This week, NTU sent letters to the Senate Finance Committee Task Forces set up to review expiring tax policy known as “tax extenders.” Our letters emphasized the danger of retroactively implementing changes to the tax code while emphasizing that some elements of tax policy that get swept up in the “tax extenders” conversation should be granted permanence to create a more stable and competitive tax code.
Last week, the House of Representatives marked up its version of a tax extenders package. That bill established a 2020 deadline for expired tax benefits, doing nothing to resolve the challenges presented by short-term tax policymaking. Worse yet, it included a massive tax increase on family businesses by proposing rolling back the changes made to the death, generation skipping and gift taxes under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act.
Both chambers have a lot of work to do to confront the persistent problems presented by allowing portions of the tax code to expire periodically. NTU’s comments to leaders in both chambers focus on the need for certainty in our tax code, and abolishing the practice of pursuing “tax extenders” is an important first step towards that goal.