Latest news with #TaxPolicy
Yahoo
25-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill': Here's when key tax laws go into effect
Americans may soon see a wave of tax changes — some as early as this year, others rolling out in future tax seasons. These updates stem from the massive tax bill recently signed into law by President Donald Trump. The new legislation includes several key tax rules: an extension of many of the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), an expanded child tax credit, a larger standard deduction for seniors, tax breaks for workers who receive tips and overtime pay, and more. But not all of these provisions will take effect at the same time — and some are permanent while others are temporary. Learn more: Trump's tax law: 5 'big, beautiful bill' tax breaks that won't last long Here's a summary of when some of the key tax provisions go into effect — and expire. A timeline of key tax breaks Tax provision Effective date Temporary orpermanent SALT deduction cap raised to $40,000 2025 through 2029 Temporary(cap drops to $10,000 in 2030) Auto loan interest deduction of up to $10,000 2025 through 2028 Temporary Bonus deduction of $6,000 for people aged 65 and older 2025 through 2028 Temporary No tax on tips and overtime pay 2025 through 2028 Temporary New charitable contribution deduction for people who don't itemize 2026 Permanent Elimination of electric vehicle tax credits Sept. 30, 2025 Permanent Elimination of residential clean energy and energy efficient tax credits Dec. 31, 2025 Permanent Higher child tax credit of $2,200, with annual inflation adjustments 2025 Permanent Increased standard deduction (TCJA amounts made permanent, plus new inflation adjustment for 2025) 2025 Permanent Reduced income tax rates (TCJA rates made permanent, plus new inflation adjustment added) 2026 Permanent Qualified business income deduction of up to 20% made permanent (otherwise would have expired after 2025) 2026 Permanent 2025: Tax changes that could put more money in your pocket Beginning in 2025, millions of Americans could begin benefiting from a wide range of new tax breaks. One of the most notable changes is the expanded state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which increases the cap from $10,000 to $40,000. The change will provide meaningful relief to taxpayers in high-tax states such as New York, California, and New Jersey. The increased SALT cap will be adjusted annually for inflation but is set to drop back to $10,000 in 2030 unless extended by Congress. Another provision beginning in 2025 allows taxpayers to deduct up to $10,000 in auto loan interest for qualifying vehicles — new cars purchased for personal use and with final assembly in the U.S. The deduction applies to loans issued from 2025 through 2028. Seniors will be eligible for a bonus deduction of up to $6,000. Meanwhile, service workers could benefit from a new exclusion of up to $25,000 in reported tip income, while employees who work overtime may qualify for a deduction of up to $12,500, or up to $25,000 for married couples filing jointly. 'These new tax provisions could bring about meaningful changes for taxpayers starting in 2025,' says Tracey Carney, a certified public accountant in New Orleans. 'Now is the time to review how these updates might impact your finances and consider meeting with a qualified tax professional to plan ahead.' 2026: More changes ahead, including health care impacts Several tax changes, including extensions of TCJA provisions, are set to begin in 2026. That said, taxpayers may not notice some of these changes that much, because many of these new provisions are simply continuing what is already in effect for 2025. The 2017 TCJA, passed during Trump's first term, made sweeping changes to the tax code. However, many of its provisions were set to expire after 2025. The new law makes several of those provisions permanent and extends them beyond Dec. 31 of this year. Some of those tax rules include reduced income tax rates, the limit on deducting mortgage interest on debt up to $750,000 and the qualified business income deduction. The new law also makes two significant changes related to health care and taxes beginning in 2026. 'There are two overlooked elements of the big beautiful bill that can have major tax implications for your health care,' says Whitney Stidom, vice president of consumer enablement at eHealth, an independent insurance advisor. 'One impacts how health insurance subsidies are calculated, and the other changes who qualifies to use a health savings account.' The law modifies rules for Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, which help reduce premiums for lower-income Americans. Under the new rules, individuals who earn more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level may still qualify for subsidies, but any excess subsidies received must be repaid in full when filing taxes. 