Finance

The 2006 elections saw the Democrats taking control of both the House and the Senate for the first time in 12 years. The shift in the House is probably the most significant.In the House, the majority party controls the agenda: what hearings are held, what legislation gets taken up by committees. The Democratic majority is a narrow one, just as the Republican majority had been a narrow one. Many of the newly elected Democrats were chosen to appeal to moderate voters, so it is far from clear that there has been a major shift in the view of House members on tax issues. Still, control of the agenda will tend to mean that Democratic proposals, rather than Republican proposals, will emerge from the House Ways and Means Committee.

Politicking is still causing a number of popular tax breaks to be held up in Congress.With the 109th Congress scheduled to wrap up its business at the end of next week, a number of expiring tax measures still have yet to be renewed.

A partner in the Washington office of law firm Venable LLP since 2003, Sam Olchyk provides general tax advice for businesses and individuals, as well as tackling federal tax issues that require representation before Congress, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service.Prior to joining the firm, Olchyk spent eight years as a tax attorney for Congress -- first as tax counsel with the Senate Finance Committee, and then as legislation counsel with the Joint Committee on Taxation, where his main responsibility was helping with the development of tax legislation affecting domestic business activity. During his time on Capitol Hill, Olchyk, who is also a CPA, worked on numerous proposals that were enacted into law, including pieces of the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. In 2001, he worked on a joint committee study regarding the simplification of the federal tax laws.

Home mortgage giant Fannie Mae announced that it will reduce its earnings by $6.3 billion to correct accounting problems dating back to 2001.

The Internal Revenue Service has allocated nearly $1 billion of tax credits to nine planned clean coal projects.The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized the tax credits, and, working within a number of set parameters, the IRS consulted with the Department of Energy to allocate the credit to specific projects.

The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, which has the support of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, released a report urging legislators to consider overhauling the country’s enforcement policies and litigation system.

Sometimes, I feel bad for Comptroller General David Walker and his staff at the Government Accountability Office.I imagine it’s the same sort of sadness most people feel for the geeky guys in high school comedies. You know, the good guys who never get the girl, but are there throughout the course of the plotline, providing some sort of insight into the inner workings of the social machination that exists all around them.

After years of sounding the fiscal imbalance bell, Comptroller General David Walker, the head of the Government Accountability Office, has committed a to-do list to paper for the 110th Congress.In a letter dated Nov. 17, Walker outlines a number of areas his federal watchdog agency, says the newly-elected politicians should consider in getting a “jump-start” on legislative planning.

My first brush with the National Collegiate Athletic Association came during my tenure as sports editor of my college newspaper. Two star players from the hockey team had been slapped with season-long suspensions for accepting room and board -- not even money, mind you -- while playing as juniors in Canada.

In a new report to Congress, the Government Accountability Office takes a hard look at how the Internal Revenue Services manages its paperwork and customer service.

In a 25-page response NCAA president Myles Brand made an adamant case for his association’s tax-exempt status, following questions raised by the outgoing chairman of the House’s Committee on Ways and Means.Brand cited new NCAA penalties for poor team-wide academic performance and rising player graduation rates as evidence of the association's attention to education, adding that school spending on athletics -- including hikes in coaches' salaries -- are driven by a media and consumer market beyond the association’s control.

Democratic leaders are already making promises that the future of the alternative minimum tax will be the focus of the debate over next year's budget, according to published reports.

My fifth grade teacher was, in, simplistic terms, an angry dolt who never should have been allowed in front of a classroom of impressionable young minds.

Home mortgage loan giant Fannie Mae announced that it expects the tab on a review of its accounting, as well as the preparation of up-to-date financial statements for the first time since the end of 2004, to run upwards of $1 billion this year.

Not that things were going super smoothly before, but the path to turning any of President Bush’s second-term agenda into meaningful change just got a lot harder following yesterday’s election.

The Tax Policy Center has released a series of data tables taking a look at the effect of the major tax changes enacted since 2001.

CPAs in Congress came to the rescue of their profession with the passage of a bill that eliminated the need to send privacy notices to clients."The Financial Services Relief Act of 2006 is a common-sense bill that will give CPAs more time to serve their clients," said Rep. Colin C. Peterson, D-Minn. "As a CPA myself, I can tell you that it's more important to spend time working with clients than it is to be filling out redundant paperwork."

Earlier this year, Congress passed the Pension Protection Act of 2006.Included in that legislation are some features that encourage preparation and spending for long-term care. In particular, the act allows the transfer of excess pension benefits to fund estimated retiree medical costs, and it permits annuity and life insurance contracts to expand their coverage to include long-term-care costs, including skilled care from medical professionals and custodial care (such as assistance with bathing, eating, dressing, walking, etc.).

Congress left town without passing a number of tax breaks that expired at the end of 2005, including the option to deduct state sales taxes in place of state income tax, a deduction for college tuition and fees, the deduction for school teachers, and a research and development credit.Although the breaks themselves are not controversial, and leaders of the Senate Finance Committee pushed for their enactment, the breaks became mired in political infighting when they were attached to "trifecta" legislation that would have included an increase in the minimum wage and a slash in estate tax rates.

The Internal Revenue Service is pushing back the printing schedule for a number of its tax products, including several versions of the 1040 and 1099 forms.Earlier this month, the IRS warned the Senate Finance Committee tax staff that delays in enacting a number of expiring tax breaks could have an adverse impact on tax administration -- affecting outside contracts with vendors to get the forms and instructions printed, and possibly eventually having a negative impact on collections.