Here is your daily round-up of news and analysis to keep you informed as tax reform works its way through Congress.
What’s happening today
The Senate tax bill markup continues in the Finance Committee.
In the news
Wall Street Journal: “GOP Bills Remove Some of the Tax Code’s Complexities”
The GOP plans would repeal the alternative minimum tax, a parallel tax system affecting more than four million households. The House bill would consolidate a tangle of tax breaks for higher education. Both plans would remove—temporarily—thorny depreciation rules. Narrow deductions for tax-preparation fees, teachers’ out-of-pocket expenses and moving costs would vanish under the House plan, removing lines from tax forms and pages from Internal Revenue Service publications.
The full House and a Senate committee are each expected to vote this week on the competing plans, as Republicans push to have a tax bill signed into law by year-end. Simplification is part of the GOP’s promise to voters, but for many filers, a simpler tax code without the breaks they use the most could leave them paying more.
Still, “on simplification, it’s actually pretty good,” said Lawrence Zelenak, a Duke University law professor. “It gets rid of several things which add a lot of complexity for a lot of ordinary taxpayers.”
Tell Congress: The time for tax reform is now.
