Archive for Ways And Means Committee

The Biden Tax Hike Will Likely Exceed $7 Trillion: Increases Taxes On Middle Class, Small Businesses And Families

The Biden Tax Hike Will Likely Exceed $7 Trillion

President Biden’s Budget Shows He Will Let Middle Class Tax Cuts Expire

Hidden inside President Biden’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Budget is the revelation that he will increase taxes by a whopping $7 trillion, thanks to a range of tax increases and the expiration of Republicans’ 2017 tax reform. Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) outlined a list of the biggest tax increases, saying:

“President Biden’s $7 trillion tax increase on small businesses and families means fewer jobs, higher prices, and handing our competitive advantage to China. Far from going after the wealthy, these are tax hikes that hit workers, mom-and-pop business owners, seniors nearing retirement, and family farms and ranches. And with the IRS getting another $104 billion and an expanded ability to approve penalties, Democrats will be on the fast track to collect your life savings.”

The Details:

President Biden Quietly Pledges to Let Trump Tax Cuts Expire

  • Even as the President claims he will not allow the middle-class tax cuts in the 2017 tax reform to expire, his budget fails to show any plan to stop the increases and spends as though they don’t exist anymore.
  • That’s approximately $2 trillion in new taxes on top of the nearly $5 trillion explicitly included in this budget.

Sending Jobs and Companies Overseas with Higher Business Taxes than China

  • Increasing the corporate tax rate to one of the highest in the world would put America at a disadvantage in attracting investment and jobs.
  • As much as 75 percent of the burden of corporate tax increases falls on American workers and consumers in the form of lower wages and higher prices according to recent economic studies.

Global Tax Surrender Allows Foreign Governments To Take American Tax Dollars

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Written by | Posted in Tax Hikes • Ways And Means Committee

Agency Watchdog Highlights Unacceptable Levels Of Incompetence And Abuse At The IRS

Agency Watchdog Highlights Unacceptable Levels Of Incompetence And Abuse At The IRS

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) blasted the Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday following a series of reports released by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) this summer showing the IRS is failing to treat all taxpayers the same, to protect their private information, or to provide a basic level of service.

“The IRS continues to live down to expectations as the least trustworthy agency in our federal government,” said Chairman Smith. “The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s reports from this summer highlight a disturbing pattern of neglect, abuse, and downright incompetence at the agency charged with collecting trillions of dollars in federal tax revenue, and more importantly, protecting the private, sensitive information of millions of American taxpayers.

“While President Biden has been focused on funding an army of IRS agents to audit Americans and squeeze them out of more of their hard-earned money, we have learned that the IRS lost millions of taxpayers’ data and potentially destroyed over 30 million tax records. But according to TIGTA’s reports, that was just the tip of the iceberg. The Ways and Means Committee will continue to conduct rigorous oversight and demand accountability at this agency. The IRS must be held to a higher standard for the American people.”

IRS Watchdog Reports Show:
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Written by | Posted in TaxConnections • Ways And Means Committee

Ways & Means Members: How OECD Global Tax Deal Harms Jobs, Emboldens China, And Would Spark Global Tax Instability

Ways & Means Members: How OECD Global Tax Deal Harms Jobs, Emboldens China, And Would Spark Global Tax Instability

In Germany, Ways & Means Members Highlight How OECD Global Tax Deal Harms Jobs, Emboldens China, and Would Spark Global Tax Instability.

BERLIN – Top German finance officials met with Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) and Committee members to discuss Americans’ deep concerns with the global tax surrender negotiated by President Biden at the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation on Monday.

The bilateral meetings were with German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, Federal Minister for Special Affairs of the Chancellery Wolfgang Schmidt, and Chairman Alois Rainer and members of the German Bundestag’s Finance Committee.

During these meetings, Members made clear that the OECD’s proposed global tax deal would give foreign competitors like China an economic advantage because they would never fully comply with the agreement. Meanwhile, the United States would surrender over $120 billion of tax revenue over the next decade. Given the Biden Administration’s lack of constitutional authority to write U.S. tax laws, Members explained that Congress would not pass into law any OECD tax deal that permits foreign countries to impose unfair taxes on American workers and make the United States less competitive in the global economy.

Chairman Smith also reiterated Republican opposition to the UTPR surtax in Pillar 2 that would uniquely hurt innovative American businesses. Foreign countries should never be allowed to unfairly tax the domestic operations of American businesses.
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The American Families And Jobs Act To Cut Taxes For Working Families

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Jason Smith Introduces the American Families and Jobs Act to Cut Taxes for Working Families, Grow Main Street Businesses, and Protect American Innovation & Competitiveness.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to specific concerns raised by American workers, families, farmers, and small businesses during field hearings across the country, Ways and Means Committee members have introduced legislation to help struggling families, grow jobs, and support a stronger economy. Today, these solutions are being combined as part of a new legislative tax relief and jobs package by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08).

