Tag Archive for tax legislation

Glossary of Legislative Terms: Learn What The Terms Mean

Glossary of Legislative Terms: Learn What The Terms Mean

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action codes
Action Codes identify stages that condense detailed legislative action steps.

adjourn
Formally end a meeting of a chamber or committee.

adjournment sine die
An adjournment that terminates an annual session of Congress. A “sine die” (“without day”) adjournment sets no day for reconvening, so that Congress will not meet again until the first day of the next session. Under the Constitution, adjournment sine die (except when the next session is about to convene) requires the agreement of both chambers, accomplished through adoption of a concurrent resolution, which in current practice also authorizes leaders of either chamber to reconvene its session if circumstances warrant.

amendment
A proposed change to a pending text (e.g., a bill, resolution, another amendment, or a treaty [or an associated resolution of ratification]).

See also Proposed/offered Senate amendment and Submitted Senate amendment.

amendment exchange
Also referred to as “amendments between the houses” or, colloquially, “ping-pong.” A method for reconciling differences between the two chambers’ versions of a measure by sending the measure back and forth between them until both have agreed to identical language.

amendment in the nature of a substitute
Amendment that seeks to replace the entire text of an underlying measure.

bicameral
Literally, “two chambers;” in a legislative body, having two houses (as in the House of Representatives and the Senate comprising the U.S. Congress).

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IRS Issues Guidance On Business Interest Expense Limitations

IR-2018-82, April 2, 2018

WASHINGTON ― The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) yesterday issued Notice 2018-28, which provides guidance for computing the business interest expense limitation under recent tax legislation enacted on Dec. 22, 2017.

In general, newly amended section 163(j) of the Internal Revenue Code imposes a limitation on deductions for business interest incurred by certain large businesses. For most large businesses, business interest expense is limited to any business interest income plus 30 percent of the business’ adjusted taxable income. Read More

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Massachusetts And Online State Tax: What You Need To Know

Over the last couple of months we’ve been taking a closer look at how various states are approaching the issue of online sales tax. Some states, like Washington and Nevada, have enacted “Amazon Laws” that make some retailers responsible for collecting and remitting state sales tax. Other states, such as Arizona, haven’t created new legislation directly about the issue yet and seem to be waiting to see how the debate is settled, either in Congress or through other states’ laws. Read More

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What Do You Think About President Trump’s Tax Plan?

The qualifications of the TaxConnections Community Members are outstanding. Over the past year, I have learned many lessons from Tom Kerester, our Tax Ambassador in Washington who previously wrote impressive articles on how bills get through Congress. One of the most important pieces of information Tom shared with me as a former Tax Legislative Attorney in the United States Congress with the House Ways And Means Committee was this…

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What To Know About Washington’s Online Sales Tax

Monika Miles

The online sales tax debate continues, with states taking matters into their own hands instead of waiting for Congress to decide how to settle the matter. However, not all states are approaching the issue the same way. We’ve already looked at current and potential legislation in Colorado and Alabama; next we venture to Washington state!

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Keep Up With Tax Policy— Two Important Hearings Today!

If you have been reading our blogs, we have been chronicling the tax legislative process through the House Ways and Means Committee. (If not, you can click here to read the previous blogs in the process.) We have also been looking at the impact of FATCA.

These are of note because today, there will be live hearings looking at the tax filing season and the unintended consequences of FATCA.

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PATH Act ITIN Renewal Requirements: All ITINs issued before 2013

TaxConnections Member Larry Stolberg

On December 18th, President Obama, signed H.R. 2029, the tax (the “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015”) and spending bills (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016) to fund the government for its 2016 fiscal year.

The PATH Act ITIN renewal requirements: individuals who were issued Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) before 2013 to renew their ITINs on a staggered schedule between 2017 and 2020 either in person before an IRS employee or a certified acceptance agent or by mail under procedures to be developed. Documentation proving identity, foreign status and residency is required for renewal. The Act also provides that an ITIN will expire if an individual fails to file a tax return for three consecutive years.

Similar rules apply to individuals residing outside the United States such as Canadians who applied for ITINS and file U.S. tax returns reporting their net rental income from U.S. real estate. It’s important to keep in mind that the

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Written by | Posted in Individual Taxpayer ID Numbers • ITIN • PATH Act • Tax Policy

Rate Increase and Withholding of Tax on Dispositions for US Property Interests

TaxConnections Member Larry Stolberg

An important tax update was made regarding the rate increase and withholding of tax on U.S. property dispositions. On December 18th, President Obama, signed H.R. 2029, the tax (the “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015”) and spending bills (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016) to fund the government for its 2016 fiscal year.

The December The Act increases the rate of withholding from dispositions of U.S. real property interests under §1445 from 10% to 15%, but remains at 10% for residences sold for less than $1 million.

The withholding exemption where the sale price is under $300,000US and the purchaser will acquire the property as their principal residence is still in effect.

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The PATH Act Significantly Enhances The R&D Tax Credit Program

Tax Advisor - Peter Scalise

On December 18th of 2015, President Obama signed into law a sweeping $1.14 trillion dollar funding bill that will keep the federal government operating through September 30th of 2016. In connection to the tax aspects of this comprehensive and pivotal legislation, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (hereinafter the “PATH Act”) accomplished considerably more than the typical tax-extenders legislation passed in previous years and truly signifies a dynamic paradigm shift as the PATH Act makes permanent over twenty leading tax incentives while extending other tax incentives over either a five year period or a two year period.

In particular, the PATH Act meaningfully enhanced the R&D Tax Credit Program (hereinafter “RTC program”) on a myriad of levels. As an overview, the RTC program was initially added to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (hereinafter the “Code”) in 1981 through the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 as a temporary provision of the Code. The RTC program had most recently expired on December 31, 2014. A tremendous paradigm shift to the RTC program was made possible through the PATH Act which not only renewed the RTC retroactively for all of calendar year 2015 but most importantly made the RTC program permanent. In addition, the enhanced RTC program has been considerably restructured to: Read More

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A Legislative Tax Update From Capitol Hill

Tax Advisor - Peter Scalise

On December 18th of 2015, President Obama discussed a Legislative Tax Update on Capitol Hill. He signed into law a sweeping $1.14 trillion dollar funding bill that will keep the federal government operating through September 30th of 2016. In connection to the tax aspects of this comprehensive and pivotal legislation, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (hereinafter the “PATH Act”) does considerably more than the typical tax-extenders legislation passed in previous years and truly signifies a dynamic paradigm shift as the PATH Act makes permanent over twenty leading tax incentives, including the Research & Development Tax Credit Program, the American Opportunity Tax Credit Program and the enhanced I.R.C. § 179 Expensing Program. The PATH Act further extends other key tax incentives, including the Bonus Depreciation Program and the New Markets Tax Credit Program for five years while reinstating other significant tax incentives for two years. The PATH Act also imposes a two-year suspension on the ACA Medical Device Excise Tax.

The subsequent synopsis will serve as a practical overview of just some of the many far-reaching changes enacted by the PATH Act affecting both business entities and individuals including, but certainly not limited to: Read More

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