New Tax Rules May Take Immediate Effect
Confusion and chaos ahead as new tax rules take immediate effect. Politico: "The most sweeping tax code overhaul in a generation will soon head to President Donald Trump’s desk — and Republicans are enjoying a victory dance. Now comes the real-world turmoil. America’s new tax system will go into effect in just 12 days, and payroll companies are bracing for confusion as they figure out new withholding rules that will affect millions of American paychecks. The Treasury Department and the IRS will have to quickly write new regulations to implement the new law, governing everything from the tax regime for businesses that don’t organize as corporations to the endowments of the nation’s elite universities and how multinational corporations are taxed on the profits they make abroad."
'Pass-Throughs' Aid Wealthy, Not Workers
Tax bill's 'pass-through' rule will aid wealthy, not workers. Reuters: "Wealthy business owners, such as President Donald Trump, stand to gain from a provision in the Republican tax bill that creates a valuable deduction for owners of pass-through businesses, Democrats and some tax experts say. The provision creates a 20-percent business income deduction, with some limits, for sole proprietors and owners in partnerships and other non-corporate enterprises. It was initially sold by Republicans as a way to help small businesses and create jobs. But the final formula for determining what types of businesses can benefit has widened to take in companies with few, if any, workers, critics said."
Tax Plan Sets Stage For Spending Battles
The Republican tax bill was the easy part. The next debate could be much uglier. WaPo: "The Republican overhaul of the tax code sets the stage for years of politically fraught debate over what the government should provide for its citizens and how much it should demand in taxes. President Trump and Republicans in Congress are celebrating the $1.5 trillion legislation as a big tax cut... But the short-term gains come with a cost: The legislation also makes the country’s debt problem even worse, in all likelihood forcing policymakers in coming years to make difficult decisions about spending cuts, tax increases or both."
Tax Plan Shows GOP's Contempt For Democracy
The tax bill shows the GOP’s contempt for democracy. NYT: "The Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is notably generous to corporations, high earners, inheritors of large estates and the owners of private jets. Taken as a whole, the bill will add about $1.4 trillion to the deficit in the next decade and trigger automatic cuts to Medicare and other safety net programs unless Congress steps in to stop them. To most observers on the left, the Republican tax bill looks like sheer mercenary cupidity... If the big-spending, democratic welfare state is really a system of part-time slavery, as Ayn Rand and Senator Paul contend, then beating it back is a moral imperative of the first order. But the clock is ticking. Looking ahead to a potentially paralyzing presidential scandal, midterm blood bath or both, congressional Republicans are in a mad dash to emancipate us from the welfare state."
More from OurFuture.org:
All They Want For Christmas Is No New Tax Bill. Sarah Jaffe: "More than half of all Americans oppose the GOP tax bill. Regardless, Republicans in Congress are rushing to reconcile and vote on the legislation this week. The bill is packed with billions of dollars of tax cuts for wealthy donors and corporations, and promises to raise the deficit by more than $1 trillion. Over the weekend, angry people protested. Don’t expect them to quiet down anytime soon. Sarah Jaffe spoke with Sarah Chaisson-Warner and Jessica Juarez Scruggs of People’s Action on Monday about the all-hands-on-deck last-minute efforts to stop the tax bill and their plans for what to do next if it passes."
