First discussion question
Read the belowAICPA article.
President Barack Obama releasedhis last proposed budget, for the government’s 2017 fiscal year,on Tuesday February 9. Itcontains tax provisions affecting education, health care, andretirement, as well as proposing extensive changes affectingbusinesses. Many of the changes and areas should now be familiar toyou - Sec. 179, reducing tax benefits for high-income taxpayers,simplified accounting for small businesses, incentives to bringjobs back to America, and last week's discussion of foreign earnedincome for corporations.
Pick a few of the proposals youagree with, plus several you disagree with, and discuss thereasons?
Second Final Question<
First, there is no such thing asa tax "loophole" - they are called deductions. Remember that ALLincome is taxable, unlessspecifically excluded by law. And ALL expenses are disallowedunless specifically included by law.
We have a tax system that triesto modify taxpayer behavior by changing the tax rates on income,and by allowing or disallowing certain types of deductions. But ourtax system is not collecting enough revenue to cover governmentexpenditures. Some think corporations are paying too much, but ifthey don't pay, then the individual taxpayer has to pay. However,as we now know, the individual taxpayer already carries themajority of the tax burden, and if the wealthiest don't pay theirfair share, the middle and lowest earners have to pay. The bottomline is someone has to pay - the question is how to make thatequitable. Is it as simple as having a flat tax forindividuals?
AICPAARTICLE
President’s budget proposes manytax changes By Alistair M. Nevius, J.D. February 9, 2016President Barack Obama released hislast proposed budget, for the government’s 2017 fiscal year, onTuesday. It contains tax provisions affecting education, healthcare, and retirement, as well as proposing extensive changesaffecting businesses. The budget presents a wish list of changesthe administration would like to see enacted; however, theRepublican-held Congress is unlikely to support much of thepresident’s plan. Among the many proposed tax changes are thefollowing: Earned income tax credit The budget proposes expandingthe Sec. 32 earned income tax credit for taxpayers who do not havea qualifying child (including noncustodial parents). The amount ofthe credit available to these taxpayers would increase to roughly$1,000. The credit would also be made available to workers who areages 21–24 and ages 65 and 66. It also would create a newsecond-earner tax credit of up to $500 for married couples in whichboth spouses work. The credit would be phased out for couples whoseadjusted gross income (AGI) exceeded $120,000. Child and dependentcare credit The budget would essentially triple the amount of thechild and dependent care credit to $3,000 per child for familieswith children under the age of 5. It would also increase thephasedown limit so that it does not apply to taxpayers with annualAGI of less than $120,000. (The credit is currently phased down fortaxpayers with AGI above $15,000.) However, the budget would alsoeliminate flexible spending accounts for child care expenses.Education credits The budget proposes folding the Sec. 25A lifetimelearning credit into the American opportunity tax credit. It wouldalso expand the American opportunity tax credit to make itavailable for five years and refundable up to $1,500. (Currently,it is available for four years and is refundable up to $1,000.)Pell Grants would be exempt from taxation and from the Americanopportunity tax credit calculation, and student loan forgivenesswould no longer be considered to result in taxablecancellation-of-debt income. Community colleges The budget wouldcreate a new $5,000 tax credit—called the community collegepartnership tax credit—for employers that help community collegesfill their investment shortfalls and that hire qualifying communitycollege graduates. President’s budget proposes many tax changesPage 1 of 4http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2016/feb/budget-proposes-many-tax-changes-201613856.html2/10/2016 The budget calls for funding of a program calledAmerica’s College Promise that would create a federal-statepartnership to make two years of community college free. Retirementsavings The proposed budget includes a number of proposals that aredesigned to increase access to retirement plans and to makeportability of retirement savings and benefits easier. Theseinclude requiring employers with more than 10 employees that do notoffer a retirement plan to automatically enroll their employees inan IRA. