Skip to main content
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Briefing Book
  • Resources
  • About
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Fiscal Facts
Twitter
Facebook
Logo Site
  • Topics
    • Individual Taxes
    • Business Taxes
    • Federal Budget and Economy
    • State and Local Issues
    • Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
  • TaxVox Blog
  • Research & Commentary
  • Laws & Proposals
  • Model Estimates
  • Statistics
  • Features

TaxVoxRSS

The voices of Tax Policy Center's researchers and staff

Renu Zaretsky
September 30, 2015

Thirty days, goodbye September, shutdown talks? Maybe in December.

About that possible government shutdown… The Senate passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through December 11. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner will meet with President Obama “soon” for budget negotiations, and the House is on track to approve a short-term spending bill, too. Now Congress just has to figure out how it will fund the government after December 11.

While the House prepares to vote to repeal a big chunk of the ACA… yet again. This time, they’d include repeal of the individual and employer mandates, the Cadillac Tax, and the medical device tax in their version of a budget resolution. If the bill could pass the Senate, it would become veto bait and create another fiscal standoff (see above).

Senator Chuck Schumer and House Ways & Means chair Paul Ryan want a deal on tax and infrastructure funding. The bipartisan pair would love a marriage between international tax reform and infrastructure funding, but not many in Congress want to attend the wedding. Senator Ron Wyden said, “There’s certainly going to be a vigorous debate about rates.” But “the biggest challenge is the difference of opinion that Republicans have between themselves.”

One House Republican would like a six-year highway bill. Kevin McCarthy, the current House Majority Leader who would like to be Speaker, vows to pass a long-term extension of federal highway funding. Congress has until October 29 to extend the Federal Highway Trust Fund.

Does Donald Trump have a plan to pay for his tax cuts? The Tax Foundation’s dynamic score of the GOP candidate’s tax plan concludes it would cut taxes by $10.14 trillion over the next decade. The static score: a tax cut of $12 trillion. With interest, Trump would have to cut projected government spending by one-quarter to avoid adding to the debt. In other news, Forbes reports that Trump is worth about $4.5 billion, but the candidate himself maintains his worth is “in excess of $10 billion.” Dynamic scoring, perhaps?

Did Volkswagen deceive the US government to secure tax breaks? The German automaker, along with other auto manufacturers, lobbied for $50 million in tax breaks to help market its diesel cars. If they planned to trick US authorities, VW executives could be charged with criminal tax fraud. The US could also bring a claim against VW under the False Claims Act. Firms  are not allowed to lie to the US (by manipulating software to allow a vehicle to pass an emissions test) in order to obtain a government benefit (a tax credit for a low-emissions alternative fuel vehicle).

A tax loophole in the hedge is worth a hundred in private equity? Or something. Bloomberg examines whether ending the carried interest loophole, whereby investment gains earned by fund managers are taxed as capital gains, not ordinary income, concerns hedge fund managers. Short answer: No. Private equity investors stand to lose a lot more. Said one hedge fund manager: “The people who benefit aren’t the one percenters. They’re the one basis pointers.” That’s investment-speak for the 0.01 percenters, which is math-speak for uber-wealthy.

Interested in subscribing to the Daily Deduction, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center summary of the day’s tax news? Sign-up here to get the Daily Deduction delivered to your inbox every morning. If you’d like to tell us about a new research paper or have any comments about our feature, write us at dailydeduction “at” taxpolicycenter “dot” org.

Posts and comments are solely the opinion of the author and not that of the Tax Policy Center, Urban Institute, or Brookings Institution.

Topics

Tags

ACA
Affordable Care Act
carried interest loophole
Chuck Schumer
Donald Trump
hedge fund
John Boehner
Kevin McCarthy
Mitch McConnell
Obamacare
Paul Ryan
private equity
Ron Wyden
shutdown
Tax Foundation
Volkswagen

Share this page

https://tpc.io/20irMFRShare
  • ‹Read Previous No October Surprise, So Far
  • Read Next› Not October yet, but, oh, the tax tricks and treats!
  • Donate Today
  • Topics
  • TaxVox Blog
  • Research & Commentary
  • Laws & Proposals
  • Model Estimates
  • Statistics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Newsletters
Twitter
Facebook
  • © Urban Institute, Brookings Institution, and individual authors, 2022.