Talking Tax

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Treasury Equity Hub Caught in Trump's DEI Crosshairs Mar 05, 2025

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President Donald Trump's early executive order to end federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs upended at least one team in the Treasury Department.

The Treasury Equity Hub, formed in 2021, evaluated how effective the department's policies and programs were at reaching all types of Americans. Removing this team could hurt further research into racial disparities in IRS enforcement, Treasury Equity Hub Director Diane Lim said. A 2023 high-profile study showed that Black taxpayers were disproportionately audited, a finding that led the IRS on a campaign to fix the problem, though the future of that work is unclear.

Trump has launched a war on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts both in the federal government and the private sector, with mixed success. A federal judge blocked portions of his orders to end DEI programs because they could threaten free speech. Still, the corporate world has started rolling back diversity efforts in response to the administration's efforts.

Lim and her team have been on administrative leave since the start of the new administration. She said she expects the team will receive layoff notices in the next wave of federal workforce reductions.

In this episode of Talking Tax, Lim tells Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Schilling that ending DEI programs in the IRS and Treasury might have cascading impacts on the US tax system. For this tax filing season, it might mean the IRS has more trouble conducting outreach to underserved communities. But over the long term, if people feel the tax system is unfair, there could be more instances of people choosing to not file or to cheat on their taxes.

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US Audit Board's Future Depends on Trump, GOP Moves Feb 26, 2025

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The US audit board has already been forced to revise its priorities as the Trump administration begins to reshape the federal government.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board pulled an auditor disclosure rule that was set for SEC approval earlier this month. The audit board opted to delay finalizing another project that would expand how auditors consider the financial impact of their clients’ law violations days after Donald Trump's November election win.

But deeper changes might be coming to the Enron-era regulator, which Congress designed to be an auditor watchdog.

Republicans previously targeted the PCAOB through legislation and budget proposals that would have eliminated the independent regulator. Project 2025, considered a playbook for the second Trump administration, similarly called for the SEC to take over the board’s work.

Any major changes in board leadership could usher in the third swing in priorities at the regulator since 2017.

Ally Zimmerman is an associate professor of business administration at Florida State University and a former fellow at both the PCAOB and Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the board’s work.

In this episode of Talking Tax, Zimmerman spoke with Bloomberg Tax reporter Amanda Iacone about the PCAOB's future and what auditors and the investors who depend on their work can expect in the coming months.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

How Budget Reconciliation Works for Tax Cut Extensions Feb 19, 2025

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Republicans in Congress have been working to find consensus to cement tax code changes made in President Donald Trump’s first presidency and jump-start his new administration using the budget reconciliation process.

The maneuver allows Republicans with full control of Washington to avoid the Senate’s filibuster, so they can effectively move legislation without Democrats’ support. But the process is complicated and comes with many potential pitfalls.

The process will be made all the more difficult for congressional GOP leadership, which must deal with the pressures of Trump's demands for tax cuts while guiding its fractious conference. House GOP lawmakers in particular will need near-uniform consensus because of its thin majority.

Sarah Binder is a senior fellow in governance studies at Brookings and a professor of political science at George Washington University. She specializes in Congress and legislative politics as well as Congress’s relationship with the Federal Reserve.

On today’s Talking Tax, Binder walks Bloomberg Tax reporter Chris Cioffi through the history of reconciliation since it was created in the 1970s and what lawmakers can and can't enact through the process.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690

Companies Mull Gaps in Brazil's Transfer Pricing Rules Feb 12, 2025

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Brazilian taxpayers and practitioners continue to clamor for more guidance on the country's new transfer pricing regime implemented last year.

The country switched from a mathematical model to an arm's-length principle for transfer pricing last year, bringing it in line with global standards.

That pivot left a lot of questions for the Receita Federal, the country’s revenue authority, to answer through guidance, and it's been working to issue rules ever since. Most recently, Brazil issued instructions requiring extensive reporting and documentation of transactions involving commodities and how companies calculate their transfer pricing positions.

Transfer pricing involves valuation of transactions between entities within a corporate group. Intragroup transactions must be conducted at arm’s length—priced similarly to transactions between unrelated companies.

The country’s auditors are gearing up to enforce Brazil's new rules, sparking some concerns among practitioners that many new auditors will be learning on the job and that these early examinations won’t go smoothly.

RSM US senior tax manager Nina Baumbach spoke with reporter Caleb Harshberger about the changes and what they mean for companies. She said companies need more guidance and clarity from the government on intangibles and other topics.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

IRS Crypto Reporting Rules Face Industry, GOP Ire Feb 05, 2025

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Treasury Department and IRS finalized rules requiring crypto exchanges to provide information on taxpayers’ buying and selling activities are meeting industry and Republican pushback.

Centralized brokers must issue form 1099-DA, starting in 2026 for tax year 2025, and decentralized brokers are to start doing so in 2028 for tax year 2027. The form includes such things as personal data, gross proceeds on sales, and transaction dates.

