The Economic Outlook, IRS Data Safety, And SALT Benefits
This week on Capitol Hill. The House Budget Committee on Wednesday will hold a hearing on the Congressional Budget Office’s latest Budget and Economic Outlook. Also that day, the House Ways & Means Committee will hold its annual hearing with IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel.
Could former IRS workers still leak IRS data? TaxNotes reports (paywall) that the IRS disputes the conclusions of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report released last week. The report comes in the wake of former leaks by IRS consultant Charles Littlejohn, who provided news outlets with tax return data of former President Donald Trump and thousands of other wealthy filers. “[F]or some sensitive systems, the IRS does not have adequate controls to detect or prevent the unauthorized removal of data by users,” the report says. IRS chief data and analytics officer Melanie Krause responded that several TIGTA conclusions are incorrect and the IRS remains “confident that removing network access does eliminate the risk” of a former IRS employee accessing sensitive systems.
The House SALT plan for married couples still favors wealthier households. TPC’s John Buhl highlights findings from new TPC analysis of the House proposal to temporarily amend the $10,000 cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions. The current $10,000 cap applies to both single and joint filers, creating a potential “marriage penalty.” The House proposal would let married couples filing jointly with adjusted gross income under $500,000 to deduct up to $20,000 for tax year 2023; benefits would accrue mostly to households earning between $200,000 and $1 million.
A pot tax in Pennsylvania could generate $255 million in new tax revenue. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro delivered remark on legal adult-use marijuana sales in his budget address last week. The state has not yet legalized recreational marijuana, but if it does, the governor envisions a 20 percent tax on the wholesale price of cannabis products enacted by July 1, with sales beginning Jan. 1, 2025. A necessary regulatory framework for the taxation and sale of marijuana would need to be finalized by July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
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