Chairman Smith issued the following statement after introducing the American Families and Jobs Act, comprised of three bills: the Tax Cuts for Working Families Act (H.R. 3936), the Small Business Jobs Act (H.R. 3937), and the Build It in America Act (H.R. 3938):

“As we traveled to communities across this country, Americans from all walks of life – workers, parents, farmers, and small business owners – have shared their concerns with today’s chronically high prices, climbing interest rates, labor shortages and supply chain failures, as well as the challenge of competing with China.

“In field hearings held in West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Georgia, we listened to their stories and their solutions. Now we are taking action to deliver relief and create a better, stronger future for American workers and families. The legislation introduced today pulls together critical ideas introduced by Ways and Means Committee members in response to needs and concerns voiced by the American people. It builds on successful tax policies enacted by Republicans that spurred higher economic growth – far more than projected – and sparked the fastest growth in real wages in 20 years. These policies will provide relief for working families, strengthen small businesses, grow jobs, and protect American innovation and competitiveness.”
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Written by | Posted in TaxConnections • Ways And Means Committee

Chairman Smith Warns That Congress Will Reject New Job-Killing Global Tax Surrender

Chairman Smith Warns That Congress Will Reject New Job-Killing Global Tax Surrender

PARIS – In a meeting with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the international association coordinating the global tax deal, members of the House Ways and Means Committee, led by Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08), made clear that countries that try to use the OECD global tax deal to steal away American jobs and tax revenues can expect economic consequences in the future. Chairman Smith was joined in the meetings by the following Committee members:

Rep. Ron Estes (KS-04)
Rep. Kevin Hern (OK-01)
Rep. Carol Miller (WV-01)
Rep. Greg Murphy (NC-03)
Rep. Michelle Steel (CA-45)
Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-04)
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11)

The deal negotiated by the Biden Administration, without consulting Congress, surrenders America’s sovereignty over our tax laws, gives foreign competitors like China an economic advantage, and would cause the United States to forfeit over $120 billion of tax revenue over the next decade. The Biden Administration has no constitutional authority to write U.S. tax laws, and their negotiations at the OECD would permit foreign countries to impose unfair taxes on American workers and make the United States less competitive in the global economy.

Most egregiously, the “UTPR surtax” in OECD Pillar 2 allows foreign countries to tax U.S. businesses on profits earned in the United States, including clawing back key tax incentives like those for conducting research and innovation activities in the U.S. In May, every Ways and Means Republican joined Chairman Smith in introducing the Defending American Jobs and Investment Act, which would impose a reciprocal tax measure on multinational companies and wealthy investors from countries that try to use the UTPR to tax U.S. workers and productivity for their own gain.

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Written by | Posted in Global Tax Surrender • Jason Smith- Missouri Congressman • Ways And Means Committee

Secretary Yellen’s Testimony Before The Ways and Means Committee On Who Will Pay Bidens Proposed Tax Hikes

COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

1. While testifying before the Ways and Means Committee on Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made a number of remarks that were newsworthy, ranging from how IRS audits will impact the middle class, to her refusal to share details about who will really pay President Biden’s proposed tax hikes. Here are six key moments.

Secretary Yellen committed to make public the IRS’s plan for its $80 billion in new funding to hire 87,000 new agents.
Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) asked Secretary Yellen at the beginning of the hearing whether she would commit to providing Congress with the IRS’s plan for the $80 billion in new funding provided by Democrats in the so-called “Inflation Reduction” Act. Secretary Yellen promised that the plan would be provided in a matter of “weeks.”

2.Secretary Yellen admitted that the number of taxpayers facing new audits may rise, while the proportion of audits may stay the same relative to “recent years.”
Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) asked Secretary Yellen about her directive that is supposed to protect middle-class taxpayers from a rise in audits. Yellen admitted that the number of audits would increase for families – but not the proportion of total audits. Based on Yellen’s answer, Rep. Smith summarized: “So, according to the data, we can expect up to 90 percent of the new audits to be on those making less than $400,000.”

3. Secretary Yellen refused to commit to showing how middle-class families and small businesses would be protected from President Biden’s tax hikes.
Chairman Smith asked Secretary Yellen to share the legislative text of President Biden’s proposed new tax hikes as part of his Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget, in order to show how, exactly, the middle class wouldn’t see higher taxes. But Secretary Yellen declined to commit to doing so.

4. Secretary Yellen admitted that Treasury’s proposed bank monitoring program that would surveil Americans’ personal bank transactions could not go forward without legislative approval.
Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA) noted to Secretary Yellen that Democrats’ attempt to create a bank surveillance program for the IRS was blocked by Republicans. He asked for assurances from the Secretary that none of the funds that are going to the IRS will be used to implement such a bank monitoring program unless it is directed explicitly by Congress. Secretary Yellen replied, “Of course not.”
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