[vc_row bg_type=”bg_color” bg_color_value=”#f5f5f5″ css=”.vc_custom_1618938311697{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-right: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;padding-right: 1em !important;padding-left: 1em !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”article-info”]Rick Lazio, Senior Vice President at alliantgroup and Former U.S. Congressman
On July 18, 2017 | interviewed by TheStreet on the current prospects for tax reform in light of the GOP’s stalled healthcare legislation[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9602″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Here are a few key takeaways from that segment:
The healthcare bill efforts and other pending legislative items have pushed out the timeline for comprehensive tax reform
With the healthcare bill stalling and with Congress needing to address more immediate legislative priorities such as the debt ceiling and a new budget resolution, Rick forecasted that the timeline for tax reform would most likely be extended into Q1 of 2018.
However, Rick reiterated that tax reform remains a top priority for GOP leadership. In fact, he stated that the defeat of the healthcare bill could be helpful in getting tax reform passed, with this setback serving as an incentive for congressional officials to seek a compromise and score a much needed legislative victory.
There is a 60-70% chance that we will see tax reform legislation by early 2018
During the interview, Rick put the chances of Congress voting on tax reform legislation by early next year at 60-70%, with those odds being driven by mounting political pressure and the need to increase business investment.
Business investment has been one of the lagging indicators of the economy in recent years and was down until Q1 of 2017. Rick related the drop in investment to a lack of policy certainty in the tax code, with business owners needing to see more from Washington before committing to any long-term business decisions.
Any potential tax reform legislation will have provisions that push economic growth and productivity
The overarching goal for any potential tax reform legislation will be to increase productivity and economic growth—and Rick laid out a number of provisions currently on the table that could be included in a future tax bill.
Specifically, Rick discussed the idea of lowering corporate tax rates and rates on pass-through entities, the latter of which constitute 90% of U.S. businesses. Rick also addressed the idea of repatriation, listing it as an area of potential bipartisan agreement and one that could bring an estimated $2 trillion back to the U.S. economy.
As always, we will keep you posted on the latest tax reform updates and on any potential movement that we see coming in the next few months.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInRight”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”About the Author” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1621268389440{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}” el_class=”alt-h1″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”20183″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Former Congressman Rick Lazio recently became the Senior Vice President of alliantgroup, a national tax consultancy. A longtime advocate of small to mid-size businesses, Lazio spent his four congressional terms sponsoring pro-business initiatives such as the Small Business Tax Fairness Act of 2000. After his time in Congress, he held several positions in the private sector. He worked as Executive Vice President and later the Managing Director of the Assets Group at JP Morgan. Rick also served as a partner at Jones Walker LLP, a national financial services law firm, and headed the firm’s National Housing Finance Practice group. He serves on the Board of Directors for Enterprise Community Partners and the Bretton Woods Committee. He also has been an active member of the Committee for Economic Development and the Association for a Better New York (ABNY). Lazio is involved in numerous other business, philanthropic and civil organizations.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner]
