[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/2022-annual-family-business-survey\/” button_text=”Have Your Voice Heard in Congress. Please Take Action Today!!!” button_alignment=”center” admin_label=”Call to Action Button” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”4.10.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”Content” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Manchin has maintained, as recently as last week, that one of his top priorities is to \u201cfix the tax code\u201d and that he is willing to accomplish this through budget reconciliation because \u201cit\u2019s the reason we have reconciliation.\u201d Faithful Taxation & Representation\u00a0<\/em>readers will remember that Manchin was and is still willing to accept the following tax provisions:<\/p>\n Neal was encouraged that Manchin swiftly clarified his statements regarding the status of the BBBA discussions. Because Manchin \u201cdid it immediately; he didn\u2019t do it like two days later,\u201d Neal has since pushed for a \u201creset\u201d in discussions.<\/p>\n In the Senate, Wyden has said of the issues Manchin has prioritized, \u201cvirtually all of them go through the Finance Committee.\u201d Like Manchin, Wyden has also remained open to compromise, saying he is \u201ctrying to meet [Manchin] where he is,\u201d adding that there are policies on which there could be \u201ccommon ground,\u201d such as tax permanence, revising the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA, P.L.115-97), prescription drugs and climate change. In fact, it was reported last week that Democrats have begun discussing alternative revenue raisers and spending offsets in the bill that will more effectively address deficit reduction, a perennial concern for Manchin.<\/p>\n While Neal and Wyden have acknowledged that lawmakers should try and make enough headway on BBBA for President Biden to announce progress during the State of the Union on March 1, both dismissed the idea of setting another artificial deadline for action. Manchin also has other short-term priorities that will delay movement on BBBA, such as appropriations. Speaking on the Sunday news shows, Manchin said that Congress must \u201cget a budget bill first\u201d before moving onto BBBA.<\/p>\n CTC Extension Efforts Endure.<\/strong>\u00a0With BBBA discussions ebbing and flowing, members of Congress and their aides are searching for a more reliable vehicle to extend the Advanced Child Tax Credit (CTC) that expired at the end of last year. Although the Advanced CTC has been included in some versions of the BBBA, it has been specifically targeted by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) as a provision that might be too costly for the package. As a result, lawmakers have been exploring other avenues to advance an extension. (The White House and congressional Democrats renewed their push for the CTC and the Earned Income Tax Credit in twin press conferences today. However, as of this writing, those events have not yet occurred.)<\/p>\n Even if the extension moves through another package\u2014in fact, especially if it does\u2014Democrats will need to garner support from Manchin and multiple Senate Republicans. Because of this, Democratic aides from both the House and Senate told reporters last week they are considering changes to the credit that might make it more palatable to potential holdouts. Such changes could include lowering the eligibility threshold, imposing a work requirement and reducing the per-child value of the credit.<\/p>\n There is optimism among those on Capitol Hill pushing for the extension since some Republicans have displayed a willingness to partner with Democrats on the issue. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, said Republicans could find \u201ccommon ground\u201d on a compromise that includes permanency for the CTC changes made under the TCJA. Likewise, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has long supported the credit and thinks \u201cthis should be bipartisan.\u201d<\/p>\n White House Weighs COVID-19 Refill Package.<\/strong>\u00a0Funding for COVID-19 testing, therapeutics and vaccines has been mostly exhausted, according to reports of confidential White House documents shared with congressional offices, causing the Biden administration to consider another legislative proposal to provide additional pandemic funding.<\/p>\n The documents reportedly did not contain detailed accounts of each spending category and a timeline for how long remaining funds will last. It is also unclear which congressional offices received the White House documents. Regardless, the White House could soon approach Congress for additional funds. Jeff Zients, for instance, who spearheads the White House COVID-19 response effort, recently said the administration \u201cwill be working with Congress as needed to make sure we have the funding to continue to fight this virus.\u201d<\/p>\n However, stronger-than-expected economic numbers on Friday could provide fodder for those opposed to enacting more COVID-19 response legislation. Republicans are generally reluctant to embrace additional spending, arguing that previously allocated COVID-19 spending has not yet been fully expended or obligated. For example, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said lawmakers should \u201cstart the discussion by talking about repurposing the hundreds of billions already sitting in the pipeline.\u201d<\/p>\n Other Republicans are more prepared to accept another COVID-19 response package. For instance, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, recently said such a package will be necessary. At the same time, though, he said the White House has not yet sent Congress a request or explained why such a package is necessary. Speaking with reporters last week, Blunt said the administration is \u201cgoing to have to explain why they need it,\u201d adding that he would \u201cbe more enthused about a supplemental if it was part of an overall package that gets our work done.\u201d<\/p>\n Other lawmakers are already working on a package to provide COVID-19 relief for small businesses and nonprofits. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the Senate Small Business Committee chair, said there is a group of senators, including Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR), interested in reinstating the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), a COVID-19-era break that was ended in September 2021. Cardin explained that the ERTC is \u201con the table depending on how we proceed on COVID relief, and it\u2019s also on the table in terms of tax issues.\u201d Wyden said he is considering such legislation, saying \u201cit makes sense and I want to talk to my colleagues about what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n Wyden\u2019s Republican counterpart on the Senate Finance Committee, Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID), has not been involved in discussions, but he is open to the proposal. Saying as much, Crapo recently said, \u201cI\u2019m certainly not opposed,\u201d before adding that \u201cthe employee retention program was a good program. The question I have is whether we need additional COVID packages right now while we\u2019re still rolling out the previous packages.