Tax Chats Dyreng and Hoopes

Recorded on April 15, Jeff and Scott Chat about tax code complexity. Why is the tax code so complex? Is it because life is complex? Because we have chosen to hone the tax code to achieve certain social goals? Jeff and Scott chat about it all in light of Scott not being able to complete his tax code until the very last moment.

Jeff and Scott chat with Samford University law professor Tracey Roberts about Cordell Hull. Hull was a senator, secretary of state, and, won the Nobel Prize for his role in creating the United Nations. However, he also had a substantial role in creating the income tax, which Tracey, Jeff and Scott discuss.  This episode is based on Professor Roberts article, "A Man for His Era and for Ours: Cordell Hull, Father of the Federal Income Tax", published in the Cumberland Law Review.

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Scott and Jeff chat with Nic Duquette, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. We discuss charitable giving, tax deductions related to charitable giving, tax exempt organizations, and the like.

Listener submitted correction: "there is no longer an above-the-line charitable deduction for cash contributions for tax years after 2021 (it was a temporary Covid-era provision as Scott had thought in asking the question). It was first enacted in the CARES Act for tax year 2020 only - prior law sec. 62(a)(22). It was then extended to tax year 2021, the final year it was in effect, through sec. 170(p).  The provision initially read "In the case of taxable years beginning in 2020" - but the only tax year that begins in 2020 is the 2020 tax year. Under sec. 170(p), the provision reads "In the case of any taxable year beginning in 2021" (again, the only tax year that begins in 2021 is the 2021 tax year). The deduction was $300 in 2020 and increased to $600 in 2021 for joint returns."

Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

Jeff and Scott chat with Clyde Ray, a political scientist and author of the book John Marshall's Constitutionalism, about the Supreme Court case McCulloch v Maryland, which hinged on whether a state could tax a federal bank. 

In this case, John Marshall teaches us that "the power to tax involves the power to destroy."

Jeff and Scott chat with  Alexander Arnon. Alex serves as the Director of Business Tax and Economic Analysis at the Penn Wharton Budget Model, and he explains  the Wyden-Smith tax deal, including the extension of the business tax components of the TCJA, the expansion of the child tax credit, and the Employee Retention Credit. Alex talks about the background on the deal, as well as how Penn Wharton provided their revenue estimate.

Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

Jeff and Scott chat with Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the President of the American Action Forum, former director of the CBO,  and former chief economic policy adviser to Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Doug has also testified before Congress more than anyone else that did not do so as a requirement of their job. Jeff and Scott discuss the purpose of Congressional testimony, who is asked to do it, and some of Doug's experiences testifying.

Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.