There is way too much tax talk from Congress this week. In addition to our new report and the proposed IRS expansion (see below), Congress wants to raise tobacco taxes. The latest proposal would double the tax rate on combustible cigarettes to $2.02 per-pack and exorbitantly increase the existing tax rates on other tobacco products. For example, the tax rate on snus and other “discrete use” tobacco products would increase by more than 2,800 percent. The proposal would create a new tax on vapor products at a rate that is higher than combustible cigarettes. With the legislation, Democrats are attempting to establish tax parity among all tobacco products, despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizing a continuum of risk among tobacco products, with combustible cigarettes having the greatest risk. In the proposal, IQOS (a heated tobacco product that the FDA has recently deemed a modified risk product) would be subject to a greater tax burden than combustible cigarettes. And, any increase on tobacco products disproportionately impacts lower income persons and is in direct conflict with President Joe Biden’s promise to not raise taxes on Americans earning less than $400,000 per year. In 2019, 55.9 percent of smokers earned less than $25,000 year - significantly less than $400K. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance has a plethora of information on tobacco and vaping in TPA’s Consumer Center.
TPA’s New Report – “A Guide to Protecting Taxpayers”
There is a lot of talk about tax increases and we don’t like it one bit. So, yesterday, we released “A Guide to Protecting Taxpayers.” The
report describes in depth the types of tax policy changes being discussed on Capitol Hill. It also makes alternative recommendations and describes the real life consequences of continuing down a path of high taxes. It is incredible that after a year-and-a-half of the most profligate spending in the nation’s history, policymakers in Washington have decided to pay for a new round of trillion-dollar spending with tax hikes on American citizens and businesses. The report shows how the Biden administration’s proposed changes to the capital gains tax will not only be a severe deterrent to investment in the American economy, but will also function as a second death tax on American families. Far from going after the rich and powerful, these policies would force small generational businesses to sell their assets to the highest bidder rather than passing the business down to the next generation.
The report highlights the immense benefits that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had on the economy. The repeal of these tax cuts – as has been proposed by the administration – would wind back those benefits at a time the economy is struggling to recover from the economic devastation of the last year. The report also analyzes the way the government treats depreciating assets and how the government can turn even the passage of time into a tax on American businesses. Not only that, but the administration’s proposed approach to depreciation would punish businesses by limiting their net interest tax deductions if their assets depreciate. Lastly, the report tackles the populist fervour expressed by politicians on both sides of the aisle. From wealth taxes to attacks on certain tax deductions, these policies would harm the people who create jobs and funnel investment into American businesses. This report will serve as an important resource for taxpayers to hold their elected leaders accountable.
Here’s an example of one of the real life consequences highlighted in the report:
Dems Want IRS to Have More Money and Power
Quite a bit has been said and written by TPA and others about the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package being crafted by the House and Senate. There are massive tax increase that will destroy the economy. One provision, giving the Internal Revenue Service an additional $80 billion, is shocking and needs to be stopped immediately. The $80 billion will be used to conduct more audits including snooping into the bank accounts with the mandatory reporting for transactions above $600 by financial institutions. From the audits of conservative nonprofits and donors to recent leaks of private tax documents of wealthy individuals, this law enforcement agency has engaged in blatantly politicized moves over the last decade. The IRS says they want to hire more auditors to get citizens to pay their “fair share.” The sad reality is that lower income Americans who already lack acceptable access to financial tools and institutions and are disproportionately the targets of IRS enforcement. Nationally, something like 8 filings will get audited out of about 1,000 submitted. But in the Mississippi Delta area (the poorest part of America), the rate is upward of 11 per 1,000 submitted.
The most burdensome and troublesome part of the IRS provision is that Democrats also want the IRS to have records of every transaction of $600 or more. This is an egregious invasion of Americans’ privacy to be overseen by an agency that just proved it isn’t capable of protecting sensitive information. The IRS just leaked an untold trove of sensitive tax records to ProPublica. The truth is that Congress ought to be dedicating resources to investigate and overhaul the IRS, not expand the size and scope of this broken institution.
BLOGS:
MEDIA:
September 13, 2021: Townhall.com ran TPA’s op-ed, “Government Intervention in Drug Pricing Is Bad News for Healthcare.”
September 13, 2021: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about provisions in the $3.5 trillion budget that gives the IRS more auditing powers.
September 13, 2021: Inside Sources ran TPA’s op-ed, “USPS Needs a Smart Hiring Spree.”
September 13, 2021: The Ocala Post (Ocala, Fla.) quoted TPA in their story, “Biden wants IRS to snoop into your bank account, know when you have $600 or more.”
September 13, 2021: Townhall.com ran TPA’s op-ed, “Alcohol Prohibitionists Never Went Away, They Now Advise the WHO.”
September 14, 2021: I appeared on KRC 550 AM (Cincinnati, Ohio) to talk about the infrastructure bill and vaccine mandates.
September 14, 2021: HoodRatchetTv quoted TPA about IRS abuses in their Instagram post.
September 14, 2021: True North Reports ran TPA’s op-ed, “Buffalo Bills Owners Allegedly Want $1.4 Billion Taxpayer Subsidy To Stay In Western New York.”
September 14, 2021: Patrick Hedger, TPA’s VP of Policy, appeared on Wall to Wall on OANN to talk about the IRS provisions in the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill.
September 15, 2021: Patrick Hedger, TPA’s VP of Policy, appeared on KTRH-740 AM (Houston, Texas) to talk about the IRS provisions in the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill.
September 16, 2021: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about the debt ceiling.
September 16, 2021: I appeared on WBOB 600 AM (Jacksonville, Fla.) to talk about the proposed tax increases.
Have a great weekend!
