After more than two months of negotiations in the US Congress, a slimmed-down version of the “Build Back Better Act” narrowly passed the US House of Representatives on November 19, 2021. All but one House Democrat voted for the measure, which united Republicans in opposition. Compared to the initial set of proposed revenue raisers that was released by the House Ways and Means Committee on September 13, 2021, the revenue-raising provisions in the legislation that passed the House are more modest in scope and result in only a few changes to the way individual taxpayers and family wealth are taxed. The summary below describes provisions in the House-passed bill that are most likely to affect individual taxpayers and also discusses portions of the original proposal that were cut from the legislation that passed the House. The US Senate is expected to make changes in order to capture the votes needed for passage.
The legislation contains two surcharges on high income individuals, estates and trusts effective after December 31, 2021. A 5% surcharge will be imposed on an individual’s modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) that exceeds $10 million ($5 million for a married individual filing separately; $200,000 for estates and trusts) and an additional 3% surcharge will be imposed on MAGI that exceeds $25 million ($12.5 million for a married individual filing separately; $500,000 for estates and trusts).
All trade or business income earned by...
A Wixom, Michigan, business accused of making false statements to obtain a loan has agreed to pay a settlement of just over $1.5 million after it was sued by the federal government, according to th...