Tax subsidies reduce cost of health care under ACA, HHS reports
Tax credits are making health care under the Affordable Care Act鈥� affordable.听The US Department of Health and Human Services听听have reduced the cost of the average federal health insurance exchange premium from $346 to $82. About 3.2 million people are paying less than $100 per month and of those, 1.4 million people are paying less than $50 a month.
Tax cuts in DC will only be affordable if revenues beat projections.听The District of Columbia鈥檚 Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey DeWitt is concerned that the $160 million tax cut package passed by the DC Council in May听听and exceed the District鈥檚 debt cap. One solution: 鈥淧lanned cuts in income taxes, business franchise taxes and estate taxes will be鈥� dependent on the District鈥檚 continued economic growth.鈥�
There鈥檒l be tax cuts and a tax hike in the Ocean State.听The Rhode Island Senate听听the fiscal year 2015 state budget approved听 by the House earlier this week. Democratic Governor Lincoln Chafee is expected to sign the $8.7 billion package. The budget听听corporate income tax rate to 7 percent, increases the estate tax threshold to $1.5 million, and creates an infrastructure fund supported by a gasoline tax increase.
Maybe there鈥檒l be a federal gas tax increase, too?听Democratic Senator听, and Republican Senator Bob Corker听听and the 24.4 cents per gallon diesel tax each by 12 cents over the next two years. Their听听would fill the running-on-fumes Highway Trust Fund. The fund has dried up in large part because the taxes have not been raised in 20 years.
Could there be federal tax reform by the end of next summer?听Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden sees听听to reform the federal tax code. That window opened with the latest and largest corporate inversion effort by Medtronic. Wyden would like to see tax reform by August 2015, before presidential election-campaign politics steal lawmakers鈥� attention. This assumes such a theft has not already occurred.
The IRS wants more US taxpayers to 鈥榝ess up.听The IRS鈥�听听for US taxpayers with offshore accounts is now available to more US taxpayers, for the first time including some living on US soil. They need to move quickly: FATCA goes into effect July 1 and听听to disclose their US clients鈥� accounts.
And the Ways & Means Committee wants to see IRS Commissioner John Koskinen sooner.听House Ways and Means Chair Dave Camp moved up the hearing on lost IRS emails, in part to preempt Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa, who wanted first crack at Koskinen. What had been scheduled for next week is now听. Gotta watch those sharp elbows.
