The ‘Big 6’ Are Making Progress on Tax Reform Framework
Posted on Aug 22, 2017 in News, State and Local Tax
The White House and Congressional Republicans have reached broad agreement on several potential offsets to fund tax cuts, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. Present options include capping the mortgage interest deduction, eliminating the state and local tax deduction, and eliminating the interest deduction for businesses. Additionally, there is consensus among the...
GOP Fears President’s Volatile Relationships Could Jeopardize Tax Reform
Posted on Aug 18, 2017 in News
President Trump’s declining relationship with his party and the business community could endanger passage of a tax reform bill. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady stated that tax reform, which he described as the “signature issue of this presidency,” can only succeed if the President “gets on board and stays on board.” In the wake of distracting events and the...
Brady Expects Economic Growth to Offset Initial Deficit Increase
Posted on Aug 17, 2017 in News
Speaking at the Reagan Ranch on Wednesday, August 16, 2017, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady announced that the GOP tax reform plan could significantly add to the deficit during the first few years of implementation, but that resultant economic growth would eventually offset any adverse effects. While light on specific details, Chairman Brady mentioned that House...
Republicans Confident on Selling Tax Reform
Posted on Aug 16, 2017 in News
The GOP believes it will have an easier time selling the American populace on tax reform than it did on Healthcare reform. In order to elicit support, Republican lawmakers intend to emphasize the effects of tax reform policies on their constituents, including tax cuts, more jobs, more take-home pay, and a simpler tax code. According to political strategists, stripping tax preferences...
Joint Statement on Tax Reform Issued; BAT Abandoned
Posted on Jul 27, 2017 in Uncategorized
Today, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued a joint statement on tax reform that sets out a broad framework for moving forward on tax reform. Most notably,...
GOP to Release Tax Reform Framework
Posted on Jul 27, 2017 in News
The top Republican tax negotiators are expected to unveil a broad set of agreed tax reform principles prior to the Congressional recess. The anticipated framework is the result of ongoing deliberations between the “big six”: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, House Ways and Means Committee chairman Kevin Brady, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Finance Committee chairman...
Opposition to Border Adjustment Tax Continues
Posted on Jul 26, 2017 in News
Critics, including the House Freedom Caucus and the Koch-brothers-backed Freedom Partners, as well as the retail, oil refining, and auto industry sectors, remain resolute in their position that tax reform legislation should not include a border adjustment tax (BAT). House Speaker Paul Ryan and Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady remain the BAT’s strongest supporters, but apprehension...
White House Reconsidering Corporate Tax Rate Goal
Posted on Jul 19, 2017 in News
The Trump Administration, according to White House officials and advisors, is considering a corporate tax rate of 20 percent to 25 percent. While this estimate is higher than the 15 percent rate set forth in the Administration’s one-page tax proposal issued in April, one senior administration official explained that the April figure was a starting point for negotiations, with the...
Brady Touts “Big, Bold, Permanent Tax Reform”
Posted on Jun 29, 2017 in News
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, during an interview with Stuart Varney of the Fox Business Network, identified four of the most important aspects of tax reform as: (1) cutting the corporate tax rate; (2) cutting the small business tax rate; (3) cutting the individual tax rate; and (4) full and unlimited expensing. Brady ensured that, despite time concerns, Congress...
Brady Announces Two Tax-Reform Hearings for July
Posted on Jun 27, 2017 in News
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady has announced that the committee will hold two tax reform hearings in July. The first hearing will focus on the benefits of tax reform for small businesses, while the second will concentrate on the benefits for families and individuals. No decision has been made as to whether the hearings will occur before the full committee or only...
Support Grows for Extending the Ten Year Tax Cut Budget Period
Posted on Jun 16, 2017 in News
With tax reform progress floundering amid GOP rifts and political partisanship, Republican leaders are considering changing Senate budget rules to increase the period before required sunset for tax cuts that add to the federal deficit. Current rules limit the duration of tax cuts that add to the federal deficit to ten years if they are passed under the budget reconciliation process,...
Freedom Caucus Chairman Opposes Border Adjustment Tax, Says Tax Reform must Occur by September
Posted on Jun 15, 2017 in News
Mark Meadows, Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, stated that the border adjustment tax is the main impediment to tax reform, with 70-80 Representatives opposed to the provision. Rep. Meadows indicated that legislation must be enacted by September if tax reform is to occur and meet retroactive requirements, suggesting he believes tax reform effective for 2017 is still a possibility....
Border Tax Adjustment Phase-In Not Popular with Senate Republicans
Posted on Jun 14, 2017 in News
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady’s proposal to introduce the border adjustment tax (BAT) with a five-year phase-in has not been well received by Senate Republicans. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch does not think there is enough time for the phase-in and Senator John Thune believes that a five-year phase-in will not make the BAT any more popular than it...
Rep. Brady Proposes 5-Year Phase-in for Border Adjustment Tax
Posted on Jun 13, 2017 in Uncategorized
Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady, proposed a five-year transition to switch to a border-adjusted regime. Companies would be able to deduct most of their imported costs initially with a slow phase out of the deductions. The phase-in would be applied equally to the treatment of exports, which would gradually become fully exempt. Read more here: Brady...
House Republicans Remain Divided Over Border Adjustment Tax
Posted on Jun 12, 2017 in News
With the GOP still looking for its first major legislative accomplishment under the Trump Administration, Conservative members of the House are calling for party leadership to abandon the proposed border adjustment tax in order to facilitate progress on tax cuts. Tim Phillips, president of the Koch-brothers backed “Americans for Prosperity” contends that House Ways and Means Committee...