Congress returned to business as usual this week — gridlock, that is.
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Featured articles
- Investment terminology. We explained the difference between growth stocks and value stocks.
- Internet sales. Don’t hold your breath waiting for this development, but it’s possible that within a few years larger Internet and mail order merchants will be required to collect sales tax when shipping to individuals and businesses in states that impose such a tax.
@Congress
It briefly looked as if we would see Senate action on the small business tax bill (includes breaks such as increased expensing and an exclusion of gain on certain sales of stock, and uses an expansion of Roth conversions to cover much of the cost) when Majority Leader Harry Reid sought to appease Republicans by allowing them to offer amendments. Disagreement over what amendments would be permitted led to a party line vote delaying action until after the August recess.
We reported earlier that enactment of new restrictions on grantor retained annuity trusts, or GRATs, could be imminent, but they were stripped from the war funding bill. These restrictions seem likely to appear soon in other legislation, but for now it remains possible to establish GRATs with a term of less than 10 years.
@Court
Nothing to report this week. If starved for tax news from the courts, visit our archive of articles on court cases.
@IRS
- Smaller charitable organizations stand to lose their tax-exempt status if they failed to meet their filing obligations for three consecutive years — unless they take advantage of relief now being offered by the IRS.
- Relief from filing deadlines for Kentucky flooding
@Fairmark
Golden oldies. Care to take a nostalgic look at previous Friday Wrapup entries? They’re archived here.
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