Major Tax Issues in the 109th Congress
Author : David L. Brumbaugh
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 47,76 MB
Release : 2005
Category : Taxation
ISBN :
Major Tax Issues in the 109th Congress
Author : David L. Brumbaugh
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 33,1 MB
Release : 2005
Category : Electronic books
ISBN :
Book Description
Major Tax Issues in the 109th Congress
Author :
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 21,20 MB
Release : 2005
Category :
ISBN :
Book Description
Congress considered a variety of tax issues over the course of 2004. Some of these were relatively narrow, applying to particular sectors or activities: energy taxation, charitable giving and charities, Internet taxation, tax shelters, and a variety of expiring tax benefits that apply to particular investments or activities. More prominent, however, were two more general issues that were the focus of tax policy deliberations for much of the year: domestic and international business taxation; and the extension of temporary tax cuts for individuals that were initially enacted in 2001 and 2003. Congressional deliberations on business taxation grew out of a long-simmering controversy between the United States and the European Union (EU) over the U.S. extraterritorial income exclusion (ETI) tax benefit for exporting. The EU had lodged complaints with the World Trade Organization (WTO) maintaining that the ETI benefit and several predecessors in the U.S. tax code violated the WTO's strictures against export subsidies. In late spring, 2004, both the House and Senate passed legislation phasing out ETI. However, the bills in each chamber extended far beyond the ETI issue to include a wide variety of tax benefits for domestic and international investments as well as revenue-raising provisions in areas such as corporate tax shelters. In October, Congress approved a conference committee version of the legislation, which became the American Jobs Creation Act (P.L. 108-357). The tax cuts Congress enacted in 2001 with the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Recovery Act (EGTRRA; P.L. 107-16) were a gradual phase-in of a variety of provisions, including reduction of individual income tax rates and tax cuts for married couples and families. In 2003, the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act's (JGTRRA; P.L. 108-27) principal thrust was to move the effective date of EGTRRA's gradual tax cuts forward to 2003. However, several of JGTRRA's accelerations were scheduled to expire at the end of 2004, including an increase in the child tax credit, tax cuts for married couples, and reduction of the alternative minimum tax. In September, Congress approved the Working Families Tax Relief Act (WFTRA; P.L. 108-311), which generally extended JGTRRA's tax cuts as well as a set of other temporary tax benefits. Early indications suggest several tax issues may receive congressional attention in 2005. One possibility is fundamental tax reform: the Administration has stated that consideration of tax reform is one of its top domestic priorities and the topic has received congressional interest in the past. Another possibility is the alternative minimum tax, which will apply to an increasing number of taxpayers unless it is modified. And, notwithstanding the extensions enacted in 2004, the tax cuts enacted under EGTRRA in 2001 are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. Congress may consider legislation to extend or make permanent the 2001 cuts; in early April, for example, the House passed a bill to make permanent EGTRRA's temporary repeal of the estate tax. For its part, the Administration's FY2006 budget plan calls for fundamental tax reform and tax cuts amounting to $1.3 trillion over ten years. This report will be updated as tax-related legislative activity occurs.
Major Tax Issues in the 109th Congress, December 14, 2006
Author : Brumbaugh
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 24,8 MB
Release : 2006
Category :
ISBN :
Book Description
Major Tax Issues in the 110th Congress
Author : David Brumbaugh
Publisher :
Page : 20 pages
File Size : 13,1 MB
Release : 2007
Category : Alternative minimum tax
ISBN :
Book Description
As 2006 came to a close, congressional leaders in the tax-writing committees and elsewhere have provided some indications of tax issues that may be on the congressional agenda in 2007. One issue whose urgency was reduced, however, was the fate of a set of temporary tax benefits (the "extenders") that generally expired at the end of 2005: Congress approved a bill extending the provisions (the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006; P.L. 109-432) during the first week of December in its post-election session. Nevertheless, a number of significant tax issues remain that Congress may address in 2007. Prominent among upcoming issues is the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individuals. Under current law, individuals are generally required to pay either the structural components of the AMT are not indexed for inflation. Thus, given rising prices, the growth of incomes, and enactment of tax cuts under the regular tax, a growing proportion of taxpayers are subject to the AMT each year; and its coverage has begun to affect middle-class taxpayers (along with the upper-income individuals who were those principally subject to the tax in prior years). In past years, Congress has addressed the growth of the AMT by enacting temporary measures ("patches") that restrict its scope. Recently, however, Congressional leaders have expressed an interest in seeking a more long-term solution to the AMT's increased scope. Other tax issues that Congress may address include the question of whether to extend the broad tax cuts first enacted in 2001 -- for example, the expanded child credit, reduced individual tax rates, tax cuts for married couples, and repeal of the estate tax. The cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, and during 2006, Congress evinced considerable interest in making the tax cuts permanent. Notwithstanding the results of the mid-term elections, the 110th Congress may return to the question of extending the tax cuts in either their initial or altered form. In the current era of federal budget deficits, a dilemma with tax-cutting measures is their likely cost in terms of foregone tax revenue. Extending the 2001 tax cuts or repealing the AMT, for example, would reduce tax revenue by substantial amounts. Accordingly, there has been some discussion of a number of revenue-raising measures that would offset some or all of the cost of revenue-losing tax cuts. Items that have been mentioned prominently include increased attention to the "tax gap"--The difference between the taxes U.S. individuals and firms owe and what they actually pay -- as well as tax shelters, restricting tax benefits for U.S. firms that operate abroad, and restricting tax benefits for oil companies. In addition, some in Congress have indicated support for strengthening rules designed to restrict the federal budget deficit. Congress, of course, does not consider tax policy in an economic or budgetary vacuum. This report thus provides a broad view of tax policy's context before taking a closer look at the particular tax issues that appear likely to arise in 2007.