\u201d<\/p>\n IRS Drops Facial Recognition After Congressional Scrutiny.<\/strong>\u00a0Both Republican and Democratic senators raised issues with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) use of ID.me, a software company that provides identity proofing, authentication and group affiliation verification for government and private entities. After an onslaught of congressional activity in response to the IRS plans, including both legislation and letters, the agency\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0on Monday it would transition away from facial recognition. According to the IRS, \u201cthe transition will occur over the coming weeks in order to prevent larger disruptions to taxpayers during filing season.\u201d<\/p>\n That may not put an end to the congressional inquiry, however, given the overwhelming interest from lawmakers. For example, two bills were introduced\u2014one by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), who sits on the House Financial Services Committee, and another by Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Both would prevent the IRS from requiring the use of facial recognition technology to access online accounts or services.<\/p>\n In addition to the legislative response, lawmakers probed the IRS for additional information. Last week, for instance, Senate Finance Committee Republicans, led by Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID), sent a\u00a0letter<\/a>\u00a0to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig expressing their \u201cserious concerns about how ID.me may affect confidential taxpayer information and fundamental civil liberties.\u201d After listing the types of consumer data collected by ID.me\u2014including passport, birth certificate, Form W-2, Social Security Numbers and \u201cselfies\u201d\u2014the lawmakers noted that \u201cgovernment and private companies have an unfortunate history of data breaches.\u201d The lawmakers asked the IRS to provide additional information about the IRS relationship with ID.me by Feb. 27 and for a subsequent briefing.<\/p>\n In a separate\u00a0letter<\/a>, Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) expressed concern \u201cabout the IRS outsourcing biometric verification to third party vendor ID.me.\u201d As a result, they specifically asked the IRS to \u201cimmediately discontinue any programs that collect, process, and store facial recognition or other types of biometric data of American taxpayers\u201d and \u201cimplement a comprehensive ban on the use of such biometric data collection at the agency.\u201d Similar to the Senate Finance Committee Republicans, Merkley and Blunt asked for the IRS to respond by Feb. 28.<\/p>\n As the top Republican on a committee with jurisdiction over data privacy matters, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, also initiated an inquiry into ID.me. He sent a\u00a0letter<\/a>\u00a0to the IRS commissioner last week with several questions and, after noting his longstanding interest in data privacy, said, \u201cThe IRS must treat its responsibility to protect the privacy and security of American taxpayers\u2019 data with the utmost seriousness.\u201d He gave the IRS the least amount of time to respond, asking for additional information by Feb. 17.<\/p>\n Perhaps most importantly, though, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) sent a\u00a0letter<\/a>\u00a0on Monday to Rettig asking the agency to drop ID.me. In the letter, Wyden said, \u201cWhile the IRS had the best of intentions\u2014to prevent criminals from accessing Americans\u2019 tax records, using them to commit identity theft, and make off with other people\u2019s tax refunds\u2014it is simply unacceptable to force Americans to submit to scans using facial recognition technology as a condition of interacting with the government online.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text disabled_on=”off|off|off” admin_label=”Credit” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” link_option_url=”https:\/\/comms.bhfs.com\/rv\/ff008aad57371d7dffb3c6ed1548a446076eaa47″ link_option_url_new_window=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”4.10.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/2022-annual-family-business-survey\/” button_text=”Do You Have 5 Minutes To Help Your Multi-Generational Business?” button_alignment=”center” admin_label=”Call to Action Button” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”FEUSA Statement” _builder_version=”4.8.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” link_option_url=”https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/donate-2\/” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Family Enterprise USA<\/a> advocates for American Family business. We help family businesses communicate their challenges and contributions to American economic freedom to Legislators. We represent all American family businesses; not just specific industries and provide research to enhance the opportunity for success. We help family businesses continue to establish their unique business legacy. Family Enterprise USA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.. Family foundations can donate.<\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/donate-2\/” button_text=”Are you an FEUSA Member? If not, get in on the movement today!” button_alignment=”center” admin_label=”Call to Action Button” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3k9d1tFz5AU” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text admin_label=”Hash tags & Tags” _builder_version=”4.9.10″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n @FamilyEnterpriseUSA @PolicyAndTaxationGroup @DitchTheEstateTax #FamilyBusiness #Business #SmallBiz #EstateTax #Deathtax #CapitalGainsTax #StepUpInBasis #Taxes #gifttax #Generationskippingtax #InheritanceTax #repealestatetax #promotefamilybusinesses #taxLegislation #AdvocatingForFamilyBusinesses #incometax #Generationallyowned #Multigenerationalbusiness<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Build Back Better Reboot. Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), the House Ways and Means Committee chair, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), chair of Senate Finance Committee, are cautiously optimistic negotiations over the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) can resume after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) retracted statements earlier in the week that the package was \u201cdead.\u201d Last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1198,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[77,3,78,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-budget-deficit","category-feusa","category-in-the-news","category-taxes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4758"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4763,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4758\/revisions\/4763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Read the FULL “Build Back Better Reboot. Taxation & Representation and Tax Tidbit” update from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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