'In the past, there was a cap on how much of the overpaid subsidies you had to return,' Stidom says. 'Now, you may have to repay the full amount.' The law also expands eligibility for health savings accounts (HSAs), allowing more health insurance plans — specifically, catastrophic and bronze-tier ACA marketplace plans — to qualify. An HSA allows people to stash money into a tax-advantaged account for qualified medical expenses, but you can only have an HSA if you also have a qualified high-deductible health plan. For 2025, people can contribute up to $4,300 for themselves into an HSA and the amount increases to $8,550 for families. People aged 55 or older can add a $1,000 catch-up contribution to those amounts. 'There are about 7 million Americans currently enrolled in bronze plans who haven't been able to use an HSA,' Stidom says. 'This change could offer significant new tax benefits.' Learn more: Medical expense deduction: How to claim medical costs on your taxes Some tax breaks will now expire this year The sweeping legislation also ends several clean energy tax credits, but on different timelines. The popular electric vehicle (EV) tax credit is set to expire on Sept. 30. After that date, the credit will no longer be available. Originally introduced in 2008, the credit was expanded under President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, offering up to $7,500 for new EVs and $4,000 for used models. 'If you're considering buying a vehicle, now is the time to buy an electric vehicle,' Carney says. 'Unless Congress extends the credit in the future, buyers won't have the chance to take advantage of it once it's gone.' Other credits — specifically, the energy efficient home improvement credit and the residential clean energy credit — are now scheduled to end after 2025. Until the end of the year, taxpayers can claim up to $3,200 per year for eligible improvements to their primary residence under the energy efficient home improvement credit. The credit covers 30 percent of qualified expenses, such as for installing energy efficient doors and windows. The residential clean energy credit allows taxpayers to claim 30 percent of the cost for new qualified clean energy property — including solar panels, solar water heating systems, geothermal heat pumps and more. These credits are nonrefundable, meaning they cannot reduce your tax bill below zero. Learn more: Tax credits are a valuable tool to trim your tax bill — here's how they work Bottom line Carney recommends that taxpayers review both expiring tax provisions and new ones that may apply to their situation. 'Whether it's making qualified home improvements to lower your tax liability or maximizing overtime pay this year, being strategic with your tax planning can lead to big savings when you file your 2026 return,' she says. More: These 9 states have no income tax — that doesn't always mean you'll save money Sign in to access your portfolio
Coin Geek
14-07-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
US digital asset tax policy on agenda during 'Crypto Week'
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The United States House of Representatives has arranged a so-called 'Crypto Week' next week, in an attempt to add a sense of urgency to the snail-like pace of progress on much-needed digital asset legislation. Chief amongst the topics up for debate will be digital asset taxation. House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Representative Jason Smith (R-MO), announced a July 16 oversight subcommittee hearing focusing on 'the affirmative steps needed to place a tax policy framework on digital assets.' Taxation has been an active talking point of late, particularly in light of President Donald Trump's 'big beautiful' tax bill, which was signed into law on July 4. Amongst a range of controversial measures, the bill adds restrictions to Medicaid, cuts clean energy spending, and reduces food benefits, in favor of tax cuts for national defense and immigration enforcement. With tax high on the agenda, it's perhaps no surprise that another pet project of the Trump administration, boosting the digital asset space, also saw some favourable tax legislation introduced recently. On July 3, the day before Trump signed his big beautiful bill into law, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) published a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform the treatment of digital assets. Amongst the proposed changes were a 'de minimis exclusion' from taxation for digital asset gains or losses of $300 or less, with a $5,000 yearly total cap; a proposal aimed at ending the controversial 'double taxation' of digital asset miners; and various changes to further align the taxation of digital assets with the treatment of other asset classes such as securities and commodities. The Wyoming Republican claimed the bill would 'generate approximately $600 million in net revenue during the 2025-2034 budget window.' Lummis' bill