Legal Alert: Tax Cut and Run: Employee Benefits Change Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
View the Eversheds Sutherland Legal Alert discussing the employee benefits provisions of H.R. 1 here.House Releases Tax Bill Titled “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”
Posted on Nov 2, 2017 in News
The House Ways and Means Committee released the first draft of their tax reform legislation, titled “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” The Senate is expected to release their draft legislation before Thanksgiving. Read the section-by-section summary and the text of the bill
Rates Proposed by House’s Tax Bill
Posted on Nov 2, 2017 in News, Pass-through Taxation
The tax bill released by the House Ways and Means Committee proposes significant changes to both individual and corporate rates. The corporate tax rate will be lowered from 35% to 20% while the rate on “pass-through” businesses will be lowered to 25%. On the individual side, tax rates will be consolidated into four brackets: 12%, 25%, 35% and 39.6%. Read more: Policy Highlights –...
Even with Concession on Property Tax Deductions, Tax Bill Aimed for Wednesday Release Faces Early Opposition
Posted on Oct 30, 2017 in News, State and Local Tax
Kevin Brady, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, announced that the House’s tax plan will allow individuals to deduct their state and local property taxes from their federal returns, “to help taxpayers with local tax burdens,” although not their state and local income or sales taxes. However, the National Association of Home Builders has already voiced its opposition to the...
House Passes Budget, Clearing the Way for Tax Reform
Posted on Oct 26, 2017 in News
The House of Representatives approved the Senate version of the 2018 federal budget by a narrow margin (216-212). The budget will allow for tax legislation that could add up to $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years, and will clear the path for Congress to fast-track tax reform legislation. House Republicans are expected to unveil the text of their tax bill next week....
State and Local Tax Deduction Presents a Potential Roadblock to Tax Reform
Posted on Oct 25, 2017 in News, State and Local Tax
Republican leaders are counting on a swift vote on the budget in order to meet their end-of-year deadline for passing tax reform. However, House Republicans from high-tax states like New York, California, Illinois, and New Jersey indicated that they might not vote to pass the budget on Thursday unless they receive a guarantee that tax reform will not eliminate the State and Local Tax...
Senate GOP Passes Amendment to Repeal State and Local Tax Deduction
Posted on Oct 20, 2017 in News, State and Local Tax
With a 52-47 vote, Senate Republicans passed an amendment to the budget resolution to repeal the state and local tax deduction, which allows federal filers to deduct taxes paid for their real estate, personal property, state income, and sales taxes. The measure is expected to raise $1.3 trillion over the next ten years. Opponents of the move are critical of the fact that only...
McCain Announces Support for Budget Resolution
Posted on Oct 18, 2017 in News
Sen. John McCain buoyed GOP tax reform hopes by announcing his support for the Senate budget resolution, set for a vote later this week. Debate on the resolution began midday Tuesday following a 50-47 vote, split along party lines, to move the process forward. While Sen. John Thune expressed optimism toward passing the resolution, some Senate Republicans remain uncommitted, including...
Trump Tempers Tax Reform Timing Expectations
Posted on Oct 17, 2017 in News, State and Local Tax
President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, at an October 16th White House news conference, acknowledged that the tax code rewrite may not occur by year’s end, though the goal remains to accomplish reform in 2017. With the release of a detailed tax plan still pending, Republicans are faced with disputes regarding how to tax corporations, the fate of the estate tax, and...
Tax Reform Blueprint Expected to Include 25% Tax Rate for Pass-Through Entities
Posted on Sep 26, 2017 in News, Pass-through Taxation
The GOP tax reform framework is expected to include a new 25% tax rate for “pass-through” businesses, so named because profits and losses transfer directly to the entity’s owners. Income earned through pass-through businesses is currently taxed at individual income rates as high as 39.6%. President Trump is scheduled to announce his tax reform plan, which will also...
The GOP Readies Tax Reform Pitch
Posted on Sep 22, 2017 in News
President Trump, learning from the administration’s failure to engage conservative groups during its attempt to repeal Obamacare, will host leaders from several conservative grass roots organizations on Monday, September 25, to rally political allies around his tax reform plan. On Wednesday, the House Republican Conference will conduct a half-day retreat focused on effectively...
Senators Corker and Toomey Reach Tentative Budget Resolution Deal
Posted on Sep 20, 2017 in News
Bob Corker and Pat Toomey, GOP members of the Senate Budget Committee, have reached a tentative agreement on a budget resolution that would allow for tax cuts that would significantly increase the deficit as determined using static scoring. While the Senators did not specify the size of the potential deficit increase, Senator Ron Johnson indicated that he would support an amount of at...
Hatch Touts Corporate Integration at Tax Reform Hearing
Posted on Sep 20, 2017 in News
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, during his opening statement at the committee’s Hearing on Business Tax Reform on September 19, stated that he continues to support his corporate integration proposal, which would allow U.S. businesses to deduct shareholder dividend payments from their taxable income in order to resolve the perceived double taxation, at the corporate and...
Mnuchin Discusses Tax Reform
Posted on Sep 15, 2017 in News
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, during an interview on the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” indicated that tax reform would be revenue neutral under the Administration’s growth assumptions. In discussing specifics of the yet-to-be released tax reform plan, he stated that the estate tax would be eliminated, that there would be a one-time deemed...
Congressional Republicans Frustrated by Lack of Tax Reform Detail
Posted on Sep 14, 2017 in News
With the vote for tax reform legislation looming, Congressional members of the GOP, including Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, have expressed concern over the lack of clarity as to what the tax reform proposal is. Speaking anonymously, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee suggested that the lack of detail was either to prevent media leaks or because there is simply not...