Author
Tax Policy Group, Deloitte Tax LLP

• Baucus, Grassley Introduce Tax Extenders Package – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and ranking Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa unveiled legislation that would provide an individual alternative minimum tax patch for 2008 and extend through 2009 the research and experimentation credit, the renewable electricity and refined coal production credit, the deduction for state and local sales taxes and a host of other tax provisions that expired at the end of last year or are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
• U.S. Supreme Court Remands MeadWestvaco to Illinois Appellate Court for Consideration of Unitary Business Issue – The U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded the decision of the Illinois Appellate Court in MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Department of Revenue, a case involving the question of whether it was constitutionally permissible for Illinois to apportion Mead Corporation’s gain from the sale of assets of Lexis/Nexis.
• House Passes Tax Simplification Bill – In a nod to the federal tax filing deadline, the House of Representatives chose April 15 to approve legislation that would dismantle the Internal Revenue Service's private debt collection program and provide tax simplification measures.
• Many Tax Bills Still in Play as Congress Works Towards Memorial Day Recess – In the five weeks leading up to the Memorial Day recess, lawmakers face a crowded tax agenda that includes farm program reauthorization efforts, housing tax incentives legislation, the annual budget resolution and the possibility of tacking on domestic priorities to a war supplemental bill.
• Senate Taxwriters Prepare for Tax Reform Push with Series of Hearings – The Senate Finance Committee held what is expected to be the first in a series of hearings on overhauling the federal tax system in preparation for future reform efforts to address the expiration of significant sections of the tax code in 2010.
• McCain Economic Blueprint Backs Middle-Class Tax Relief, Corporate Rate Cut – Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain of Arizona released an economic plan that would extend and enhance the middle- and upper-income tax cuts while also providing business tax incentives.

See attached file for details.

Visit the Tax News & Views Archive for issues from the past six months.

 Subscribe to Tax News & Views