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Groups who advocated for the IRS to prepare tax returns sure look foolish these days: http://t.co/oKvpIofu7Y
May 13, 2013 06:30 PM
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"We don't need the federal government mandating additional taxes..." -@MarshaBlackburn on MFA: http://t.co/lAuLJtr5t3 #NoNetTax
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Health insurers and businesses are already feeling the iron-clad grip of regulations in #Obamacare: http://t.co/J6dfnKqFYZ
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Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell Signs Largest Tax Hike in Virginia History into Law http://t.co/Qd6KOFfaPv
May 13, 2013 03:46 PM
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Under #Obamacare, mothers have had a tougher time purchasing non-prescription, over-the-counter medicine: http://t.co/dJuaGAT9LE
May 13, 2013 02:01 PM
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9 out of 20 #Obamacare tax hikes have not even been implemented yet: http://t.co/opFkyf1guJ
May 13, 2013 01:30 PM
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.@GroverNorquist on MFA: "[The Senate] didn't ask all of the questions that needed to be asked": http://t.co/wXfkIR2Ca9 #NoNetTax
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May 13, 2013 12:30 PM
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Conservative and Free Market Groups Applaud Move to Delay a Vote on Gina McCarthy: http://t.co/lNQYmJAB12 #EPA
May 13, 2013 12:02 PM
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The #Obamacare train wreck will derail the American economy: http://t.co/opFkyf1guJ
May 13, 2013 11:30 AM
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Paying for Homebuyer Credit by
Hiking Employer Taxes
The Senate is voting this week on a series of amendments to the Tax Extenders Bill, H.R. 4213.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has offered an amendment which would extend the "close-by" date of homes in order to qualify for the first-time homebuyer credit from before July 1, 2010 to before October 1, 2010.
In order to "pay for" this extension of existing tax relief, Reid proposes denying businesses a tax deduction for punitive damages paid in connection with a lawsuit. There are three good reasons to oppose this amendment, even if it is tax revenue-neutral:
- Businesses have a blanket ability to deduct "ordinary and necessary" expenses against business revenue. Arbitrarily taking a very legitimate expense away is both bad tax policy now and bad tax precedent for the future. It skews a proper understanding of business profits
- Trial lawyers will be emboldened to sue employers, since they know that an employer's downside risk is now magnified (since the employer can no longer deduct any resultant punitive damages from business income). Employers will want to settle, handing trial lawyers a guaranteed victory
- Since costs associated with settled cases would still be deductible, that's yet another tax code bias in favor of trial lawyers. More lawsuits will be filed, more of them will be settled out of court, and trial lawyers get very, very rich in the process
If the goal is to "pay for" an extension of the first-time homebuyer credit, the offset should be a spending cut.
Posted by Ryan Ellis 
on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 3:41 PM EDT
on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 3:41 PM EDTTo follow Ryan Ellis's RSS feed click here. To follow them on Twitter, their handle is @ryanlellis