is currently just starting its long journey through committee stage in the Senate, but as the most detailed and specific piece of digital currency tax legislation currently proposed in either chamber of Congress, it will likely come up in next Wednesday's House of Representative's 'Crypto Week' hearing focused on tax. Whether the discussion revolves around the merits of Lummis' proposals or a potential sister bill that could be launched in the House remains to be seen, but the Republican-led committee has made it clear it is aiming for 'digital asset policy built for the 21st Century' that makes America 'the crypto capital of the world.' In terms of other legislation that will certainly be under discussion next week, chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, Representative French Hill (R-AR), said that the House will be considering the CLARITY Act, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, and the Senate's GENIUS Act; the latter having emerged as the most realistic chance for stablecoin legislation to pass this year. Watch: How do you build a successful ecosystem? Bring blockchain to the builders! title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen>
Coin Geek
11-07-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
Congress ‘crypto week' adds new event; Trump adds new token
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Congress keeps adding more events to 'Crypto Week,' while President Trump's family keeps adding more crypto money-making opportunities. On July 16, the House of Representatives Committee on Ways & Means' Oversight subcommittee will hold a hearing titled 'Making America the Crypto Capital of the World: Ensuring Digital Asset Policy Built for the 21st Century.' According to Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO), the hearing will focus on 'the affirmative steps needed to place a tax policy framework on digital assets.' The hearing will be part of a crypto-focused period the House has dubbed 'crypto week' that will see floor votes on market structure legislation (the House's CLARITY Act), stablecoins (the Senate's GENIUS Act) and Tom Emmer's revived anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) legislation. The House has yet to put forward any tax-specific crypto proposals, but Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) recently introduced a bill that addresses multiple angles of crypto taxation. While the House has its own stablecoin bill (STABLE Act), they appear ready to vote on GENIUS as is, so it's possible that they could adopt Lummis's tax plan, assuming she can first muscle it through her own chamber. While the Senate is now rumored to be dropping a market structure discussion draft sometime next week, the chamber could also take up CLARITY without too much revisions. The Senate has yet to introduce a market structure bill of its own, merely a set of 'principles,' which rendered Wednesday's Senate Banking Committee hearing on market structure regulation a rather inconsequential affair. The possibility of the Senate leaning on CLARITY to get market structure done in a timely fashion got a boost on Wednesday from Committee member John Kennedy (R-LA), who told Semafor that '[i]n terms of the Senate starting from scratch drafting a market structure bill, it makes no sense to me.' Amidst all this regulatory revamping, state securities regulators are asking Senate leaders not to exclude them from playing a role in crypto oversight. On July 7, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) sent a letter to Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the chair and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Banking Committee. The letter asks that, as the Senate ponders market structure legislation, that it 'preserve the critical role that state securities regulators play in our capital markets as fighters of fraud, market manipulation, and similar abuses.' Failing to do so 'would have net-negative, significant consequences for Americans.' The problem the NASAA faces is that the market structure plan Congress is advancing doesn't foresee a major role for the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), instead leaving the bulk of crypto oversight to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), despite the latter agency being rather depleted at present. So NASAA president Leslie Van Buskirk may well feel that she has 'no reason to believe our federal partners would come close to making up the difference if my state colleagues and I were denied the opportunity to pursue and address fraud.' It just might not matter much, unfortunately. Trump Media offers non-woke token (woken?) Democrats have attempted to amend every crypto bill with language that would restrict the ability of President Trump and his family to profit off crypto ventures. But these efforts have all failed to date, and the Trump crypto empire just keeps growing. On July 9, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) announced that it had begun 'public BETA testing the new Truth+ subscription TV streaming plan, the Patriot Package.' Said package is a curated mix of 'premium, non-woke news channels' and other goodies, but for our purposes we'll focus on the news that subscribers 'will accumulate [activity-linked] gems on their Truth Social accounts. These will eventually be tied to a utility token on both Truth Social and Truth+.' TMTG revealed in April that it was 'exploring the introduction of a utility token,' no doubt encouraged by the enthusiastic (and lucrative) reception given to the president's $TRUMP memecoin and also to WLFI, the governance token of Trump's decentralized finance (DeFi) platform World Liberty Financial (WLF). While TMTG has applied for three different crypto-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and raised $2.4 billion to start its BTC-based 'treasury,' the company's flagship product (the Truth Social platform) remains a ghost town. The New York Times reported this week that 80% of Truth Social traffic is people viewing the president's posts, and the company has struggled to sell advertising, resulting in a net loss of $31 million in the first quarter of 2025. Truth Social has yet to turn a profit since it went public and its shares are down nearly 45% since the year began. Back to the top ↑ Unknown unknowns buying Trump tokens Wednesday's news that Justin Sun, founder of the TRON network, planned to buy $100 million worth of $TRUMP wasn't all that surprising, given Sun's other gestures of fealty towards Trump's crypto ventures. Sun previously purchased $20 million worth of $TRUMP and $75 million worth of WLFI, the latter purchase earning Sun a role as WLF advisor. Speaking to Coindesk, Sun called $TRUMP 'a very important memecoin and a globally-recognized [intellectual property].' TRON recently announced that it was preparing to launch $TRUMP, which was previously available only on the Solana chain. Sun called $TRUMP 'the currency of [Trump's Make America Great Again movement]' and claimed TRON 'will make TRUMP token very popular in Asia and in the rest of the world.' Late last month, WLF announced that it had sold $100 million worth of WLFI to the Aqua1 Foundation, a 'Web3-native fund' based in the United Arab Emirates. WLF said the two entities shared a goal to 'help accelerate the creation of a blockchain-powered financial ecosystem centered on blockchain development, Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization, and stablecoin integration.' (The stablecoin in question is likely WLF's USD1, which launched this spring.) But crypto critic Jacob Silverman just published a report in The Nation detailing his inability to determine who or what comprises Aqua1. Silverman claimed there is 'very little evidence that Aqua 1 Foundation exists at all,' including no corporate registration or other official filings in UAE public records. Silverman had a similar lack of luck pinning down Aqua1's purported co-founder Dave Lee, who appears to share Aqua1's lack of official documentation. Nor did anyone from WLF respond to Silverman's queries. In June, prior to the $100 million WLFI purchase announcement, WLF's official crypto wallet sent $800 million worth of the token to a digital wallet labeled That wallet then sent $80 million worth of USDT (Tether) back to WLF. The USDT came from an unknown wallet on Bybit, a UAE-based exchange that just announced support for USD1. Silverman acknowledged that Aqua1 may indeed be a legit UAE company, although he also notes that '[s]omeone can spin up a website and press release and send $80 million worth of crypto to the US president's associates without leaving the couch.' The WLFI token is currently used only to vote on WLF governance proposals, but a new proposal was launched this week on whether to lift restrictions on trading WLFI on the open crypto market. On July 9, WLF tweeted that '[a]fter receiving overwhelming support on the forum, it's clear, the community is ready' to unfetter WLFI. Back to the top ↑ Treasury offshoots ditching rules, adding leaders In other U.S. news, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) formally expunged the so-called 'DeFi broker' rule from the U.S. tax code on Thursday. The deeply unpopular rule required non-custodial platforms to collect and submit the same level of customer information as traditional brokers. Following last November's elections, both chambers of Congress moved swiftly to finalize and approve resolutions that would expunge the DeFi language from the IRS playbook. President Trump signed the legislation into law in April, making Thursday's announcement something of a formality, but welcome nonetheless. The IRS is an offshoot of the Treasury Department, as is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which formally welcomed their new leader on Thursday. Jonathan Gould, a former chief