Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Congressional News
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Taxpayer ID Theft Has Increased 400% in 2 Years; IRS Apologizes to 3 Victims
The House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform yesterday held a hearing on IRS E-File and Identity Theft. Jim White (Director of Strategic Issues, Government Accountability Office) testified at the hearing, Status of IRS Initiatives to Help Victimized Taxpayers (GAO-11-721T): My testimony today will cover (1) when IRS detects identity theft-based refund and employment fraud,
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House Holds Hearing Today on Business Tax Reform and Job Creation
The House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing this morning on How Business Tax Reform Can Encourage Job Creation: The hearing will inquire about the potential benefits to companies and workers of lowering marginal tax rates on business income, and the trade-offs that such companies might be willing to make given current fiscal constraints.
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CBO: Options for Changing the Tax Treatment of Charitable Giving
The Congressional Budget Office has released Options for Changing the Tax Treatment of Charitable Giving: The deductibility of charitable donations has been a feature of the U.S. individual income tax almost as long as the modern income tax has been in existence. Notwithstanding the long duration of that deduction, concerns about its cost, equity, and
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House Holds Hearing Today on U.S. International Tax Reform
The House Ways & Means Committee holds a hearing today on How Other Countries Have Used Tax Reform to Help Their Companies Compete in the Global Market and Create Jobs: The hearing will examine international tax rules in various countries with an eye toward identifying best practices that might be applied to international tax reform
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Senate Holds Hearing Today on Tax Law and Infrastructure Funding
The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on Financing 21st Century Infrastructure. In connection with the hearing, the Joint Committee on Taxation has released Overview of Selected Tax Provisions Relating to the Financing of Infrastructure (JCX-29-11): This document … provides a description of present-law provisions relating to certain infrastructure trust funds and their dedicated taxes, an
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Senate Holds Hearing Today on Oil & Gas Tax Incentives, Rising Energy Prices
The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on Oil and Gas Tax Incentives and Rising Energy Prices. Here are the witnesses scheduled to testify: H. Lamar McKay (Chairman & President, BP America) James Mulva (Chairman & CEO, ConocoPhillips) Marvin Odum (U.S. President, Shell Oil) Rex Tillerson (Chairman & CEO, Exxon Mobil) John Watson (Chairman of the Board
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Joint Tax Committee Releases Roundtable Tax Reform Discussion
The Joint Commttee on Taxation yesterday released Roundtable Discussion on Ideas for Reforming the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (JCX-28-11). For prior TaxProf Blog coverage, see Joint Tax Committee Hosts Tax Reform Roundtable Today (Apr. 6, 2011).
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House Holds Hearing Today on Comprehensive International Tax Reform
The House Ways & Means Committee holds a hearing today on The Need for Comprehensive Tax Reform to Help American Companies Compete in the Global Market and Create Jobs for American Workers: The hearing will examine how the current structure of the international tax rules might distort economic decisions and the allocation of resources in
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Joint Tax Committee Releases IRS Disclosures of Tax Return Information, 2010
The Joint Committee on Taxation today released Disclosure Report for Public Inspection Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 6103(p)(3)(C) for Calendar Year 2010 (JCX-26-11): Section 6103(p)(3)(C) provides that the Secretary of the Treasury shall, within 90 days after the close of each calendar year, furnish to the Joint Committee on Taxation for disclosure to the public a
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Buchanan: Big News From the House Tax Hearing
Following up on last week’s post, House Holds Hearing Today on The Tax Code’s Burdens on Individuals, Families: Tax Prof Neil H. Buchanan (George Washington) blogs his testimony before the committee in Big Tax News (Relatively Speaking) From the Hearings: The hearing featured three witnesses invited by the Republican majority, and one witness (me) invited by
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House Holds Hearing Today on The Tax Code’s Burdens on Individuals, Families
The House Ways & Means Committee holds a hearing today on How the Tax Code’s Burdens on Individuals and Families Demonstrate the Need for Comprehensive Tax Reform: The hearing will examine some of the difficulties that individuals and families face in navigating the current tax code, including both compliance burdens and challenges faced in making
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Senate Holds Hearing Today on Best Practices In Tax Administration
The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on Best Practices In Tax Administration: A Look Across the Globe. Here are the witnesses scheduled to testify: Michael Brostek (Government Accountability Office) Brian Erard (B.E. & Associates, Reston, VA) Michael Gaffney (PricewaterhouseCoopers, New York, NY)
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GAO: 224,000 Passport Recipients Failed to Pay $5.8 Billion in Taxes