Crs Report for Congress
Author : Congressional Research Service: The Libr
Publisher : BiblioGov
Page : 26 pages
File Size : 22,93 MB
Release : 2013-10
Category :
ISBN : 9781293021903
Book Description
As 2006 came to a close, congressional leaders in the tax-writing committees and elsewhere have provided some indications of tax issues that may be on the congressional agenda in 2007. One issue whose urgency was reduced, however, was the fate of a set of temporary tax benefits (the "extenders") that generally expired at the end of 2005: Congress approved a bill extending the provisions (the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006; P.L. 109-432) during the first week of December in its post-election session. Nevertheless, a number of significant tax issues remain that Congress may address in 2007. Prominent among upcoming issues is the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individuals. Under current law, individuals are generally required to pay either the AMT or the regular tax, whichever is greater. Unlike the regular tax, however, structural components of the AMT are not indexed for inflation. Thus, given rising prices, the growth of incomes, and enactment of tax cuts under the regular tax, a growing portion of taxpayers are subject to the AMT each year; and its coverage has begun to affect middle-class taxpayers (along with the upper-income individuals who were those principally subject to the tax in prior years). In ...
Major Tax Issues in the 110th Congress
Author :
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 20,6 MB
Release : 2007
Category :
ISBN :
Book Description
As 2006 came to a close, congressional leaders in the tax-writing committees and elsewhere have provided some indications of tax issues that may be on the congressional agenda in 2007. One issue whose urgency was reduced, however, was the fate of a set of temporary tax benefits (the "extenders") that generally expired at the end of 2005: Congress approved a bill extending the provisions (the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006; P.L. 109-432) during the first week of December in its post-election session. Nevertheless, a number of significant tax issues remain that Congress may address in 2007. Prominent among upcoming issues is the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individuals. Under current law, individuals are generally required to pay either the AMT or the regular tax, whichever is greater. Unlike the regular tax, however, structural components of the AMT are not indexed for inflation. Thus, given rising prices, the growth of incomes, and enactment of tax cuts under the regular tax, a growing portion of taxpayers are subject to the AMT each year; and its coverage has begun to affect middle-class taxpayers (along with the upper-income individuals who were those principally subject to the tax in prior years). In past years, Congress has addressed the growth of the AMT by enacting temporary measures ("patches") that restrict its scope. Recently, however, Congressional leaders have expressed an interest in seeking a more long-term solution to the AMT's increased scope. Other tax issues that Congress may address include the question of whether to extend the broad tax cuts first enacted in 2001 -- for example, the expanded child credit, reduced individual tax rates, tax cuts for married couples, and repeal of the estate tax. The cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, and during 2006, Congress evinced considerable interest in making the tax cuts permanent. Notwithstanding the results of the mid-term elections, the 110th Congress may return to the question of extending the tax cuts in either their initial or altered form. In the current era of federal budget deficits, a dilemma with tax-cutting measures is their likely cost in terms of foregone tax revenue. Extending the 2001 tax cuts or repealing the AMT, for example, would reduce tax revenue by substantial amounts. Accordingly, there has been some discussion of a number of revenueraising measures that would offset some or all of the cost of revenue-losing tax cuts. Items that have been mentioned prominently include increased attention to the "tax gap" -- the difference between the taxes U.S. individuals and firms owe and what they actually pay -- as well as tax shelters, restricting tax benefits for U.S. firms that operate abroad, and restricting tax benefits for oil companies. In addition, some in Congress have indicated support for strengthening rules designed to restrict the federal budget deficit. Congress, of course, does not consider tax policy in an economic or budgetary vacuum. This report thus provides a broad view of tax policy's context before taking a closer look at the particular tax issues that appear likely to arise in 2007. The report will be updated as legislative and economic events occur.
War and Taxes
Author : Steven A. Bank
Publisher : The Urban Insitute
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 20,64 MB
Release : 2008
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780877667407
Book Description
Introduction: This book explores the long history of American taxation during times of war. As political scientist David Mayhew recently observed, since it's founding in 1789, the United States has conducted hot wars for some 38 years, occupied the South militarily for a decade, waged the Cold War for several decades, and staged countless smaller actions against Indian tribes or foreign powers. The cost of these activities has been immense, with important and lasting consequences for the tax system, the economy, and the nation's political structure. By focusing on tax legislation, we hope to identify some of these consequences. But we are not interested in simply recounting statutory details. Rather, we hope to illuminate the politics of war taxation, with a special focus on the influence of arguments concerning "shaped sacrifice" in shaping wartime tax policy. Moreover, we aim to shed light on a less examined aspect of this history by offering a detailed account of wartime opposition to increased taxes.