legal officer at blockchain infrastructure firm Bitfury who once served as OCC deputy counsel, was nominated as the next OCC chief in February and approved by the Senate on Thursday. Oddly enough, pro-crypto Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) initially signalled she was opposed to confirming Gould. Lummis reportedly wanted to have 'further conversations' with Gould regarding his positions on stablecoins 'and Federal pre-emption of state banking laws.' Whatever her concerns, Lummis eventually voted to approve Gould. Back to the top ↑ Stablecoins, T-bills, and an uncertain future The total value of all U.S. Treasury bills held by stablecoin issuers reportedly topped $182 billion this week, which, if the sector was a country, would slot it between Saudi Arabia and Norway. We say 'reportedly' because some stablecoin issuers have never allowed respected third parties to verify that the T-bills they claim to hold as their reserve assets actually exist. One of the major drivers of stablecoin legislation in the U.S. is the mantra that their wider adoption in markets outside America will help preserve the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency. Stablecoins are also expected to shore up America's dodgy finances due to requirements for U.S.-approved issuers to hold their reserves in a narrow range of fiat assets, primarily T-bills. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has suggested issuers would ultimately need to buy $2 trillion worth of T-bills by 2028 and $3.7 trillion by 2030. Less partisan opinions put this range as low as half a trillion. The reality is nobody really knows, but one thing is sure: issuers won't be buying long-term T-bills (the kind America prefers to sell) due to issuers' need to be able to meet a large volume of redemptions without delay, just in case. Most issuers opt for T-bills with maturity dates of 90 days or under. That may be why Treasury announced this week that it was increasing its issuance of T-bills, with a focus on four-, six-, and eight-week bills, for a total new issuance of ~$190 billion. The government likes them because they pay lower rates of interest than the five- and 10-year variety, but it also exposes the government to the possibility of pricier financing costs should interest rates suddenly lurch upward. Treasury's focus on short-term T-bills is also a reflection of the rest of the world's growing unease with the state of America's finances, specifically, its ability to pay its debts a year from now, let alone five or ten years. Should that worst-case scenario manifest itself, stablecoins' ability to do anything to save America will be a drop in the ocean. C'mon in, the water's, uh, warm? Back to the top ↑ Watch: Teranode is the digital backbone of Bitcoin title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Wall Street Journal
27-06-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Close the SALT ‘Loophole'? Not on My Watch
In 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as originally drafted by the House targeted most of its cuts to the 5% of American businesses organized as C-Corps. I was the Republican senator who dug his heels in and insisted that the other 95% of American businesses organized as 'pass-through' entities be treated more fairly so they could stay competitive with C-Corps. I also worked with Wisconsin legislators to ensure our state's pass-throughs could deduct state and local taxes at the entity level, the same way C-Corps do. Your editorial recommends 'Closing the SALT Business Loophole' (June 25). But that's a misnomer—the provision maintains competitive fairness between businesses that choose to organize differently. Eight years ago you argued that pass-throughs enjoy a tax advantage because they don't suffer from the double taxation of dividends. The problem is that companies compete at the entity, not shareholder, level and approximately 73% of C-Corp income is attributed to nontaxable entities and never subjected to double taxation. I estimate that this reduces federal revenue by approximately $200 billion annually. Moreover, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, in 2020 the effective tax rate was 10% for large C-Corps and 14% for small C-Corps, compared with an average 21% for all pass-throughs in 2021.
Bloomberg
05-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Summers Says Debt Surge From Trump Plan Will Undermine US Power
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said that President Donald Trump's signature tax and spending plan will add to the US debt load in a way that will end up undermining the nation's status as the preeminent global power. 'This makes us vulnerable,' Summers said on Bloomberg Television's Wall Street Week with David Westin. 'The world's greatest debtor accumulating debt faster than any other country ever has in dollar volume is putting at risk its status as the world's greatest power.'
