Pomeroy Estate Tax Bill Passes House

The Estate Tax Love Boat

As expected, the House brought up the Pomeroy estate tax bill this afternoon, and the legislation passed by a narrow score of 225 to 200. The bill passed mainly along partisan lines, but 26 Democrats joined the Republican caucus in opposition to the measure. Nine House members did not vote. With passage by the House, the bill now has to make it through the gauntlet that is the Senate.

read in full

House Set to Vote on Pomeroy Estate Tax Bill

The Biltmore Estate

The House plans to take up estate tax reform as early as tomorrow with a vote on Rep. Earl Pomeroy's (D-ND) Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009 (H.R. 4154). The Pomeroy bill would permanently extend current estate tax law at a $7 million exemption for couples at a 45 percent rate. Without congressional action this year, the estate tax will expire in 2010 and then come back in 2011 under its pre-Bush tax cut levels of a $2 million exemption for couples at a 55 percent rate. OMB Watch has submitted a statement of support to Rep. Pomeroy's office, and several other non-profits have come out with reports to back up the legislation.

read in full

Over 14,000 Tax Cheats Came Forward Under IRS Amnesty Program

Internal Revenue Service

Yesterday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the results of its tax amnesty program that ended on Oct. 15. It turns out some 14,700 taxpayers came forward to report previously undisclosed foreign bank accounts under the voluntary disclosure program the IRS implemented following the U.S. government's settlement with Swiss Bank UBS earlier this year.

read in full

Calls for Stricter Tax Haven Legislation Answered

Like Lemmy Says

Yesterday, the chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees introduced legislation to crack down on overseas tax havens. Coming on the heels of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) successful amnesty program that rooted out tax cheats hiding assets overseas, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act would help the government root out more cheaters by providing tools to target foreign banks and other entities that provide hiding places for wealthy Americans' riches.

read in full

CTJ and RRAN Call for Funding Health Care through Responsible Tax Reform

Citizens for Tax Justice

This morning, Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), in conjunction with Rebuild & Renew America Now (RRAN), a tax policy group, released a report outlining two tax reform proposals devised to help pay for the much anticipated overhaul of the U.S. health care system by Congress. The proposals, designed to place the least amount of tax burden on low and middle-income families, call for an expansion of the Medicare tax and a limitation on itemized deductions. According to CTJ, the two tax reforms could yield as much as $60.5 billion in the first year and $760 billion over the course of a decade. The report breaks down how the tax reforms would affect citizens of different income levels on a state-by-state basis. In addition to the report, Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, which is part of RRAN, published an opinion piece on Huffington Post arguing for responsible revenues to pay for health care reform.

read in full

Bush Rejects Tax on Employer-Provided Health Benefits

Al Hubbard, the director of President Bush's National Economic Council, said in an interview that the president does not support a key measure in the tax reforms submitted by the Advisory Panel on Tax Reform. Specifically, the president has rejected a reform that would tax workers on health insurance benefits valued at $11,500 or more for a family; instead advocating for expanding untaxed health savings accounts and increased deductibility of medical expenses. Expanding untaxed health savings accounts would add to the deficit to the tune of $6 billion annually.

read in full

House preserves $100,000 per person in tax breaks for millio

The House of Representatives has declined to limit the massive tax cuts on millionaires. The cuts for millionaires average $120,000 per person a defeated proposal would have cut that to $24,000.

read in full

Business Owner Petition to Preserve a Responsible Estate Tax

Responsible Weath is organizing a petition of business owners to preserve a responsible estate tax...


BUSINESS OWNERS FOR A RESPONSIBLE ESTATE TAX
Sign-On Statement

We, as owners of America's small and mid-sized businesses, believe the repeal of the federal estate tax would be bad for our businesses, our communities, and our nation.

read in full

Update on Long-term Proactive Initiative

We thought you would like to know about an exciting and promising new effort aimed at stimulating the development of a long-term, proactive initiative on federal tax and budget policy.

read in full

Pages