Finance, investment and tax-related legislation

Democrats’ go-it-alone stimulus plan faces night of GOP sniping

Tax professionals rate which of the president’s proposals they expect to see him pursue.

Senator Elizabeth Warren will join the Finance Committee, an A-list Senate panel that oversees tax, trade and health care legislation, according to a person familiar with the assignment.

Democrats are pushing a tax cut that would benefit individuals who lost their jobs in 2020 and may be in for a surprise tax bill this spring.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act includes a surprising number of tax provisions, many of which had not been widely publicized until the final bill was up for a vote.

Senators and House members introduced legislation to help taxpayers survive the pandemic, with tax credits for developers revitalizing homes in “distressed” neighborhoods and enabling small businesses to pay essential expenses.

The latest stimulus package includes a number of provisions that make some major adjustments to the Paycheck Protection Program. Erik Asgeirsson of CPA.com and Lisa Simpson of the AICPA discuss the latest changes, and how accountants should be working with clients to make the most of them.

The legislation is in reaction to U.S. regulators being unable to review the companies' financial audits.

An excise tax cut for brewers, wine makers and distillers has bipartisan support.

Regardless of who wins the White House, the scope for tax legislation in the near term will be limited.

The top Democrat and Republican on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee introduced bipartisan legislation to encourage more Americans to save for retirement.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, and 16 other Senate Democrats introduced legislation Friday to make President Trump’s payroll tax deferral optional for federal employees and military service members.

A group of Senate Democrats introduced legislation to offer tax relief to individuals, businesses and states affected by catastrophic wildfires and other presidentially declared disasters.

Rep. Pete Olson, a Republican from Texas, has introduced a bill that would offer tax incentives to employers who train workers about best practices for reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.

Senate leaders will be trying to hold their parties together for a vote Thursday to advance a slimmed-down stimulus bill that Democrats have already rejected, with both sides jockeying for advantage in public perceptions two months before the election.

Opportunity zones may just be the perfect vehicle to deliver economic relief to the areas hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic — both short term and long term.

There’s little chance of agreement on a new federal coronavirus relief plan without a compromise on the roughly $1 trillion in aid to beleaguered state and local governments that Democrats demand and the White House opposes.

Democrats are demanding more Republican concessions to meet an end-of-the-week deadline for a deal on pandemic relief, and one of the chief White House negotiators warned there is little time left for negotiations.

White House and Democratic negotiators driving toward a deal on a final massive virus relief package by the end of the week still must overcome a raw mix of election-year pressures, internal GOP splits and a profound lack of trust between the parties.

The emergence of new coronavirus hotspots, especially in the South and West, had a major impact, according to a new report from payroll giant Paychex.