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Hoping to avoid the fate of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts, which were forced to expire under budget rules, Senate Republicans are weighing a new approach that would give them more wiggle room to pass a major tax code overhaul without having to show a quick return, The Washington Times reported yesterday. By extending the budget window beyond the traditional 10 years, Republicans can give their tax-rate cuts more time to boost the economy and produce enough revenue to offset an initial drop. Sen. Pat Toomey said tax plans could be evaluated over the course of decades to determine their full effect on the economy and the federal budget. “Many business choices hinge on forecasting beyond that period and whether a 20- or 30-year budget window is considered, a longer time frame, in combination with proposed reforms, will help us realize a robust economic revival,” he said. Republican leaders have said they want to pass a “revenue neutral” tax package using budget reconciliation, which allows bills to pass with a simple majority in the Senate rather than face a possible 60-vote filibuster threshold. Republicans have long said that budget scorekeepers underestimate the macroeconomic effects of tax cuts, and a longer window could provide more time for the effects to kick in and presumably boost the revenue side of the equation after the immediate hit.

President Donald Trump is preparing to go public with information about how last year shaped his personal fortune, The Associated Press reported yesterday. The plan was disclosed as Vice President Mike Pence filed his own 2016 personal financial disclosure form with the Office of Government Ethics. Pence reported earning about $110,000 last year, entirely from his salary as governor of Indiana. Trump's personal finances are far more complex, since he was at the helm of a global real estate, property management and branding business until taking office in January. The White House official who said that Trump will "soon" submit his 2016 personal financial disclosure did not give details about when it would be released. Previous presidents, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush, have updated the public on their finances during their first year in office, even though they are not required to do so until the second year. Until Monday, the White House had not indicated whether Trump would follow that tradition or take advantage of his ability under the law to wait a year. Such documents include an accounting of a person's personal income, assets and liabilities. Trump's 2016 form will span his general election candidacy, election and transition to power — potentially shedding light on the immediate impact his Republican nomination and election had on his Trump Organization. Last May, then-candidate Trump's disclosure form showed his business empire had grown in value while he was running for office. While Trump's two previous financial disclosures have run about 100 pages each, Pence's tend to be far shorter. 

Major U.S. multinationals are pushing the Trump administration to deepen the tax break it has already tentatively proposed on $2.6 trillion in corporate profits being held offshore, a key piece in Washington's intricate tax reform puzzle, Reuters reported today. As President Donald Trump tries to deliver on his campaign promise to overhaul the tax code, lobbyists for technology, drug and other manufacturers are working with officials behind closed doors. In line with tax cuts already embraced by Republicans in the House of Representatives, the lobbyists said they are telling the White House and Treasury Department that if companies are forced to bring home, or repatriate, foreign earnings, they want a sharply reduced tax rate. The lobbyists are making an aggressive case that cutting the tax rate on offshore profits to 10 percent from 35 percent, as the administration has indicated it may favor, is not enough. Rather, they want a lower, bifurcated rate of 3.5 percent on earnings already invested abroad in illiquid assets, such as factories, and 8.75 percent on cash and liquid assets.

Small businesses have become the crux of the tax reform debate, with Republicans saying that it makes no sense to do only a corporate overhaul because it will leave behind millions of mom-and-pop shops that file their taxes as individuals, The Washington Times reported yesterday. Under current law, small businesses that file as individuals end up at a disadvantage, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said. The U.S. corporate tax rate is 35 percent — much higher than the worldwide average of 23 percent — but small businesses that file as “subchapter S corporations” can pay even higher individual rates. “The top tax rate on subchapter S corporations in America — which is eight out of 10 businesses in America — their top tax rate’s 44.6 percent,” he said. “You throw the Ohio income tax on top of that or the Wisconsin income tax, and we are taxing businesses, employers, jobs more than 50 percent in many cases.” Republicans are trying to build momentum for their push for tax reform, knowing they will get little help from Democrats. Efforts to find common ground with President Obama on corporate taxes went nowhere, but with total control of the levers of Washington, Republicans are aiming even bigger now, saying both sides of the tax code can be overhauled to the benefit of everyone.

A group of Republicans senators met with administration officials to discuss tax reform, as the White House works to flesh out President Donald Trump's tax plan, The Hill reported yesterday. Members of the conservative Senate Steering Committee met with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohng. Trump also invited the senators to come over to the West Wing. The discussion covered both personal and corporate tax reform, and administration officials stressed their desire to get legislation enacted this year. Mnuchin discussed his interest in moving the U.S. to a "territorial" tax system under which American companies would not face U.S. taxes on their foreign earnings. Several senators have expressed concerns in the past about a provision in the House Republicans' tax blueprint that would tax imports and exempt exports. The meeting is one of several listening sessions that administration officials are holding with lawmakers and industry groups this month. The White House released the broad outlines of a tax-reform plan in late April, and administration officials are getting feedback from stakeholders as they work on the details of a plan that the House and Senate can support.