Congress

Are Tax-Free ABLE Accounts The Right Financial Solution For People With Disabilities?

For the first time since 2010, Congress may be about to acknowledge that people with disabilities cannot have a decent quality of life with limited financial resources and modest government support. It is on the verge of approving the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act , which would

December 4, 2014Howard Gleckman

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

How To End the Tax Extender Drama: Stop Calling Them Extenders—And Make Congress Pay For Them

There are two simple ways to end the tiresome seasonal drama over faux-temporary tax cuts known (with a stunning lack of accuracy) as the extenders. First, call them what they are : Expired tax breaks that have been off the books for nearly a year. Second, make Congress pay for any of the special

December 2, 2014Howard Gleckman

Business Taxes: TaxVox

Will Obama’s Executive Action on Immigration Kill Tax Reform? Hint: You Can’t Kill Something That’s Already Dead

The latest narrative making the rounds in Washington is that President Obama will kill prospects for tax reform in 2015 if he grants legal status to undocumented immigrants though an executive order. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and others claim that this step will so poison the well of trust

November 18, 2014Howard Gleckman

Business Taxes: TaxVox

How Did Medical Device Makers Become Poster Children for Obamacare Critics

The push to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s tax on medical devices has somehow become a touchstone for GOP efforts to chip away at President Obama’s health care law. But why? To paraphrase Bogart’s classic line from Casablanca: Of all the taxes in all laws in all the world, why did they pick this

November 13, 2014Howard Gleckman

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The Day After the 2014 Election: Six Things To Watch In the New GOP Congress

Republicans had a very good day yesterday. But can they translate their ballot-box success into a positive legislative agenda? It won’t be easy but here are six clues: Mitch McConnell : He is a brilliant legislative tactician. We know he’ll use those skills to try to outmaneuver Democratic Leader

November 5, 2014Howard Gleckman

Business Taxes: TaxVox

Is There Any Chance Congress Will Pass Business Tax Reform Next Year?

In the run-up to next week’s congressional elections, Republicans are saying that if they win control of the Senate, they will try to pass business tax reform as part of an ambitious “we can get things done" agenda. Is there any possibility that a GOP-controlled Congress could rewrite the business

October 28, 2014Howard Gleckman

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Why Tax Lawyers and Tax Economists Can’t Communicate

Any close observer of the making of tax policy can see it: Lawyers and economists looking at the same issue through entirely different prisms. I’ve been fascinated by how their respective brains work, and why they have so much trouble communicating with one another. It turns out I am not alone. In

October 23, 2014Howard Gleckman

State and Local Issues: TaxVox

Congress Cries Wolf Over Internet Access Taxes

Unable to do anything important before its election season recess, Congress is about to knock down a favorite digital straw man—It will extend for a few months the about-to-expire federal ban on state taxation of Internet access. The federal moratorium, called the Internet Tax Freedom Act, is

September 16, 2014Howard Gleckman

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Does the Export-Import Bank Make or Lose Money?

Suppose your aunt decides to start a business making pizza ovens. She will design and build the ovens, and her daughter will manage operations. A bank is ready to lend her $100,000 to get started, but it wants someone to co-sign and be on the hook if she misses any payments. She offers to pay you $

September 11, 2014Donald Marron

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

CBO’s Spending Projections Map the Coming Fiscal Battle

Without changes in the law, health care, Social Security, and interest on the debt will eat up 85 percent of all new federal government spending over the next 10 years, according to the latest estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. By contrast, CBO expects most of the rest of government,

August 28, 2014Howard Gleckman