Flat Tax Proposals and Fundamental Tax Reform
Author :
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 39,79 MB
Release : 2006
Category :
ISBN :
Book Description
President George W. Bush has stated that tax reform is one of his top priorities. He appointed a nine-member bipartisan panel to study the federal tax code, and November 1, 2005, this panel proposed two alternatives to reform the code including simplification elements. Consequently, the concept of replacing our current income tax system with a "flat-rate tax" has received renewed congressional interest. Although referred to as "flat-rate taxes," many of the recent proposals go much further than merely adopting a flat-rate tax structure. Some involve significant income tax base broadening whereas others entail changing the tax base from income to consumption. Proponents of these tax revisions often maintain that they would simplify the tax system, make the government less intrusive, and create an environment more conducive to saving. Critics express concern about the distributional consequences and transitional costs of a dramatic change in the tax system. Most observers believe that the problems and complexities of our current tax system are not primarily related to the number of tax rates but rather stem from difficulties associated with measuring the tax base. Most of the recent tax reform proposals would change the tax base from income to consumption. One or more of the following four major types of broad-based consumption taxes are included in these congressional tax proposals: the valueadded tax (VAT), the retail sales tax, the consumed-income tax, and the flat tax based on a proposal formulated by Robert E. Hall and Alvin Rabushka of the Hoover Institution. Proposals introduced in the 109th Congress include the Linder proposal (H.R. 25) and the companion bill S. 25 (Chambliss) for a national sales tax; the DeMint proposal (S. 1921) for a combination of a national retail sales tax and a subtraction-method value-added tax; the Specter proposal (S. 812) and Shelby proposal (S. 1099) for a flat tax; and the English proposal (H.R. 4707) for a combination of a consumed-income tax and a subtraction-method VAT. In addition, Representative Fattah proposed (H.R. 1601) that the Treasury conduct a study of the implementation of a transaction fee as a replacement for all existing federal taxes on individuals and corporations. Other tax reform proposals in the 109th Congress focus on income as the base. The proposals of Senator Wyden (S. 1927) and Representative Emanuel (H.R. 5176 in the 109th Congress) would keep income as the tax base but broaden the base and lower the tax rates. Representative Burgess's proposal (H.R. 1040) would permit each taxpayer to choose between the current individual income tax or an alternative flat tax based on the Hall-Rabushka concept. This report replaces IB95060 and will be updated as issues develop, new legislation is introduced, or as otherwise warranted.
Energy Tax Policy
Author : Salvatore Lazzari
Publisher :
Page : 36 pages
File Size : 12,76 MB
Release : 2007
Category : Energy policy
ISBN :
Book Description
Historically, U.S. federal energy tax policy promoted the supply of oil and gas. However, the 1970s witnessed (1) a significant cutback in the oil and gas industry's tax preferences, (2) the imposition of new excise taxes on oil, and (3) the introduction of numerous tax preferences for energy conservation, the development of alternative fuels, and the commercialization of the technologies for producing these fuels (renewables such as solar, wind, and biomass, and nonconventional fossil fuels such as shale oil and coalbed methane). The Reagan Administration, using a free-market approach, advocated repeal of the windfall profit tax on oil and the repeal or phase-out of most energy tax preferences -- for oil and gas, as well as alternative fuels. Due to the combined effects of the Economic Recovery Tax Act and the energy tax subsidies that had not been repealed, which together created negative effective tax rates in some cases, the actual energy tax policy differed from the stated policy. The George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton years witnessed a return to a much more activist energy tax policy, with an emphasis on energy conservation and alternative fuels. While the original aim was to reduce demand for imported oil, energy tax policy was also increasingly viewed as a tool for achieving environmental and fiscal objectives. The Clinton Administration's energy tax policy emphasized the environmental benefits of reducing greenhouse gases and global climate change, but it will also be remembered for its failed proposal to enact a broadly based energy tax on Btus (British thermal units) and its 1993 across-the-board increase in motor fuels taxes of 4.3 cents per gallon. President Bush has proposed a limited number of energy tax measures, but the 109 Congress enacted the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58) -- comprehensive energy legislation that included numerous energy tax incentives to increase the supply of, and reduce the demand for, fossil fuels and electricity. Signed by President Bush on August 8, 2005, it provided a net energy tax cut of $11.5 billion ($14.5 billion gross energy tax cuts, less $3 billion of energy tax increases). The act included tax incentives for energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings and for more energy efficient vehicles, and tax incentives for several types of alternative and renewable resources, such as solar and geothermal. The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-432), enacted in December 2006, provided for one-year extensions of these provisions. The current energy tax structure favors tax incentives for alternative and renewable fuels supply relative to energy from conventional fossil fuels, and this posture was accentuated under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