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees would get taxcredits of up to $4,500 for offering automatic IRA enrollment.Reducing tax benefits for high-income taxpayers The budget wouldlimit the value of certain deductions and exclusions from AGI andall itemized deductions. The proposal would reduce to 28% of thevalue of the specified exclusions and deductions that wouldotherwise reduce a taxpayer’s taxable income in the 33%, 35%, or39.6% tax brackets. The definition of net investment income wouldbe expanded to include gross income and gain from any trades orbusinesses of an individual that is not otherwise subject toemployment taxes. The budget also proposes an implementation of theso-called Buffett rule (called a “Fair Share Tax” in the budget),which would require high-income taxpayers to pay at least a 30% taxrate (after charitable contributions). Capital gains tax Under thebudget, the maximum capital gains tax rate would increase to 28%(inclusive of the 3.8% net investment income tax). It would alsoeliminate basis step-ups on gifts and bequests by treatingtransfers of appreciated property as a sale, so that the donor or deceased owner wouldrealize a capital gain on the transfer. The budget would also taxcarried interests at ordinary income tax rates instead of ascapital gain. Corporate tax reform The budget would cut thecorporate tax rate to 28%. It would also impose a 19% minimum taxon foreign earnings, which would be imposed when the earnings areearned. As a transition to the minimum tax, previously untaxedforeign income would be subject to a one-time 14% tax. The budgetwould also provide further rules against earnings stripping andcorporate inversions. Incentives to bring jobs to the United StatesThe budget proposes to provide a tax credit equal to 20% ofeligible expenses to businesses that reduce or eliminate a line ofbusiness currently conducted overseas and start up, expand,or otherwise move the same trade orbusiness to the United States. Sec. 179 expensing The budgetproposes increasing the maximum Sec. 179 expensing limitation to $1million and to index it for inflation (the phaseout threshold wouldremain $2 million, indexed for inflation). Simplified accountingfor small business President’s budget proposes many tax changesPage 2 of 4http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2016/feb/budget-proposes-many-tax-changes-201613856.html2/10/2016 The proposed budget would create a uniform small businessaverage annual gross receipts threshold of $25 million for allowingexceptions from certain accounting rules. Eligible businesses wouldbe allowed to use the cash method, avoid the uniform capitalizationrules, and use an inventory accounting method that either conformsto their financial accounting method or otherwise properly reflectsincome. Startup expenses Under the budget proposal, the limit ondeductible startup expenses would be increased to $20,000 (from$5,000). This amount would be reduced (but not below zero) by theamount by which those expenditures exceed $20,000 (currently$50,000). Research credit The budget would do away with the currentbifurcated Sec. 41 research credit, under which eligible taxpayerscan claim either a 20% regular credit or a 14% simplified credit.Instead, the budget proposes to create a single formula with acredit worth 18%. Increase intobacco tax The budget would increase taxes on tobacco to fund aninitiative to expand access to preschool and to expand homevisiting programs by nurses, social workers, and otherprofessionals. Clean energy The budget would simplify, expand, andmake permanent several tax incentives for clean energy investment.It would also create two new tax credits to provide an incentivefor commercial deployment of carbon capture, utilization, andstorage. The budget would also eliminate $4 billion a year in taxsubsidies to oil, gas, and other fossil fuel producers. Cadillactax The budget proposes changes to the Sec. 4980I excise taxon high-cost employer-sponsored health coverage (known as theCadillac tax). The Cadillac tax has been the focus of repealefforts in Congress, and the recently enacted ConsolidatedAppropriations Act, 2016, P.L. 114-13, postponed its effective dateto 2020. (It was originally scheduled to take effect in 2018.)Under the proposal, the threshold above which the tax applies wouldbe modified to be equal to the greater of the current law thresholdor the average premium for a marketplace gold plan in each state.This is designed to protect employers from paying the tax justbecause they are in a high-cost state. Estate tax The budgetproposes to revert the estate tax to its form in 2009, with a 45%tax rate, a $3.5 million exclusion amount for estate andgeneration-skipping transfer tax purposes, and a $1 million gifttax exclusion (with no indexing for inflation). The budget wouldalso expand the property subject to the new basis reportingconsistency requirement under Sec. 1014(f) to include propertyeligible for the estate tax marital deduction and gifts required tobe reported on a federal gift tax return. Oil tax President’sbudget proposes many tax changes Page 3 of 4http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2016/feb/budget-proposes-many-tax-changes-201613856.html2/10/2016 The budget proposes a $10.25-per-barrel “fee” on oil. TheOffice of Management and Budget estimates that this provision wouldraise $319 billion over 10 years.
—Alistair Nevius([email protected] (mailto:[email protected])) is the JofA’seditor-in-chief, tax. © 2016 American Institute of CPAs - AllRights Reserved View comments (1)
