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News & Views |Senate Panel Closer to Markup on Education Tax BillFriday, May 14, 1999 OnLine The Senate Finance Committee is edging closer to setting a date for a markup on an education tax bill, while the fate of a tax-related health care bill is becoming less and less certain, congressional staff says. It is possible the tax-writing panel will move ahead on the education bill as early as May 19 or 20. Congressional staff has indicated that most of the revenue needed for the bill will come from provisions that previously have been included in other proposed legislation. Leftover revenue raisers include the proposal to shorten the foreign tax credit carryback from two years to one year and to extend the carryforward from four years to seven years. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, opposes this measure, though the Senate continues to approve it. |
Proposals to limit the non-experience accrual accounting method to amounts received for the performance of qualified professional services, and to require information reporting on cancellation of indebtedness by non-bank financial institutions, also have been approved by the Senate panel, but have not been enacted. It is rumored that other items, such as President Clinton’s proposal to impose new qualification requirements on closely held real estate investment trusts, are on the panel’s short list of possible tax hikes, but congressional staff say problems with the REIT proposal will prevent it from being chosen. Clinton’s proposals to tax the issuance of tracking stock and to modify the taxation of downstream mergers also are rumored to be on the panel’s short list of possible tax hikes, but congressional staff have been unable to confirm these reports. The revenue losers in the bill are expected to be similar to those included in last year’s education bill: expanding education individual retirement accounts, establishing tax-free financing for school construction, expanding qualified state tuition programs, and including graduate education in the Section 127 exclusion for employer-provided education, congressional aides said. Moving Away from Health Care Earlier in the week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bill Roth, R-Del., still was interested in moving ahead with legislation that expanded medical savings accounts and accelerated implementation of full deductibility of health insurance costs of the self-employed. The panel’s Democrats and moderate Republicans objected to Roth’s proposal because they wanted the legislation to contain non-tax health care provisions that Roth does not want to address in this bill because they are too controversial, congressional staff said. Action on the tax-related health care bill now seems likely to be put off indefinitely. |
Increase in Low-Income Housing Credit Proposed: A bill increasing the low-income housing tax credit’s per capita allocation from $1.25 to $1.75 was introduced May 12 by Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla. The measure also would index the allocation for inflation thereafter. "The monumental success of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit proves that the public and private sectors can work together to revitalize our communities," Graham said in a press release. The bill has 44 original co-sponsors in the Senate, including ten from the Senate
Finance Committee. A similar measure in the House has 264 co-sponsors. |
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