Tax-Writers Gear Up to Release Proposals; Senate Democrats Hope to Move Energy Tax Extenders
Legislative Activity
Coming Soon: The GOP’s Tax Reform “Blueprint”
With House Republicans expected to roll out their comprehensive tax “blueprint” this month – and lawmakers set to leave Washington on Friday, June 24 – it is likely that we will see the proposal released this week. The “blueprint,” however, it is quite possible that the final product may not contain many substantive details (though perhaps more detail will be included on the corporate and international tax portions); instead, it will likely serve more as a messaging piece for Republicans’ tax priorities in the 115th Congress. In speaking about what to expect, House Ways and Means Committee member Kenny Marchant (R-TX) noted that he hopes not to “alarm people” by how “radically [we’ve] lowered the rate, and change[d] the revenue side of [things] – how many deductions have to go away to get to that result.”
As for Senate Republicans, we may also soon see Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) “corporate integration” proposal, which is expected to seek to provide a dividends-paid deduction to corporations in an effort to end the double taxation of corporate income. Senator Hatch had previously indicated his proposal would be released sometime in June once it receives a score from the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). The Senate will be in session next week while the House is on recess, which may be a particularly opportune time for Senator Hatch to finally unveil his proposal.