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TAX TAKE: Congress Starts Its Engines for Tax Day

Tax Alert

Congress is back in town and tomorrow is Tax Day. That means wall-to-wall tax hearings this week in both chambers on seemingly every imaginable topic.

Here's what's in store this week: 

Corporations will be in the hot seat tomorrow at a hearing in the Senate Budget Committee, where the hearing title says it all: "A Rigged System: The Cost of Tax Dodging by the Wealthy and Big Corporations."

Over in the House tomorrow, Representative Roger Williams (R-TX) will chair a Small Business Committee hearing entitled, "Paying Their Fair Share: How Tax Hikes Crush the Competitiveness of Small Businesses." The Texas Farm Bureau and others are slated to testify.

On Wednesday, Senate taxwriters will host Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel for a hearing on titled, "President's IRS Budget and the 2023 Tax Filing Season." Nevermind the title, the hearing will almost certainly center on the agency's recently released operational plan for the 10-year, $80 billion IRS funding boost authorized by last year's Inflation Reduction Act.

Also on Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee gets started with its own title-says-it-all hearing: "U.S. Tax Code Subsidizing Green Corporate Handouts and the Chinese Communist Party."

President Biden's nominee to head the Labor Department (DOL) and current Acting Secretary, Julie Su, will appear before the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee on Thursday. Republicans are certain to ask tough questions about the agency's rule to allow environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in investment decisions. Su has been confirmed by the Senate before, which typically bodes well for eventual, if not quick, confirmation.

On Friday, House taxwriters willing to jump on a plane, train, or automobile will head for Peachtree, Georgia for another of Chairman Jason Smith's (R-MO) outside-the-beltway hearings on the state of the economy. Usually, a smaller contingent from the Ways and Means Committee attends these field hearings. This one will focus on the economic conditions in southern states.

What does all this hyperactivity mean for advancing tax legislation in Congress? In short, not much. If anything, it means party leaders in both chambers aren't ready to hit the gas pedal on a tax bill… not even a symbolic one for tax-filing day. #TaxTake

Upcoming Speaking Engagements and Events

On May 11, Loren will speak at the Tax Council Policy Institute 2023 Annual Symposium on a panel titled "Building a Better Mousetrap: Future of Cross-Border Dispute Resolution."

Loren will present "Pillar Two and Potential U.S. Response," a panel discussion at the 2023 Texas Federal Tax Institute Annual Conference on June 7. 
 



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