McCarthy will meet with Biden on Wednesday. The Speaker of the House of Representatives said yesterday that he will meet with President Biden on Wednesday to discuss raising the debt limit in exchange for “reasonable and responsible” spending cuts. McCarthy said on Face The Nation that Republicans would not focus on Medicare and Social Security, but said defense spending could be on the table and that their goal would be to eliminate “waste.” The White House says Biden will insist that McCarthy propose specific spending cuts before substantive talks continue.
Tax Compliance: Dodgers, Evaders, and Dodgers, Oh My! Is a tax evader the same as a tax evader? What is the difference between evading taxes and evading them? Steve Rosenthal and TPC’s Howard Gleckman explain that no one can agree. They take a walk along the tax compliance continuum, which perhaps unsurprisingly and unfortunately appears to have many shades of gray. Among other problems, they say, “this confuses the way we think about the tax gap: the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid.”
Speaking of tax compliance: UK Prime Minister Sunak sacked the Chairman of the Conservative Party. Under pressure, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired Nadhim Zahawi for a “serious breach” of the Ministerial Code. Zahawi faced criticism for his personal tax arrangements and for allegedly failing to report his tax dispute and settlement payment to government authorities. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Zahawi as finance minister last July. When Sunak became prime minister, he appointed him the chairman of the Zahawi party.
Connecticut senators jump on the bandwagon of taxing the rich. Tax Notes reports (paywall) they, like lawmakers in seven other states, would raise taxes on the wealthiest individuals and C corporations. SB 774 would tax income between $250,000 and $500,000 at 7.2 percent (versus 6.9 percent). , and income over $500,000 would be taxed at 7.49 percent (versus 6.99 percent). Top tier taxpayers would also pay a 5 percent capital gains surcharge. The bill would increase the corporate tax rate from 7.5 percent to 11.5 percent and impose a 10 percent tax on gross receipts for businesses with more than $10 billion in digital advertising revenue.
Israel’s cabinet criticizes tax hike on disposable plastic items. His coalition government had imposed a tax on disposable plastic items, but the new Conservative cabinet dumped it under pressure of some ultra-orthodox representatives. The government says it will try to find another way to reduce the use of disposable plastic items.
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