A Path Toward A Debt Limit Solution?
Maybe a debt ceiling vote next week. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) expressed some optimism to reporters yesterday about negotiations over the debt limit. “I see the path that we can come to an agreement.” The House could hold a debt limit vote next week contingent on the agreement. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said if that happens, the Senate would begin consideration. The White House has signaled support for a shorter, perhaps two-year budget deal, as well as flexibility on non-health-program-related work requirements. There is bipartisan support for attaching energy-permitting reforms to a broader budget deal. It’ll be a busy weekend for negotiators.
IRS wins a US Supreme Court case. Yesterday the High Court affirmed a Sixth Circuit decision, approving IRS summonses for banking records when trying to collect tax assessments. In the case, two law firms and the wife of a man owing $2 million in taxes argued that they should have been notified that their bank records were requested. The Supreme Court ruled that when the IRS issues a summons “in aid of the collection of … an assessment made … against the person with respect to whose liability the summons is issued,” no notice is required.
Who loves tax complexity? TPC’s Len Burman, writing for Forbes, says two factions like things just the way they are: tax software companies and government skeptics. Len and Joe Minarik designed the Bipartisan Policy Center’s proposal that would simplify the income tax code, along with Michael Graetz. Tax complexity continues to feed Washington’s dysfunction. Len concludes we don’t have to accept it.
TIGTA: Over one million tax returns in 2023 flagged for potential identity fraud so far. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s interim report on the 2023 tax filing season says the IRS flagged almost 1.1 million returns with identity theft filters as of March 2. The IRS confirmed 12,617 of those returns to be fraudulent and prevented the distribution of $105.3 million in fraudulently claimed refunds. Last year at this time, the IRS confirmed 9,626 returns to be fraudulent.
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