Talking Tax

The architects of the 2017 tax code overhaul had lofty goals: They predicted the law would make filing your taxes easier, boost wages and investment, and cut tax rates without increasing the deficit.The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 made broad changes to the tax system, lowering corporate and individual rates, boosting the standard deduction, creating new incentives, and overhauling the way multinational companies are taxed.On the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Lydia O'Neal spoke with Tax Foundation economist Erica York and Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy senior fellow Matt Gardner about which of the law's stated goals came to fruition.

The second round of the Paycheck Protection Program reopened with fewer bumps for struggling businesses and small lenders that work with under-served communities.The program, revived by the latest Covid-19 relief law, facilitates government-backed small business loans that can be forgiven if used to cover employee salaries and other eligible expenses. The relaunch gave a head start to small lenders, including community development financial institutions, which serve individuals and businesses that don't have access the regular banking system.On the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter David Hood speaks with Tommy Espinoza, president and CEO of Raza Development Fund. The Phoenix-based lender, which has more than $400 million in assets, offers loans and technical assistance to the Latino community. Espinoza discussed how his organization managed a deluge of PPP applications in the first week and offered suggestions to further improve the program.

The pandemic-induced economic downturn has been a huge challenge for states trying to make their budgetary ends meet. Now, some lawmakers are looking to offset a drop in sales taxes and other revenue with new levies on digital advertising.Darcy Kooiker, a partner with Armanino in Bellevue, Wash., who specializes in state and local tax issues, says several states are already trying to roll out taxes on this famously difficult-to-tax sector. With many states kicking off their legislative sessions this month, more will likely follow, she told reporter Amanda Iacone in the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax.

The stimulus bill signed by President Trump was significant not just for its size but also because many lawmakers inserted tax items into the bill they'd been wanting for some time to become law.On the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, host Amanda Iacone talks with Capitol Hill reporter Kaustuv Basu about what was in this bill and about why it will likely be far from the last financial aid package to come out of Congress. Kaustuv also speaks about the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol building by pro-Trump rioters and about what it was like as a Capitol Hill reporter to watch this take place.

The economic fallout from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will shape the world of taxes at the international, federal, and state levels in the coming year. That's according to three tax attorneys we spoke to about what to expect in 2021.For this episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, reporter Jeff Leon talks to these attorneys about how jurisdictions across the globe will respond to the continuing economic downturn and how a new presidential administration in the U.S. will—or will not—make things different in 2021.

Who says taxes are boring? Today on a holiday edition of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, we bring you a few of the more humorous tax disputes of this year.Bloomberg Tax reporter Hamza Ali joins us to talk about a man who saved on his tax bill by mathematically proving he was a terrible gambler, a juice cleanse that may or may not be medicinal, and an extraordinarily costly instance of a postal delay.

Despite historic and decisive victories at the Supreme Court, same-sex couples are still not fully equal with different-sex couples in the eyes of the U.S. tax code.That’s the conclusion of University of Pittsburgh law professor Anthony Infanti, who specializes in the intersection of tax policy and gender and sexuality. Infanti speaks with Bloomberg’s Yuri Nagano on our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, about all of the tax benefits that same-sex couples still can’t take advantage of and about just how gendered the language of the tax code really is.

Teslas and other electric vehicles may be helping to solve the problem of climate change—but they’re also creating a new problem for state and federal transportation budgets. That’s because these budgets are funded largely from revenue generated by taxes on gasoline.States are trying to figure out how to fund new roads or maintain existing ones if gas-fueled cars are getting phased out. Sahas Katta, the CEO of an automobile tech startup who is working with several states on developing new ways to tax vehicle use, spoke to Bloomberg Tax correspondent Michael Bologna for the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax.

The Supreme Court this week heard its biggest tax case of this term and, based on how the oral argument went, the IRS could be headed for a significant loss.On this episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, host Jeffrey Leon talks to Bloomberg Tax reporter Aysha Bagchi, who is covering the case, CIC Services v. IRS. She says some of the justices made comments suggesting they were inclined to rule against the IRS and thereby limit its ability to avoid judicial review of a reporting requirement before a taxpayer has violated the requirement and been given a penalty. Some argue that could make it a lot harder for the IRS to go after tax shelters, while others say it would help ensure that such requirements are legally valid.

Despite decades of work to educate more Black lawyers, the percentage of Black associates and partners in firms across the U.S. remain very low, and well below those of other professional careers. Big Law firms across the board are ramping up social justice efforts as the nation engages in a renewed dialogue on race and equality. But some have accused firms of using minorities as “diversity props” to impress clients and misrepresent their inclusiveness to potential employees. So what are law firms doing to fix their lack of diversity?Hosts Adam Allington and Lisa Helem, along with reporters Ayanna Alexander, Ruiqi Chen, and Meghan Tribe, interviewed lawyers across the industry, from corporate general counsels to top Am Law 200 lawyers to current law students, each sharing their experience navigating the legal space as a person of color. We try to answer what law firms are doing to recruit more diverse classes of lawyers, and how they are addressing barriers to entry for Black lawyers.