Tax

As the battle continues in Washington over how to avert a default on the government’s debt obligations, the possibility of imminent tax increases seems to be fading.

President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, made the case for their rival approaches to controlling the nation’s spiraling budget deficit as the clock ticks down to the August 2 deadline for raising the debt ceiling to avoid an unprecedented default on the national debt.

The so-called “cut, cap and balance plan” legislation that passed the House would require the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would mandate a two-thirds supermajority to approve any future tax increases.

Senator Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has proposed a deficit reduction plan estimated to save $9 trillion over the next 10 years by slashing hundreds of government programs, but also increasing taxes in some areas.

Credit Suisse said it has become a target of a Justice Department investigation into its private banking business.

A new bill from a pair of Democratic senators would eliminate a tax break on corporate stock options.

Congress’s two tax-writing committees convened a rare joint hearing Wednesday to consider whether the Tax Code is providing too many incentives for accumulating debt as opposed to equity.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and several other senators have introduced a bill to close offshore tax loopholes and strengthen offshore tax enforcement.

Amazon.com is trying to get a referendum on the California ballot to get the recently enacted online sales tax law reversed.