Crypto tax advisers bring up two themes about the new rules: First, it's challenging for some brokers to implement the infrastructure needed to comply with the reporting requirements because tracking transactions is a huge undertaking when trades happen so quickly. Second, some Congressional Republicans don't like the rule and have introduced a joint resolution to nullify parts of the regulations.

In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Rebecca Chen chats with Jessalyn Dean, vice president of tax information reporting at digital asset tax and accounting platform Ledgible, on the requirements and enforcement efforts, and how they might change under the second Trump administration.

—Produced by Mo Barrow.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Ex-OECD Delegate Talks Global Tax Deal, Trump Memo Jan 29, 2025

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President Donald Trump threw a major wrench into the fate of the OECD global tax deal on his first day in office, sparking concerns among the international tax community about the deal being fundamentally reshaped.

Trump issued a presidential memo Jan. 20 stating the global tax deal has no "force or effect" in the US and instructed the Treasury Department to come up with a list of protective measures to impose on any country that enacts discriminatory or extraterritorial taxes against American taxpayers.

This week, Bloomberg Tax reporter Lauren Vella sits down with Scott Levine, Treasury's former deputy assistant secretary for international affairs and top US OECD tax delegate, to chat about the status of the global deal and the impact of the new US administration's position on negotiations.

Levine maps out two scenarios he sees playing out in Paris under the new Trump administration and gives some insight into how countries at the OECD might be feeling about the transition of power in the US.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Close Look at Pass-Through Tax Break Business Loves Jan 22, 2025

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Few of the provisions of the tax code this year have garnered as much attention from industry as the about-to-sunset pass-through deduction.

In their 2017 tax overhaul, Republicans allowed owners of pass-through businesses such as partnerships, S-corporations, and LLCs to deduct 20% of certain business income from their taxes. Businesses and their lobbyists say it gives those firms small and large parity with traditional corporations. Critics say its benefits largely flow to the wealthy.

That deduction—along with the rest of the individual provisions of that 2017 law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—expires at the end of 2025 absent congressional action and President Donald Trump's signature.

On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Zach Cohen spoke with two guests about what the deduction does and prospects for renewal by Congress this year. Jeff Brabant is a vice president of federal government relations at the National Federation of Independent Businesss, and Elena Spatoulas Patel is a nonresident senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Sorenson Assistant Professor in the Division of Quantitative Analysis of Markets and Organizations at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Government Accounting Chair Eyes AI, Tech Integration Jan 15, 2025

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The leader of a top US standard-setter wants his board to take the next step in using emerging technology to craft accounting rules for local and state governments.

Joel Black, chair of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, said a key priority for the board this year is shifting gears from monitoring emerging tools such as artificial intelligence to preparing for its future integration. In his final two years as leader, Black said he intends to craft an enduring focus on how technology can make financial reporting more efficient.

GASB establishes standards for state and local governments that follow generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. Cities and states' staffing shortages and resource constraints have motivated the board to be especially selective about the projects it takes on, Black said.

The board is currently working to update how governments should value infrastructure assets such as bridges and tunnels, as well as develop digital classifications for financial reporting.

Black, who previously worked at Mauldin & Jenkins LLC and KPMG LLP, has led the board since 2020.

Bloomberg Tax reporter Jorja Siemons spoke with Black about his 2025 priorities.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

IRS Employees Prep for Trump Federal Workforce Revamp Jan 08, 2025

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President-elect Donald Trump's plans to deconstruct the federal workforce would take a bite out of IRS efforts to answer taxpayer phone calls and enforce compliance for tax cheats.

After getting billions in funding from the 2022 tax-and-climate law, the IRS started a long-needed rebuild, including bringing on more workers. Between Oct. 1, 2021 and Sept. 30, 2023, the IRS processed nearly 53,000 new hires, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a September report.

But Trump's promises to end remote work for federal workers and reinstate a policy that would make it easier to fire certain employees are seen as ways to end the IRS's competitiveness in the job market and ability to keep employees who are flight risks.

Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Slowey spoke with Kelly Reyes, executive director of the Professional Managers Association that represents the interests of IRS managers, about what a presidential transition means for IRS employees and how agency managers are preparing for next tax filing season.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

What It Means for Taxes as the New Congress Gets Busy Dec 30, 2024

Show notes

Jan. 3 marks the beginning of the next Congress, where Republicans will lead both chambers and control the White House.

Democrats being out of power has big implications for tax policy, as GOP lawmakers heading into the new year debate what to renew from the 2017 GOP tax law, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The TCJA was passed with no votes from Democrats and benefits skewed toward the wealthy and corporations. Incoming GOP leaders have proposed breaking their top priorities into two bills and moving them through Congress using the reconciliation process.

The first would jump-start President-elect Donald Trump's priorities on immigration and gas drilling, and the second would include tax and other legislative priorities.

Republicans say moving tax legislation to later in the year would give them more time to decide what to do about many of the law’s individual provisions that expire at the end of 2025. They also will have to decide what Trump campaign promises to include.

On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporters Chris Cioffi, Zach Cohen, and Lauren Vella discuss what to expect in the 2025 tax fight, and the policy issues that likely will define the debate.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

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