An Expensive Tax Plan, Unclaimed Refunds, And Tax-Paying Golf Leagues
The House Ways & Means Committee’s tax bill probably won’t have offsets. TaxNotes reports (paywall) that the panel’s business-oriented tax package that would restore certain tax breaks that were reduced under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will not likely include traditional offsets. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the most expensive of the tax breaks is the restoration of expanded bonus depreciation, which would cost $325 billion.
IRS: $1.5 billion in tax refunds are waiting to be claimed. Taxpayers who did not file an income tax return in 2019 have until July 17 to file. The IRS says nearly $1.5 billion in refunds remain unclaimed. Usually, taxpayers have three years to file taxes and claim a refund, but the timeframe was extended by one year for 2019 returns because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The IRS estimates about 1.5 million people have not yet filed their 2019 returns, with a median refund of $893. Of these people, many are low- and moderate-income workers who could also be eligible for the earned income tax credit, which is worth as much as $6,557.
A capital gains tax in Seattle? City Councilmember Alex Pedersen proposed a 2 percent capital gains tax that would replace the $40 million in revenue currently collected through a 15.54 percent tax on water bills. The city capital gains tax would be modeled after the state’s 7 percent capital gains tax, which applies to profits of more than $250,000 from the sale of assets.
A bill to strip the PGA Tour of its tax-exempt status. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) introduced the legislation after the professional golfing league announced its merger with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league. Founded in 2021, LIV Golf is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, an entity led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The “No Corporate Tax Exemption for Professional Sports Act” would require taxation of a league’s annual corporate income exceeding $100 million.
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