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Slow going on tax law glitch fixes
Story Date: 2/26/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 2/24/18
As the glitches in the new tax law are starting to pile up, it remains unclear how long it will take members of Congress to address these snafus, especially as Democrats are not in any hurry to help Republicans find a fix. Any delay could mean trouble for agribusinesses, grain-elevator operators and others looking for a quick fix to a provision of the GOP tax overhaul, H.R. 1 (115), that gives farmers huge incentives to sell their products to agricultural cooperatives over other businesses.
On ag co-op tax provision: Sen. John Thune, the chamber's third highest-ranking Republican and one of the lawmakers responsible for the co-op provision, said he would like to address problems next month as part of an omnibus spending bill lawmakers are working on. Thune's original intent was to include a provision that would preserve tax breaks for ag co-ops under the Section 199 deduction for manufacturers, which was eliminated in the final version of the tax bill.
"I don't think Dems want to be helpful at all on tax policy, but I think most of these fixes are going to be things that are widely supported," he said. "For example, this Section 199 issue [dealing with farming cooperatives] will have the entire Ag committee behind it and it will be hard for Democrats to block us from addressing that."
Where do Democrats stand? Rep. Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, said his side wanted hearings on any changes and would not go "willy nilly into this with, all of a sudden, a technical corrections bill that has not been sufficiently aired."
Democrats may also opt to push for a later solution, figuring that a good showing in this fall's midterm elections will help increase the party's leverage when it comes to demanding changes to the law, Pro Tax's Brian Faler writes this morning.
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