Brian Faler

A poorly maintained archive of my stories. Tip line: bfaler@politico. DMs are open. Signal: brianfaler.22

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

Do it for Trump: Administration presses biz leaders, wealthy people, governors to contribute to Trump accounts.

More here: https://t.co/nrkqFg3TPE

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

Did Trump just raise taxes?

His demand that Nvidia and others pay the government 25 percent on their sales into China looks to some a whole lot like a tax increase.

Perhaps even more surprising: It's Dem lawmakers, not GOPers, who are outraged.

More: https://t.co/TVzZFhBsyj

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

A controversial tax on remittances, aimed at undocumented immigrants, would further shrink under the latest draft of Republicans' megabill.

It's a priority for Trump, but sparked worries over unintended consequences.

More: https://t.co/FWbSVOSBfv

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

Alaskan whaling captains score special tax cut in GOP megabill

More: https://t.co/FwjhHfqoDM

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

Small colleges get a big break on the endowment tax under latest draft of Republicans' megabill.

More: https://t.co/wKEzrlojXN

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

Though GOP lawmakers have spent months bashing Congress’ budget scorekeepers over what they call unrealistic estimates, Republicans are happily embracing the windfall as they struggle to contain the cost of the legislation.

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

One of the stranger consequences of the GOP bid to use a “current policy baseline” is that it makes a big tax cut for wealthy investors look like a budget saver.

More here on how expanding "Opportunity Zones" went from being a tax cut to a tax increase: https://t.co/wWyOYC9wcn

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

Rather than costing $7.5 billion — the estimate using conventional budgeting analysis — Republicans’ preferred yardstick shows it producing $66 billion in savings....

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

@LCommenting @meredithllee @politico if the parliamentarians decides that the real purpose of the provision is so make some policy change, and that the budget stuff attached it to is just window dressing, then it can be struck. That's often a judgement call that frustrates lawmakers in both parties.

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

@LCommenting @meredithllee @politico over time it's morphed into something else. Part of what Byrd was doing was trying to prevent lawmakers from disguising policy changes as budget changes. So he came up with a rule that said, essentially, if there's a provision that, yes, affects taxes or spending but...

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" -- the title -- may be a goner, thanks to a curious feud among lawmakers where they kill the names of each other's tax bills (and their table of contents too!).

“I wanted to make it as difficult for them as possible.”

https://t.co/9m07r9IAXL

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

And people claiming the higher $40,000 SALT cap would get an extra big benefit in 2025. GOPers are rescinding some of the benefit of the higher cap via other provisions in the bill, so the net tax cut is smaller than advertised. But those take-backs don't take effect until 2026.

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

Republicans are planning to spend $200B+ on tax cuts this year, before parts of their Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire later this year.

The idea?

Boost tax refunds, and the economy, before the midterms.

More here on the tax cuts before the tax cuts: https://t.co/sHuLYrWEGQ

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

More than a dozen individual and biz tax cuts would be made retroactively available to this tax year, so that people can claim them when they do their taxes in the Spring.

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

https://t.co/hX6tA77zev

[Mike DeBonis @mikedebonis]

Tremendous @Brian_Faler joint on all the little industry goodies tucked into the House tax package.
Pay your gym dues pre-tax out of your HSA? Gah, Big Fitness wins again!
https://t.co/qSZWz40Hsq

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

Republicans never got much credit from voters for their 2017 tax cuts. And the sequel could prove an even tougher sell.

https://t.co/FhQqnJWCvL

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

Back in 2017, when Republicans pushed through their original tax cuts, one of their main goals was simplifying the code.

Not this time.

The word ‘simplification’ is rarely heard these days, with Republicans prepping a list of bespoke tax breaks.

More: https://t.co/aL4pjjq0yK

[Brian Faler @Brian_Faler]

And more here on the tax brain drain that's been hitting the Hill, with a wave of influential aides leaving just as the tax debate heats up: https://t.co/bqD4cukpag