Washington Post: Expiration date
When Congress returns, one of the topics under discussion will be whether it should renew some of the major tax relief provisions that were enacted in 2001 and 2003 and are set to expire at the end of the year. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) created a new 10-percent [...]
Washington Report: Pending business
When the Senate returns from its summer recess, one of the first items it will consider is a small business lending assistance and tax relief bill. The bill would establish a $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF). Under the proposal, the SBLF would support lending among community and smaller banks with assets under $10 [...]
Washington Report: Form 1099
The small-business lending assistance and tax relief bill the Senate is scheduled to consider in September be the battleground for dueling amendments regarding a new information reporting requirement included in the recently enacted health care reform law. The new provision requires businesses to issue an information reporting form, known as Form 1099, to all of [...]
Washington Report: Estate tax relief
Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT) has introduced legislation, S.3533, The Responsible Estate Tax Act, to reinstate the estate tax. He would reinstate permanently the minimum exemption at the 2009 level of $3.5 million for an individual. The top rate would be 45 percent for the excess, until the estate’s assets reach $10 million, when the top [...]
Washington Report: Financial institutions reform
Congress has reached an agreement on a final version of the comprehensive financial institutions reform bill. Two issues of interest to retailers are the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and some restraints on the charges that credit card networks can assess against retailers for debit card transactions. The key issue with [...]
Washington Report: Help…maybe
Congress is still juggling a variety of pending bills carrying the words “small business” and “jobs” in their titles. We think it will pass at least one before the August recess. We expect it to include a revival of the bonus depreciation, an extension of the higher direct expensing amounts, the creation of a Small [...]
Washington Report: Main street fairness
Rep. William Delahunt introduced H.R. 5660, The Main Street Fairness Act, on July 1, 2010. Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) is expected to introduce the companion bill in the Senate soon. This legislation would give the states jurisdiction (nexus in legal parlance) over out-of-state sellers to force them to collect and remit sales and use taxes. [...]
Washington Report: Form 1099
Congress recently passed, and the President signed into law, a new provision requiring expanded information reporting on payments made from businesses to corporations, and on payments businesses make to other businesses, for goods as well as services. The Internal Revenue Service information reporting form is “Form 1099.” This new information reporting expansion applies if businesses [...]
Washington Report: Swipe fees
During their debate on financial institutions’ regulatory reform legislation, the Senate adopted an amendment to address some of the issues surrounding what is known as interchange fees or “swipe” fees that credit/debit card processing networks charge merchants. The Federal Reserve describes interchange rates as “the fees that merchant-acquiring banks (acquirers) pay to card-issuing banks (issuers) [...]
Washington Report: FTC extends enforcement deadlines for identity theft
At the request of several Members of Congress, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is further delaying enforcement of the “Red Flags” Rule through Dec. 31, 2010, while Congress considers legislation that would affect the scope of entities covered by the Rule. The Rule was developed under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, in which [...]