The Government Accountability Office yesterday released Federal Tax Collection: Potential for Using Passport Issuance to Increase Collection of Unpaid Taxes (GAO-11-272): State issued passports to about 16 million individuals during fiscal year 2008; of these, over 224,000 individuals (over 1%) owed over $5.8 billion in unpaid federal taxes as of September 30, 2008. State is not authorized
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Joint Tax Committee Hosts Tax Reform Roundtable Today
The Joint Committee on Taxation hosts a public roundtable discussion today at 9:30 a.m. EST on ideas for reforming the Internal Revenue Code with two leading figures from the Tax Reform Act of 1986: James Baker and Richard Gephardt (live webcast here). Update: Bloomberg, Lawmakers Urged to Separate Budget Debate From Tax Code Overhaul
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House Republican Budget Calls for 25% Top Individual and Corporate Tax Rate
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) this morning released the committee’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Resolution, Path to Prosperity: Restoring America’s Promise: Individual tax reform: The current code for individuals is too complicated, with high marginal rates that discourage growth. This budget embraces the widely acknowledged principles of pro-growth tax reform by proposing to
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GAO Releases Two Tax Reports
The Government Accountability Office yesterday released two tax reports: 2011 Tax Filing: IRS Dealt with Challenges to Date but Needs Additional Authority to Verify Compliance (GAO-11-481) Tax Preparer Regulation: IRS Needs a Documented Framework to Achieve Goal of Improving Taxpayer Compliance (GAO-11-336)
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Senate Holds Hearing Today on Tax Incentives
The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on How Do Complexity, Uncertainty and Other Factors Impact Responses to Tax Incentives? Here are the witnesses scheduled to testify: Eric Toder (Co-Director, Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center) Raj Chetty (Harvard University, Department of Economics) Robert Carroll (Ernst & Young, Washington, D.C.)
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Bogdanski: Gift Tax Fiasco
Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark), If You Did Stuff Like This, You’d Go to Jail: When Congress jerks around with the tax laws, bad things happen. Generous wealthy people who have to deal with federal gift taxes for 2010 are supposed to file their gift tax returns by April 18 — the same deadline as
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CBO Evaluates VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled) Tax
The Hill, CBO: Taxing Mileage a ‘Practical Option’ for Revenue Enhancement: The CBO this week released a report that said taxing people based on how many miles they drive is a possible option for raising new revenues and that these taxes could be used to offset the costs of highway maintenance at a time when
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GOP Tax Leaders Side With Obama, Oppose Cantor’s Repatriation Tax Holiday
Following up on yesterday’s post, Administration, GOP Spar Over Repatriation Tax Holiday: Bloomberg, Republican Tax Chiefs Cool to Cisco, Google Offshore Tax Plan: The top Republican tax writers in the U.S. Congress aren’t endorsing a call by Cisco, Google and other multinational corporations for a temporary tax break on repatriating profits held offshore. Representative Dave Camp,
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Sen. McCaskill Owes $287k in Back Taxes on Private Plane
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) admitted yesterday that she has failed to pay nearly $287,000 in presonal property taxes on her usage of a private plane. The Hill New York Times NPR Politico Real Clear Politics Wall Street Journal Washington Post Update: Legal Insurrection:
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Joint Tax Committee Releases Revenue Estimates of President’s Tax Proposals
The Joint Committee on Taxation yesterday released Estimated Budget Effects of the Revenue Provisions Contained in the President’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Proposal (JCX-19-11). (For the Obama Administration’s 2012 Green Book, see here.)
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What Should Be America’s Top Tax Rate: 25% or 49%?
A 25% Top Rate: Bloomberg, Camp Suggests Lowering Top Individual, Corporate Tax Rates to 25% Future of Capitalism, A 25% Top Tax Rate Wall Street Journal, Tax Plan Aims for 25% Cap A 49% Top Rate: The Fairness in Taxation Act enacts new tax brackets for income starting at $1 million and ends with a
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Congress Requests Joint Tax Committee Reports on Debt v. Equity, Taxation of Financial Products
House Ways & Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee press release: In a bipartisan and bicameral effort to bring job creation to the forefront of the tax reform debate for American businesses and families, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued statements today following the
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Joint Tax Committee Releases General Explanation of New Tax Legislation
The Joint Committee on Taxation today released General Explanation of Tax Legislation Enacted In the 111th Congress (JCS-2-11) (758 pages): This document … provides an explanation of tax legislation enacted in the 111th Congress. The explanation follows the chronological order of the tax legislation as signed into law. For each provision, the document includes a description