Tax Notes

"For a long time after World War II, Democrats and Republicans didn't really fight about trade, they almost all favored lower tariffs. "But that consensus started to fade in the 1990s with a big fight over the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was eventually passed but not without a lot of bitterness. "By 2016, Donald Trump, he was able to capitalize on that growing discord about trade, promising to use higher tariffs to protect jobs, and he followed through on a lot of that. "Trump's victory in 2016, it might signify the start of a new era, especially since a lot of Democrats seem to be sort of sympathetic to trade restriction. So it's early, but I say yes, it might be a new era." ☝️ Tax Notes contributing editor Joseph Thorndike ponders whether the U.S. is entering a new era in trade policy. Check out his full discussion with Robert Goulder on the history of tariffs:

Former President Trump claimed that allowing provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to expire would lead to a “four times tax increase,” casting blame for the possible sunset on Democrats. The Republican presidential candidate painted Democrats as blocking the extension of some provisions of the 2017 tax law that are set to expire at the end of 2025, causing most individual tax rates to revert to higher levels. The claim comes despite assertions from Vice President Kamala Harris’s Democratic presidential campaign that if elected, she would maintain President Biden’s promise not to raise taxes for households making over $400,000 a year. “Our tax cuts are coming due, as you know, very soon, and if the Democrats don’t renew them, or make it impossible to renew — if they don’t renew them, it’s the equivalent of having a four times tax increase from what you have right now, and it’ll destroy the economy,” Trump said at an August 8 press conference. Read the full story from Cady Stanton 👇 (Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr)

"After the judgment came out, I was properly depressed because I thought this is the system fighting against Jenny and against everyone who is in Jenny's position. "I think that this was a battle that had to be fought. I think that the way HMRC decided to fight back, i.e. to hide the substance and to effectively put up a procedural fight, is an indication and a clear evidence that FATCA not only doesn't work, but is rotten to the core. "Then, we went to the Court of Appeal, we lost, but the day the Court of Appeal judgment came out, the French Senate sent a unanimous letter to French President Emmanuel Macron to say, 'Please take up FATCA with your counterpart.' "Then Macron, more recently, sent a letter to the chair of the Association of Americans Abroad to say that, 'FATCA created a total mobilization of the state behind you, but they're not really doing anything.' "It's quite clear that there is a lot of evidence out there. Governments are aware that it doesn't work, that it doesn't serve any purpose, but for whatever political reason, they decide to fight people like Jenny. I do hope that we will learn lessons and that someone else will pick up the baton and pursue the fight elsewhere. We are here." ☝️ Filippo Noseda, legal counsel for U.K. citizen Jenny Webster, and Robert Goulder discuss the effects of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (#FATCA) on Americans living abroad and the results of Webster’s lawsuit challenging the law.

This week's #EditorsPick selected by Audrey E.P. Pollitt: Caleb Allen and Patrick Murphy discuss a new, updated Washington apportionment rule and review previous versions of the rule to better understand how and why the state made its changes. Read the full report for free ⬇️

Check out Sarah's latest here: https://lnkd.in/e-CB3GDk

Tax Notes has been collecting and archiving tax returns filed by American presidents, vice presidents, and candidates for over 20 years. You can find several of Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz's tax returns here 👇

"In years past, we've seen much more of this type of lending taking place around the Navajo Nation and border towns. "And to the extent that I can remember conversations at conferences where people were saying these refund anticipation loans have mostly died out around the country. And we were thinking, well, no, we're seeing a ton of this kind of lending still happening in towns around the Navajo Nation," Nick Mattison, a partner at Feferman, Warren & Mattison who specializes in consumer law explained. "A lot of these folks are lower income, and here's the way they can get some money right away, because plenty of people are in a situation where they really do need money badly, and here's a lender who's willing to give it to them. "And one of the troubling things about these loans is that they take advantage of some of the key anti-poverty programs that function through the tax code. So that includes the earned income tax credit. "This is supposed to be a major source of money for the working poor. But what we were seeing when we were bringing these cases is that there were these lenders that were taking advantage of that and siphoning off a lot of that money for themselves instead of getting it to the consumers."

Excited to share my recent feature in Tax Notes with Eric Lanning J.D., LL.M. 📰 Thank you Tax Notes and Nathan Richman for spreading awareness on this important topic impacting many taxpayers in the 2023/2024 tax year. https://lnkd.in/eBmrQxyT We're shedding light on how victims of the Pig-Butchering Scam can find some tax relief through the Investment Theft Loss under 165(c)(2). It's heartbreaking to hear from seasoned investors who have lost some or all of their retirement savings to these complex scams, only to face a huge tax bill. Let's keep spreading awareness and providing solutions! 💪 #TaxRelief #InvestmentTheft #TaxNotes

🌐 On the cover of Tax Notes International: Jack Sheehan and Jidapa Tiamsuttikarn explain recent developments in the Thai international taxation and transfer pricing regimes and the effect they will have on Thailand as a potential business hub.

Democratic VP candidate Tim Walz has released numerous tax returns and @TaxNotes has them available here: https://lnkd.in/e2UjeJ2B