The Current State of Congress and Anticipated Tax Legislative Activity

Key Takeaways and Tax Planning Points:

• Enacted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), corporations are now subject to a 15% minimum tax on book income of $1 billion or more.
• The IRA also provided $80 billion of funding for IRS – with $46 billion earmarked specifically for enforcement.
• Enacted as part of the 2023 Omnibus Appropriations legislation, the SECURE Act of 2022 contains a host of retirement provisions such as changes to 401k, IRS, Roth, and other plan rules.
• While the current Administration’s “Green Book” on tax policy has not yet been released, a few tax proposals were discussed during the February 2023 State of the Union Address:

• Establishment of a new increase from a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks (enacted August 2022) to 4% excise tax

• Establishment of a new “billionaires” tax – households with net wealth exceeding $100 million would pay a minimum rate of 20% on an expanded computation of income, which would include unrealized capital gains.
• Reaffirmation by President Biden that the government would not raise taxes on anyone earning under $400,000/year.
• As Congress is split politically, it remains difficult for meaningful new tax legislation to make it through both houses and clear the President’s desk in the near term.

Resources:

• Navigating the Intersection of Tax & ESG
• Is Your Company Effectively Managing Tax Risk?
• How to Benefit from Total Tax Transparency