The Trump administration is pushing back against criticism from Democrats that its tax-reform plan will be a boon for the rich, casting the GOP bid to slash corporate taxes as a win for workers. The White House has reason to worry that arguments made by Democrats and other critics are resonating. A CBS News poll released Sunday found 58 percent believe Republicans’ tax proposals would favor the wealthy, with just 18 percent saying it would favor the middle class.

For American businesses that want to see tax reform and tax relief, today’s joint statement from Congress and the White House is most welcome. I particularly viewed as key the direction that the two tax-writing Committees – Ways and Means and Finance – are directed to go through regular order (meaning Committee markup) and move legislation this fall followed by consideration on the floor.

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.

In his article “The R&D Tax Credit – Smart Reform Ideas From Congress,” Zerbe reviews a number of intriguing congressional proposals that would strengthen and expand access to the credit. In particular, Zerbe highlights bipartisan tax legislation recently introduced by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) that would reward companies for conducting their research and development and manufacturing activities here in the United States. In addition to this Senate bill, Zerbe breaks down bipartisan House legislation designed to increase taxpayer flexibility when claiming the R&D Tax Credit, with many of these potential reforms having the effect of increasing access to the credit to small and medium businesses.

The White House recently released its first full budget proposal—and as is the case with all proposed presidential budgets, there is little chance that Congress will adopt the proposal as is, let alone a guarantee that even parts of the budget will see the light of day.

With the tax reform debate heating up, I thought now would be a good time to examine what the major players want, including areas of agreement and contention between the White House and Senate and House leadership.

Yesterday’s lead editorial in the Wall Street Journal (May 17th) made the point that the President is dangerously close to losing the Republicans who he needs to pass his agenda, including tax reform: “Weeks of pointless melodrama and undisciplined comments have depleted public and Capital Hill attention from health care and tax reform, and exhaustion is setting in.

The House’s passage of legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare has thrown a new curve into Republicans’ efforts to overhaul the tax code.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] The Trump tax proposal – essentially the same as during the campaign and roughly based on the House Ways and Means Committee “Better Way” proposals is easiest to… 

After failing twice in recent weeks to advance an overhaul of health care in the House of Representatives, a nail-biting vote Thursday finally scored U.S. President Donald Trump a temporary legislative victory. But it didn’t come without some stumbles, revealing ruptures in his Republican Party ahead of another major policy challenge.