The vapor product known as electronic cigarettes, “e-cigs,” first appeared on the market in 2007. Although the e-cig market is still smaller than traditional cigarettes, sales grew by 23 percent in 2014 and are expected to surpass the cigarette market within the next decade.
Running Down the Clock on Internet Taxes
Nothing like waiting until the last minute to do something important. That is exactly what is happening on the Hill this week. The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) is set once again to expire at midnight on December 11, 2015. Since 1992, when the general public was given access to the Internet, the use of […]
Congress Impounds Obama’s Cadillac Tax
Yesterday in the Senate, legislators voted 90-10 in support of the Heller Amendment that would preemptively repeal the so-called ‘Cadillac Tax’ on employee health plans. CAGW spoke out in November on some of the unfair taxes on individuals and families in the ACA. The Cadillac tax is a 40% tax on health insurance plans over […]
IRS Commissioner Impeached by House Committee
Since the U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1789, the House of Representatives has filed articles of impeachment just 17 times and only eight times did the Senate convict. Alexander Hamilton wrote that impeachment should be reserved for “those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust.”
Time Wasting Away With Internet Tax Ban Set to Expire
On December 16, 2014, the Internet Tax Freedom Act was temporarily extended in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 83), keeping the ban on Internet access taxes in place until September 30, 2015. Unfortunately, time is once again running out and only the House of Representatives has taken any action on the ban, this time making it permanent.
Clarity Needed in Taxation of Digital Goods
With technology changing the way consumers listen and view music and videos, state and local governments are now looking toward taxation of digital goods and services to increase their tax revenues. Currently, 17 states require by statute that taxes be paid on digital goods and services, and another eight states plus the District of Columbia […]
The Unfair “Fairness” Act
It is disingenuous to call something fair and equitable when it is clearly not. This is the case with both S. 698, the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2015 (MFA), and the Remote Transaction Parity Act (RTPA), introduced on June 15, 2015 by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). Both bills purport to bring “equity” between the taxation […]
IRS Hiring of Outside Litigator Appears to Violate Law and Infringe Privacy
In what appears to be an unprecedented and illegal action, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has apparently for the first time hired a law firm to assist in the income tax audit and investigation of a taxpayer. In a May 13, 2015 letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) […]
Providing Relief from Internet Taxes
On July 15, 2014, the House of Representatives passed the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, which would have made the moratorium on taxes for Internet access permanent. Unfortunately, because of legislative wrangling in the Senate, the bill failed to become law.
114th Congress: The New Sheriff(s) in Town (Senate edition)
In the last 60 years, since Republicans relinquished their Senate majority to the Democrats on January 3, 1955, the Grand Old Party has controlled the United States Senate for only 16 years (plus four months*), and they shared control with the House of Representatives for only 10 of those years, as well as the aforementioned four months. Looking back even further to 1933, the GOP held the Senate for only an additional four years, all shared with the House. This January, as a result of the 2014 “wave” election, the Republicans once again control both chambers.