Big and beautiful and full of some of the nicest things that a rich, greedy, supporter might like…..

 

I love big tax bills because they show just how corrupt the system can be!  I made money over the years by reading legislation like this and hopefully finding things that lobbyists included (they were the ones writing the damned bills – certainly not the elected legislators who never read what they vote for) for the companies and industries they represent that I might be able to apply the benefits for the clients I represented.  

 The New York Times, on 26 May, 2025, listed six ‘tidbits’ of interest.  Three of them are of ‘real’ interest to me:

 Tax breaks for the U.S. Virgin Islands:  The United States collects a minimum tax on income that companies earn overseas.  Since the creation of that tax in 2017, the U.S. Virgin Islands, a territory, has been treated as a foreign location for the purposes of the tax.  This legislation would create a new carve-out for income earned on the islands, a generous change that is expected to result in a loss of $833 million in tax revenue over the next decade………….with a little research, I bet that one could find exactly who lobbied for what and who will currently benefit from the revenue loss to the U.S.  …….. and what could a company do to ease on in to taking advantage of this as well…..!

 Health Savings Accounts to cover gym clubs!  People with health savings accounts could look forward to a new tax-free use of these funds:  gym memberships  The bill would allow people to withdraw $500 each year to pay for fitness expenses – sorry, no golf or sailing – but married couples could set up an HSA solely for a $1,000 tax-free write off for your gym membership.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this is expected to be a $10 billion change.

 An investors bonanza:  One of the most expensive provisions of the bill is a deduction to the owners of ‘pass-through-businesses.  These are companies that rather than paying corporate taxes, pass their profits to their individual owners to be paid at a lower rate as individual income tax.  The vast majority of businesses are set up this way and more are going to be set up this way because of the proposed new legislation.  This legislation not only makes the deduction larger, it also extends it to income from business development companies which make risky loans to small and medium-sized firms – it is a popular business piece that according to the CBO, will cost $11 billion over the next decade.

 

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