President Donald Trump and Elon Musk in what might be their last amiable meeting on May 30, 2025, in the Oval Office. Trump lauded the departing Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) adviser’s efforts. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley via Wikimedia) Donald J. Trump and his former billionaire buddy Elon Musk are not sniping at each other online today. But while the political and fiscal feud that rapidly devolved into personal attacks isn’t so public (for now), word is that they’re still on the outs. In fact, like many of us after a breakup, Trump apparently wants to get... Read more →
Politics
She’s not happy with the salad, but at least she’s got a nutritious food choice. That could change if the current tax bill and its revisions to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is enacted. (Image by Tung Lam from Pixabay) Most tax eyes have been on Washington, D.C., as the House-approved One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) now awaits action in the Senate. Whatever form the final bill takes, it likely will affect states, negatively in many cases as they lose federal aid. One area where states are bracing for tougher times is food assistance programs. The left-leaning Center... Read more →
Image by Stefan Coders from Pixabay Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling that opened states’ doors to legalized sports betting, gambling has become an accepted part of major league sports. All the United States’ professional athletic leagues have embraced partnerships with sports betting companies and casinos. This year, Major League Baseball (MLB) cleared the way for deceased players who had been permanently banned, including some who gambled on their sport’s games, to potentially get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Even the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the governing body of student athletes and sporting events, reportedly is considering... Read more →
If you’re into tax history, you might want to download the Internal Revenue Service’s fiscal year 2024 Data Book. First, this year’s edition marks the publication’s 30-year anniversary. Prior to the first Data Book, the IRS issued annual reports. But the new format expanded on that, now provides a fiscal year statistical overview of the agency’s operations. Second, this year’s document, officially IRS Publication 55-B, has details on some notable tax agency accomplishments. You already know about one of them, the collection of more than $5 trillion in tax revenue, from this post’s headline, but there are more. Third, future... Read more →
Photo by Tara Winstead Even before Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staff started messing around in government agencies, one targeted for overhaul already was making changes to improve its operations. In fact, the Internal Revenue Service was proactively using artificial intelligence (AI) before the first Trump administration’s executive order in December 2020 “Promoting the Use of Trustworthy AI in the Federal Government.” “Artificial intelligence (AI) is a transformative technology that holds substantial promise for improving the IRS’s examination efforts,” notes the report on its introductory page. And with added funding from the Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, TIGTA... Read more →
Photo by RDNE Stock project Is the money account for growth and advancement, or MAGA, account for children, now renamed Trump Savings, necessary? I was going to use that as this post's headline, but it's a tad long. Plus, an editor once told me that every question headline can be answered “no.” I disagree, but this time, he’s probably right. James, a reader of the ol’ blog, also apparently agrees. In a comment on my post last week that looked at some of the tax changes in the GOP’s House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), he noted: Basically shifting the... Read more →
Some of my fellow Texans every Memorial Day weekend head to appliance stores instead of the beach. They are taking advantage of the Lone Star State’s annual Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday. It runs from the long holiday’s Saturday through Memorial Day Monday, exempting certain energy saving products from the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax, as well as the added 2 percent most cities also tack on to purchases. But this might be the last such sales tax holiday for Texans and shoppers in three other states. Energy Star tax breaks also are the hook for sales tax holidays in... Read more →
House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) on the phone as he and staff walk through the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall. (Credit: Mike Johnson Facebook) The Republicans’ consolidated measure to enact Donald J. Trump’s tax, immigration, energy, and more policies eked through the House early this morning. The original Ways and Means Committee version of the legislation, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) per Trump’s not so subtle suggestion, was tweaked just enough this week to pass by a 215 to 214 vote. Only two GOP members, Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, defected. The pair... Read more →
The surprise move beat the House, which has a similar provision in its still pending One Big Beautiful Bill, to the tax relief punch. Photo by RDNE Stock project The House’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) does contain one of Donald J. Trump’s campaign trail tax promises. It provides tax relief for some workers who rely on tips to increase their income. The Senate, however, decided it was tired of waiting for its counterpart on the other side of Capitol Hill to act on this issue. On Tuesday, May 20, Senators unanimously, and surprisingly, passed their own the No Tax... Read more →
Photo by RDNE Stock project House Republicans are scrambling to revise the tax component of their One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) so that all of its members will approve it. Their biggest hurdles are acceptable compromises on how the bill deals with Medicaid, state and local taxes, and the Biden administration’s energy tax credits. They also need to find a way to satisfy Republican deficit hawks who are worried about the bill’s cost. The fiscal concern is a major hurdle in tweaking the bill so that all in the GOP’s slim majority will agree to send the bill to the... Read more →
Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash The single Republican bill the White House wants passed as soon as possible to implement its tax and immigration policies is definitely big, running in its latest iteration to 1,116 pages. And it has at least one provision, starting on page 806, that some parents might find beautiful. Under a tax provision in the officially named One, Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB), Uncle Sam would give parents $1,000 when a baby born between 2025 and 2028 joins their families. Parents of children age eight or younger also could open a special savings account for those... Read more →
Republicans on the House Budget Committee are meeting with their members today to try to come up with changes to the tax portion of the one big beautiful bill (OBBB) that they want to pass to further the White House’s fiscal and immigration goals. Conservative GOP members tanked the tax plan on Friday, complaining that it added to the federal deficit. Fiscal conservatives are holding out for deeper spending cuts or more reductions to tax benefits for low-income households. Meanwhile, another group of Representatives, this one bipartisan by led by Republicans who represent districts with high housing costs, could cause... Read more →
Sure, income taxes are infuriating, but if you ask homeowners what tax they hate most, it’s a good bet that their annual property tax bill tops the list. These real estate taxes are issued by county or parish officials across the United States. And the recipients of property taxes are found in all political parties. That's why a group of Republicans whose congressional districts are full of frustrated suburban homeowners are, right now, standing up against their party's leaders when it comes to the one big beautiful budget and tax bill sought by the White House. They say they won't... Read more →
Photo by Los Muertos Crew This week in Austin is hot, and I'm not talking about one of the state capital's many music or technology or film or other festivals. It's going to be weather hot. Like sunny and 105 degrees hot tomorrow, according to forecasters. If that happens, it will break by a degree the record for May heat. I know, lots of places deal with extreme heat. Those residents also tend to face utility issues, like brown- or blackouts, when the temperatures put pressure on the electric grids. That’s why many across the nation have opted for their... Read more →
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich The House Ways and Means Committee this afternoon released its second run at the tax portion of the one, big, beautiful reconciliation bill demanded by the White House. This latest collection of tax provisions, released in advance of the proposal’s committee markup tomorrow (Tuesday, May 13), fills in a lot of the tax holes that were apparent in the tax-writing panel’s first version, presented on May 9. Political tax promises: Today’s measure includes many of the Trump administration’s populist policy priorities. That includes campaign promises to exempt gratuities and overtime pay from taxation. The bill also... Read more →
Every state has felt the job losses, which came via terminations or Internal Revenue Service workers who left under deferred resignation terms. Photo by Ron Lach When 2025 began, around 103,000 people worked at the Internal Revenue Service nationwide. Then the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) arrived. Now, according to a new report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the IRS ranks have been reduced by more than 11,400 workers. That’s an 11 percent cut in the tax agency’s workforce. The job losses, which TIGTA collectively refers to as separations, come from... Read more →
A recent Ways and Means Committee hearing. (W&M Republicans YouTube channel screen capture) The Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee had a late Friday surprise for the tax community. It released the tax portion of Donald J. Trump’s mandated "one big, beautiful bill," which also is slated to deal with immigration and energy. The first thing everyone noticed is that the 61-page document leaves out some of the tax provisions that the GOP has had trouble convincing all of its slim House majority to support. There’s no mention of at least increasing the state and local taxes (SALT) federal tax... Read more →
The Republican-led Congress insists it is making progress on Donald J. Trump's "one big beautiful bill." But party leaders are facing challenges. In addition to including expiring Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions into a combined budget reconciliation package, they must find a way to shoehorn in Trump’s campaign trail promises of no taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits. A House Ways and Means Committee member believes she has a solution to the federal retiree taxation payment issue. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-New York) has introduced H.R. 1129, also known as the Tax Relief Unleashed for Seniors by... Read more →
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash Donald J. Trump released his first budget request of his second term on Friday, May 2. While he’s reshaped the Republican party as far as political style, his fiscal year 2026 wish list is very much traditional GOP. The $1.7 trillion budget proposal would dramatically cut many federal agencies’ spending, but would boost national security dollars. Overall, the Defense Department would see a funding increase of 13 percent, or to more than $1 trillion. But non-defense domestic program spending would be cut by nearly 23 percent, officially 22.6 percent below current year spending, according... Read more →
Electric vehicle charging in a suburban Austin, Texas, garage. Texas in 2023 joined the growing ranks of states that collect a special registration fee from EV drivers. (Photo by Kay Bell) A federal fee of $250 a year for electric vehicle owners is part of the transportation component of the Republican budget reconciliation bill. The new revenue would supplement the Highway Trust Fund, which currently is primarily funded by traditional fuel excise taxes which are added to pump prices. The financial requirement would ensure that electric vehicles (EVs) “begin paying for their use of the highway system just like other... Read more →