On The Hill

OECD Director of the Tax Policy and Administration Center at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Pascal Saint-Amans, said he plans to have blueprints for Pillar One and Pillar Two of a global tax agreement by this October. Additionally, Saint-Amans was hopeful for a potential deal on Pillar Two before the end of…

House Appropriations Approves HHS FY2021 Spending Bill On Monday (Jul. 13), the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2021 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill. The bill will increase the HHS’ budget by $1.5 billion. In addition, over $24 billion in emergency spending will be allocated to state and local public health departments and laboratories. Democrats argue these…

Interior-Environment Appropriations   On Friday (Jul. 10), the House Appropriations Committee approved their FY 2021 funding bill for the Department of Interior (DOI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other agencies on a party line vote of 30-19.[1]   The committee voted down a handful of Republican amendments that would strip provisions to block the…

US Announces Tariffs on France   On Friday (Jul. 10), the Trump administration announced 25 percent tariffs on a series of French goods worth about $1.3 billion. The move is in retaliation for a French digital services tax that would largely impact American technology companies.[1]    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said…

Regulations   On Thursday (Jul. 9), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department issued final regulations on global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) deductions and foreign-derived intangible income (FDII). The finalized regulations allow individuals to elect for corporate treatment and receive 50 percent deductions on income determined to be GILTI.   The regulations will go into…

Appropriations On Thursday (Jul. 9), the House Appropriations Committee approved a funding increase for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in fiscal year 2021. The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration bill would allocate $3.2 billion in discretionary funds to the FDA. In addition, the FDA would also acquire authority to recall prescription and…

House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Releases Report   On Tuesday (Jun. 30), House Democrats unveiled the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis’s majority report. The document is over 500 pages long, and is the most ambitious Democratic climate plan to date. The policy recommendations would reduce emissions 88 percent below 2010 levels by…

Steel & Aluminum   The Trump administration has decided against moving forward with reimposing tariffs on Canadian Aluminum imports – for now.   The United Steelworkers (USW) union said re-imposing the tariffs would “make a mockery” of the new trade agreement. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said the Trump administration should pursue a…

Tax Filing Deadline   On Monday (Jun. 29), the Treasury Department announced the July 15 tax filing and payment deadline would not be postponed. Filers can request an extension which would give them until October 15 to file returns, however they would still need to pay what they owe by July 15 to avoid penalties.…

Monday (Jun. 29), the House passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act. The legislation expands the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) subsidies for private health insurance, encourages Medicaid expansion, and includes a component of last year’s drug pricing bill, H.R. 3, that requires the government to negotiate drug prices.[1] Former Democrat Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ)…