Yep.

Li, like other UW-Madison grad students, makes $18,000 per year. But under the bill, different versions of which passed the House and the Senate, she’d be taxed as if she makes roughly $50,000.

This is because her tuition, which is fully funded, would be taxed as if it was additional income under the bill. It’s a policy change that would dramatically affect “what type of person can go to grad school,” according to Don Moynihan, the director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs.

“When you’re a graduate student, you get paid a small amount of money … but you get the benefit that your tuition is paid,” Moynihan said, speaking as part of a panel alongside Li. “[If the provision becomes law], only the fairly wealthy will be able to afford to take this on.”

Li’s story echoes those of many graduate students around the country who have come out in opposition to the controversial tax. Li acknowledged that although her ability to pay for graduate school would be jeopardized under the bill, her classmates who have spouses and families would be even more affected.

Um, no… she won’t be “taxed as if she makes roughly $50,000.” She does make roughly $50,000 and will be taxed accordingly. The fact that over half of her income is paid in the form of tuition relief is immaterial. She is receiving something of value in exchange for her work. That is compensation. Here’s a handy definition:

(a) The term compensation means any form of payment made to an individual for services rendered as an employee for anemployer; services performed as an employee representative; and any separation or subsistence allowance paid under any benefit schedule provided in conformance with title VII of the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 and any termination allowance paid under section 702 of that Act. Compensation may be paid as money, a commodity, a service or a privilege.

So what these graduate students are complaining about is the fact that they have been receiving tax-free compensation for years and now it might be taxed like everyone else’s compensation. Boo hoo.

Good. On to reconciliation.

Presiding over the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence announced the 51-49 vote to applause from Republicans. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., was the only lawmaker to cross party lines, joining the Democrats in opposition. The measure focuses its tax reductions on businesses and higher-earning individuals, gives more modest breaks to others and offers the boldest rewrite of the nation’s tax system since 1986.

Good news. Remember that whatever they pass will still be subject to rewrite during reconciliation.

WASHINGTON — Two Republican critics of the Senate’s tax reform legislation voted to advance the bill out of committee and send it to the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon without adding their desired changes to it.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., both voted to advance the measure out of the Budget Committee in a party line vote after Senate Republicans met with President Trump for an hour over lunch. Johnson had threatened to block the bill if it was not amended to include a lower pass-through tax rate for small-business owners.

Here’s a pretty good run down of what’s in the bill and some of the implications. Overall, this is a good bill. It goes a long way toward simplifying the tax code and putting more money back in the hands of taxpayers. It did leave a few things undone for, apparently, purely political reasons. That’s unfortunate, but probably politically necessary.

Now they need to pass this as soon as possible. The longer it lingers, the more likely the Democrats will pressure squishy Republicans to shy away from it.

CNN has a good, easy to read, list of the major items in the tax plan. I encourage you to go read through the whole list.

Drastically lower rates for businesses. Fewer income tax rates for individuals. A much larger standard deduction and child tax credit. A repeal of the estate tax.
CNN obtained a copy Wednesday of a Republican framework for tax reform that has been in the works for months and will finally be presented Wednesday.

Given the performance of the Congress as of late, I don’t hold out high hopes that they can get this passed, but one can hope. Overall, it’s a good plan. It simplifies and streamlines the tax code. The cut in the corporate income tax, small business taxes, repeal of the AMT, repeal of the death tax, and reduction in the number of deductions are good. I’m not a fan of increasing the child tax credit. But overall, it’s a good, comprehensive plan that would greatly help America’s people and economy. I’ll get more excited about it once we see if the GOP in Congress can actually move this forward.

Despite what the media has decided are the important stories for this election, there are some real issues out there that have a real impact on real families.

Likewise, interpretations of regulations by the IRS can change, leading to additional tax liability for family farms. Most recently, the IRS has proposed changes to the estate tax regulations regarding the valuation of business assets. The American Farm Bureau Federation has cautioned that this change may result in family farms seeing an increase in estate tax liability, and has urged members to contact their congressional leaders to support proposed legislation prohibiting the change.

Despite favorable provisions, the death of the family’s patriarch or matriarch may still result in a family farm being divided up and sold off to pay the taxes. Farmers are usually considered cash poor, because their money is tied up in assets, especially land. When the value of a deceased’s estate goes over the exempted amount, the hefty tax has to be paid whether the estate actually has the cash to do so. Many times, that means farmland, equipment, or buildings have to be sold to pay Uncle Sam. For children that wanted to keep farming, this scenario could dash their dreams.

[…]

In an election that has been filled with the scandalous and salacious, there is hardly room for estate tax discussion on the campaign trail. For family farmers though, the very real possibility that it could result in their farm being divided up and sold upon their death makes this issue extremely important and relevant. There are many issues that voters should take into consideration when making their choice on Election Day, but the future of the estate tax should definitely be one of them.

For almost half of American adults, today is either a “whatever” day or a day of celebration as they look forward to their check from the folks who pay income taxes. Raise your hand if you pay income taxes 

An estimated 45.3% of American households — roughly 77.5 million — will pay no federal individual income tax, according to data for the 2015 tax year from the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington-based research group. (Note that this does not necessarily mean they won’t owe their states income tax.)

Roughly half pay no federal income tax because they have no taxable income, and the other roughly half get enough tax breaks to erase their tax liability, explains Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.