Displaying items by tag: biden

Over a hundred and thirty nations have already consented to the global minimum corporate tax, and that number just got a little larger as all G20 came forward to endorse a 15% global minimum tax rate. This was a huge win for the Biden administration and secretary Yellen who have been strong advocates, but they still face hurdles with the domestic tax code in the Build Back Better bill. The administration said that the other G20 understand the minimum could take time with Republican opposition and Democratic infighting dominating congress, and the official timeline for the G20 will roll out at the end of the week. The other topic that is driving the G20 are the world's energy shortage which is on the forefront of everyone's minds, and how the world can come together to spur production.

FINSUM:The current form of the Build Back Better legislation aligns the U.S. with the global minimum and extends tax credits for millions of low-income Americans, but we’ll see if that makes it through the Congress at the end of the week.

Democrats are desperately looking for ways to pay for their pending spending packages and they just found a new way, taxes on unrealized capital gains. The new tax was introduced by Senator Ron Wyden on the finance committee and will only be applicable to those with over $1 billion in assets or $100 million in annual income. Dems say it's necessary to allow billionaires to just continually avoid paying taxes and accumulate capital while also raising funds. Those opposed see a slew of problems in collection and lots of ways to avoid the tax. Only about 700 Americans would necessarily qualify for the tax.

FINSUM: This is a lot of money, but the amount of oversight funds just to track down billionaires assets will be a major boon to the bottom line for the government.

President Biden told CNN in a town hall this week that he just doesn’t have the votes to hike corporate taxes. Driving the divide is a substantial share of progressives who won’t allow topline taxes and higher spending bills, who are at odds with Democrats in swing states who are lobbying for the opposite. In order to pass the bill, the President would need 60 senate votes so they can bypass filibustering. They need every Democrat on board for that to happen. The White House has made clear that this is only a compromise on corporate taxes, other tax hikes are still in place. Markets are rejoicing because all the stimulus grease may be good for the economy, and now higher taxes will not eat at all the corporate profits.

FINSUM: This might avoid a lot of unneeded volatility, but other income tax and GAAP earnings taxes could be still be enough to disrupt markets.

(Washington)

Financial advisors have been highly focused on the prospect of the Biden Administration imposing a new capital gains tax rate. In particular, the abolition of the “step-up in basis” at death that inheritors currently benefit from. The popular parlance that has emerged in the industry is “death tax”. Clients generally hate this new proposal, but one of the underappreciated risks is the major liquidity risk that the rule presents. On many assets, capital gains taxes could be large—and take a large amount of cash to pay, cash that many inheritors may not have.

FINSUM: One typical example is on US farms, where land has become hugely valuable over time, but where the actual farming business runs on slim margins. This means inheritors may have high wealth in terms of assets, but little liquidity, creating a significant tax debt under Biden’s proposals.

(Washington)

The House Democrats’ update of the Biden Administration’s tax proposal hit airwaves yesterday, and it is just now starting to sink in. One of the elements that was immediately apparent to one senior tax professional was that the updated capital gains tax proposal is effectively a “marriage tax”, according to Nicole DeRosa, senior tax manager at Wiss. Note that increased rates (5% plus the 3.8% surtax) start at $400,000 of income for individual filers, but $450,000 for joint filers. Many times the joint filing limit would be double the individual limit, but in this case it is barely above. This effectively means married couples are being taxed for their matrimony.

FINSUM: This is illogical and unfair to married couples. Hopefully this does not make it into law in its current form.