Key Takeaways
- Trump economic vision.
- Proposed GOP private school voucher plan.
- Analyzing cost of 2025 Trump tax cuts.
- More on tariffs.
- IRS tax cuts and layoffs.
- Clean vehicle credit fraud.
- National Employee Appreciation Day!
Tax Legislation
Trump Sells Economic Vision as No Pain, No Gain - Richard Rubin, Wall Street Journal:
Trump isn’t just seeking to extend the tax cuts pushed through by the Republicans in 2017 but to add trillions of dollars of new promises—eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits. The requirement to repeal two old regulations for every new one has become a 10-to-1 ratio for the second term.
GOP voucher plan would divert billions in taxes to private schools - Laura Meckler, Washington Post:
Congressional Republicans, backed by the White House, are pushing for a new tax credit that would direct billions of dollars a year to school voucher programs — and not just in conservative states.
...
One version of the plan would cost the federal government $5 billion a year in lost revenue; another version, $10 billion. At $10,000 per student, $5 billion would be enough to pay for about 500,000 vouchers, which families could use to send their children to private schools or to pay for home schooling expenses. Under a version of the bill approved by the House Ways and Means Committee last fall and a new version introduced this year, all but the wealthiest families would be eligible to receive vouchers.
...
One version of the plan would cost the federal government $5 billion a year in lost revenue; another version, $10 billion. At $10,000 per student, $5 billion would be enough to pay for about 500,000 vouchers, which families could use to send their children to private schools or to pay for home schooling expenses. Under a version of the bill approved by the House Ways and Means Committee last fall and a new version introduced this year, all but the wealthiest families would be eligible to receive vouchers.
Budget Reconciliation: Tracking the 2025 Trump Tax Cuts - Erica York, Garrett Watson, William McBride, Alex Muresianu, Tax Foundation:
Extending the expiring 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) would decrease federal tax revenue by $4.5 trillion from 2025 through 2034. Long-run GDP would be 1.1 percent higher, offsetting $710 billion, or 16 percent, of the revenue losses. Long-run GNP (a measure of American incomes) would only rise by 0.4 percent, as some of the benefits of the tax cuts and larger economy go to foreigners in the form of higher interest payments on the debt.
Tariffs
Trump Whipsaws on Tariffs, Giving Mexico and Canada Reprieve - Ana Swanson and Alan Rappeport, New York Times:
Two days after imposing sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico, President Trump on Thursday abruptly suspended many of those levies, sowing confusion with investors and businesses that depend on trade with the countries.
The president said he would allow products that are traded under the rules of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade pact he signed in his first term, to avoid the stiff 25 percent tariffs he imposed just days ago on two of America’s largest trading partners.
The president said he would allow products that are traded under the rules of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade pact he signed in his first term, to avoid the stiff 25 percent tariffs he imposed just days ago on two of America’s largest trading partners.
Trump's Value-Added Tax Focus In Tariff Plan Stirs Angst - Dylan Moroses, Law 360 Tax Authority:
Last month, Trump issued an executive memo calling on his administration to explore how best to design and carry out the reciprocal tariff plan. In the memo, Trump referenced extraterritorial taxes, including value-added taxes, as potential targets on which to base reciprocal tariffs.
Yet, according to experts, value-added taxes do not put U.S. businesses at a disadvantage, and applying blanket tariffs on imports from countries equal to their VATs would prove more distortionary and destructive to global trade.
Yet, according to experts, value-added taxes do not put U.S. businesses at a disadvantage, and applying blanket tariffs on imports from countries equal to their VATs would prove more distortionary and destructive to global trade.
IRS
Treasury Nominee Grilled on Tax Cuts, IRS Layoffs - Katie Lobosco, Tax Notes ($):
President Trump’s nominee for deputy Treasury secretary, Michael Faulkender, told senators that the 2017 tax cuts should be made permanent and that he is unaware of any plans to cut the IRS workforce in half.
Faulkender appeared at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee March 6, where Democrats grilled him on, among other things, the cost of extending expiring Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions and whether Trump has the power to impound congressionally authorized federal spending.
Faulkender appeared at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee March 6, where Democrats grilled him on, among other things, the cost of extending expiring Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions and whether Trump has the power to impound congressionally authorized federal spending.
Tax Trouble
West Virginia business owner pleads guilty to employment tax crimes - IRS (defendant name omitted):
Between 2015 and 2022, however, Defendant willfully failed to pay over to the IRS the employment taxes withheld from his employees’ paychecks. He also used the RPC Group’s business accounts to pay for personal expenses, including personal credit cards and his wife’s home mortgage, and issued checks to his wife from RPC Group even though she was not an employee of the business. In addition, from 2018 to 2023, Defendant did not file personal tax returns or pay income taxes. In total, Defendant caused a tax loss to the IRS exceeding $250,000.
TIGTA Looks to Smooth Kinks in Clean Vehicle Credit Disbursements - Mary Katherine Browne, Tax Notes ($):
Roughly $3.2 million in clean vehicle tax credits were erroneously claimed by 1,130 taxpayers during tax year 2023, according to an IRS watchdog.
In a report released March 6, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration provided the IRS with recommendations on improving the implementation of clean vehicle tax credits under sections 30D and 25E, including taking action to reverse potentially erroneous credit claims.
In a report released March 6, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration provided the IRS with recommendations on improving the implementation of clean vehicle tax credits under sections 30D and 25E, including taking action to reverse potentially erroneous credit claims.
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It's National Employee Appreciation Day!
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