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Tax News & Views Tax Legislation with Tourism Roundup

By Trina Pinneau
May 7, 2025
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Key Takeaways

  • Tax Legislation
  • Tariffs
  • IRS
  • Tax Credits
  • Mass Firings
  • In the Courts
  • Tourism Day

Tax Legislation

House Can Pass Tax Bill by May 26 Despite Delays, Johnson Says – Katie Lobosco, Tax Notes ($):

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the House can still pass President Trump’s tax bill by Memorial Day, despite pushing three key committees’ markups to the week of May 12.

The date of the markups slipped, according to Johnson, because the House committees were still waiting for “key numbers and calculations” on some of the tax-related provisions and other details in the reconciliation package.

Republicans to Pay for Trump Tax Cuts with Sales of Public Land – Ari Natter, Bloomberg ($):

House Republicans have added a plan to raise billions of dollars to help pay for US President Donald Trump’s massive tax cuts through the sale of thousands of acres of federal land — a politically charged idea that has drawn opposition from some in their own party.

The plan, a late-night addition to a legislative package approved early Wednesday by the House Natural Resources Committee, mandates the sale of dozens of parcels totaling more than 11,000 acres (4,450 hectares) of federal land in Utah and Nevada.

GOP Taxwriter Pushes Overtime Tax Deduction in Reconciliation – Cady Stanton, Tax Notes ($):

A Senate Republican taxwriter introduced legislation that would codify President Trump’s promise to eliminate taxes on overtime pay, but with some guardrails included to reduce the provision’s cost.

The new bill from Senate Finance Committee member Roger Marshall, R-Kan., the Overtime Wages Tax Relief Act, would create an above-the-line income tax deduction for some overtime payments, with an income phaseout and a cap at $10,000 for single filers and $20,000 for joint filers.

Ways and Means optimistic about fast tax-bill timeline – Benjamin Guggenheim, Politico:

Republican tax writers on the House Ways and Means committee are increasingly optimistic that they’ll be able to hold a vote on the GOP tax package in very short order.

“I’m very optimistic that we’re doing it in days,” said Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) in a brief interview Tuesday, when asked if he thinks that the committee will be able to mark up the tax legislation next week.

 

Tariffs

Trump Is Threatening Big Pharma with Tariffs. Tax Changes Might Work Better. – David Wainer, Wall Street Journal:

No matter how high President Trump cranks up tariffs, many industries are never coming back to the U.S. For industries that require cheap labor such as apparel and toys, bringing that production to Pennsylvania or Ohio just doesn’t make sense.

For pharma, an industry in which gross margins are among the highest in the S&P 500, labor was never really the reason for moving offshore to places like Ireland—it was always about playing the global tax game.

 

IRS

Bessent Eyes IRS' Technology Budget for Major Cuts – Asha Glover, Law 360 ($):

The Internal Revenue Service must cut its bloated technology budget and decrease the agency's overall spending, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a House Appropriations panel Tuesday.

Bessent defended President Donald Trump's administration's intent to cut nearly $2.5 billion from the IRS' budget compared with 2025 under the 2026 budget request, telling the House Financial Services and General Government subcommittee that the bulk of the spending reductions should come from technology funding.

Treasury to Root Out ‘Politicization’ in IRS Audits, Bessent Says – Alexander Rifaat & Benjamin Valdez, Tax Notes ($):

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the IRS’s audit processes are under review during a congressional hearing in which he defended cutting the agency’s budget to its lowest level since 2002.

Bessent, speaking to the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee May 6, said that “there’s been a great deal of politicization” of audits at the IRS in recent years.

Industry Surprised by E-Filing Relief for U.S. Withholding Agents – Kiarra M. Strocko, Tax Notes ($). “Tax practitioners were shocked by an IRS official's announcement of an extension to the 2025 calendar year of an exemption for domestic withholding agents from the requirement to electronically file annual withholding tax returns.”

 

Tax Credits

US House Is Likely to Kill EV Tax Credit, Speaker Johnson Says – Ari Natter, Bloomberg ($):

Republicans in the US House are more likely than not to kill a consumer tax credit for electric vehicles, according to Speaker Mike Johnson.



Eliminating the popular tax credit of as much as $7,500 for consumers who purchase an EV has been a prime target for Republicans looking for ways to help pay for President Donald Trump’s massive tax-cut package.

Farmer Support Stokes Hopes for Biofuels Tax Credit Extension – Erin Schilling & Chris Cioffi, Bloomberg ($):

Confidence is building in the alternative fuels industry for an extension of its hallmark tax credit while other renewable energy sectors are hustling to protect their credits from repeal in the upcoming tax bill.

House Republicans are close to wrapping up negotiations on their signature tax legislation, and the fate of billions of dollars of energy tax credits from the 2022 tax-and-climate law known as the Inflation Reduction Act are still undecided.

Actor Voight, Film Biz Adviser to Trump, Floats Tax Incentives – Kevin Pinner, Law 360 ($). “Actor Jon Voight, whom President Donald Trump tapped as an adviser on the Hollywood film industry, told Trump that tax incentives, international treaties and limited tariffs could revitalize production, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom separately floated a $7.5 billion federal film tax credit, according to statements shared Tuesday with Law360.”

 

Mass Firings

Judge Doubts Validity of Injunction in Mass Firings Case – Kristen A. Parillo, Tax Notes ($):

A Maryland federal judge likely overstepped his authority by ordering the IRS and other agencies to reinstate fired probationary employees for failure to provide notice of the mass firings to the states, according to a Fourth Circuit judge.

“There’s a real question here of what the federal remedy could be that wouldn’t really significantly damage the federal government’s control over the composition of its own workforce,” Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III said May 6 during oral arguments in Maryland v. Department of Agriculture.

 

In the Courts

4th Circ. Seems Split on BofA's Post-Merger Tax Offset Claims – Anna Scott Farrell, Law 360 ($). “The Fourth Circuit seemed split Tuesday on whether Bank of America should be able to use its tax overpayments to offset interest on tax underpayments by companies that merged into it, with one judge pressing the government to respond to what he described as the bank's ‘common sense’ argument in the $163 million case.”

Fed. Circ. Agrees Plane Taxability Patent Doesn't Fly – Adam Lidgett, Law 360 ($). “The Federal Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive an Ohio company's patent that covers using Federal Aviation Administration data to determine ‘the taxability status of aircraft,’ agreeing that it covered subject matter that isn't patentable.”

Civilian Air Force Employee Hit by TCJA Moving Loss Suspension – Nathan J. Richman, Tax Notes ($). “An Air Force employee ordered to a new permanent duty station during the pandemic couldn’t deduct her moving expenses because of a limitation imposed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Tax Court concluded.”

 

What Day is it?

Time for some traveling! Its National Tourism Day!

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About the Author(s)

Trina Pinneau photo

Trina Pinneau

Senior Manager
Trina has more than 10 years of public accounting experience providing tax consulting services and analyzing complex tax situations. She has spent the majority of her time in the credits and incentives space with a focus on energy credits and excise taxes. Trina also has experience in tax controversy and accounting methods. In joining Eide Bailly's National Tax Office Trina is focusing her efforts on energy efficiency incentives while being a resource for the excise and tax controversy team.

Any opinions expressed or implied are those of the author and not necessarily those of Eide Bailly. Opinions found in linked items are those of the authors of the linked item, not of your bloggers or of Eide Bailly. “$” means link may be behind a paywall. Items here do not constitute tax advice.