Baucus Sees Small Business Tax Package in Supp. 2.0
by Dana Chasin, 4/25/2007
After Congress adopts the minimum wage small business tax package -- Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007 -- as part of the war spending supplemental conference report, and the president vetoes it, what will become of it? Will it be part of a post-veto "Supp. 2.0"?
WebCPA reports that "Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has said that even if President Bush vetoes the package, the tax provisions will see the light of day again." Opponents like House Ways and Means ranking member Jim McCrery (R-LA), who complain that the tax package is not directed at the small business firms most directly affected by the minimum wage hike, would like another bite at the apple.
But would it fare better as stand-alone legislation? Or does the prospect of amendments by unhappy Republicans to a stand-alone version make the must-pass supplemental a good vehicle for it? Prof. Linda Beale of Wayne State University Law School says that:
Senator Baucus has already indicated that the almost $5 billion in tax breaks will stay in the supplemental bill even after Bush's expected veto because of the spending bill's troop withdrawal language.
- for the Joint Committee on Taxation's technical explanation of the tax package, click here
- for the JCT's estmated revenue effects of the package, click here
