Finance

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are being inundated with suggestions for tax reform, despite the limited prospects for comprehensive reform ahead of next year’s elections.

The AICPA identified eight issues it believes are essential for Congress to consider in order to achieve small business tax reform in written testimony submitted last week to the House Small Business Committee for the record of the hearing the committee held on April 15, 2015 entitled, “Tax Reform: Ensuring that Main Street Isn’t Left Behind.”

House Speaker John Boehner said a long-sought overhaul of U.S. corporate tax law has barely an even chance of being enacted by Congress this year, though both chambers are under Republican control.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., has introduced legislation that would provide relief to low-income and economically vulnerable Americans who would otherwise be subject to wage garnishments by the Internal Revenue Service.

To mark Earth Day, Congressman John K. Delaney, D-Md., said he plans to introduce legislation later this spring to tax greenhouse gas emissions in response to climate change concerns.

A group of Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate have re-introduced legislation that would ban federal contracts for companies that move their headquarters overseas, but only on paper, in order to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the ranking Democratic member on the Senate Finance Committee, has introduced legislation to support health coverage for unemployed and retired workers.

The U.S. House voted this week to keep the Internal Revenue Service from hitting the nation’s wealthiest mega-donors with gift taxes for their political contributions.

It’s no surprise that tax rates affect economic behavior.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to let taxpayers deduct state sales taxes on their federal returns, a victory for residents of Texas, Florida and other states that lack an income tax.

The U.S. House voted to repeal the 99-year-old U.S. estate tax amid a partisan clash over whether the government should break up concentrated wealth or make it easier to pass along assets to the next generation.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen has sent a message of thanks to tax professionals and their partners for managing to get through a “challenging” tax season.

The American Institute of CPAs has sent a set of proposals outlining its recommendations for permanent tax provisions related to disaster relief.

MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks money's influence on politics, has released a new analysis of how major tax and accounting organizations are spending funds on lobbying Congress and federal agencies.

Congressional Republicans have narrowed the estate tax so much that it affects only about 5,500 wealthy American households a year. Now they want to eliminate the tax altogether—with a bonus for heirs.

As the pace of serious discussions on tax reform picks up, it is evident that small businesses and global multinationals are making their voices heard, while the middle market is getting lost in the shuffle.

Although Republicans are outlining a proposal to provide an “off ramp” for states and consumers to exit the Affordable Care Act, and the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on a legal challenge to the federally-operated health exchange, state exchanges have been up and running.

The House Ways and Means Committee passed seven bills Wednesday aimed at reforming the Internal Revenue Service.

The 99-year-old U.S. estate tax would disappear under a bill approved Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee.

Although tax reform remains a top priority for the business community, tax executives are not optimistic a bill will reach President Obama’s desk this year.