the Senate Finance Committee, we expect the Committee will mark-up the tax portions of a stimulus package as early as January 22nd. As we indicated previously, committee members are committed to exerting their jurisdiction over the tax portions of the package. Moreover, there appears to be a growing debate over certain provisions in the Obama plans. As Dow Jones reports this afternoon:

“When asked about specific tax cut proposals made by Obama, Kerry said, “I think there are cuts

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2019-02-06T17:22:36+00:00January 8, 2009|

Tax Relief Grows in Proposed Stimulus

Congress is back and ready to legislate. First out of the box will be the long-anticipated economic stimulus package. Unlike previous efforts, the current push has the benefit of support from leadership in the House, Senate, and the new Administration, so we expect a sizable package to reach the President’s desk prior to the February recess.

What exactly will the package include? Details are being negotiated right now but the broad outline remains the same — a large package of spending on infrastructure, relief to cash-strapped states in the form of increased federal Medicaid payments, and tax relief to businesses and

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2019-02-06T17:22:36+00:00January 5, 2009|