Taxation

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an exclusion from gross income for interest on certain small business loans.

United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2017

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of certain banks interest received on small business loans of up to $5 million. The bill applies to loans that are: (1) secured by land situated in the United States that is used or held by the small business in connection with the active conduct of a farming business, or (2) incurred in the ordinary course of the trade or business of the small business. To be eligible for the exclusion, the bank must: (1) have less than $50 billion in assets at the closing of the preceding taxable year, and (2) receive the interest before 2019.

A bill to make a technical correction to the provision of law authorizing a withdrawal and reservation of public land at Limestone Hills Training Area, Montana.

United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2017

This bill amends the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 to increase the number of acres of public lands in the Limestone Hills Training Area in Broadwater County, Montana, which are withdrawn and reserved for defense-related activities.

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018

United States · United States Senate · 15 November 2017

Fostering Innovation Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2017

Fostering Innovation Act of 2017 This bill amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to establish a temporary exemption from the requirement that each registered public accounting firm that prepares or issues an audit report for an issuer of securities (other than an emerging growth company) shall attest to, and report on, the internal control assessment made by the management of the issuer. Specifically, this requirement shall not apply with respect to an audit report prepared for an issuer that: ceased to be an emerging growth company on the last day of its fiscal year following the five-year period beginning on the date of its first sale of common equity securities, had average annual gross revenues of less than $50 million as of its most recently completed fiscal year, and is not a large accelerated filer. An issuer shall cease to be eligible for the exemption at the earliest of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year following the 10-year period beginning on the date of its first sale of common equity securities, (2) the last day of the fiscal year in which its average annual gross revenues exceed $50 million, or (3) when the issuer becomes a large accelerated filer.

California Wildfire Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2017

California Wildfire Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow various tax credits, deductions, and modifications to existing rules for individuals and businesses affected by wildfires in California. With respect to individuals and businesses in the affected areas, the bill: waives the 10% additional tax on early distributions from retirement plans for up to $100,000 in distributions made on or after October 8, 2017, and before January 1, 2019; permits individuals to recontribute funds to retirement plans if the funds were distributed for a home purchase in a wildfire disaster area that was cancelled on account of the wildfires; increases the limit and extends the repayment deadline for loans from retirement plans; allows an employee retention tax credit for a portion of the wages paid to an employee whose principal place of employment on specified dates was in a wildfire disaster zone; temporarily suspends the limitation on charitable contributions for relief efforts in the wildfire disaster areas; modifies the rules for the deduction for personal casualty losses, and allows taxpayers to use earned income from the immediately preceding year for the purpose of determining earned income for the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit. The bill is designated as an emergency requirement, which exempts the budgetary effects of the bill from certain budget enforcement rules, such as Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rules.

PLACES Act

United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2017

Providing Land Grants and Acequias Conservation and Environmental Services Act or the PLACES Act This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to authorize the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enter into an alternative funding arrangement under any USDA conservation program with an entity that: (1) is comprised of members who are producers that are eligible for payments under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and (2) is a local governmental entity that does not have the authority to impose taxes or levies. (An alternative funding arrangement would allow certain community irrigation associations and community land grants to receive assistance directly from the conservation programs.) USDA may also provide technical and administrative assistance under the alternative funding arrangement. USDA may enter into an arrangement if: (1) the goals and objectives of the applicable conservation program will be met by the arrangement, and (2) statutory limitations regarding contracts with individual producers will not be exceeded by any member of the entity.

Family Coverage Act

United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2017

Family Coverage Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the requirements for determining the affordability of employer-sponsored minimum essential health coverage that is required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). (Under current law, the coverage is unaffordable, and an employee may be eligible for premium assistance tax credits, if the employee's required contribution for an individual plan exceeds 9.5% of household income, adjusted for inflation after 2014.) The bill specifies that, with respect to an employee's family members who are eligible to enroll in the plan, affordability must be determined using the cost of family coverage rather than individual coverage to expand the eligibility of families for premium assistance tax credits. This bill also expresses the sense of Congress that the Departments of Health and Human Service and the Treasury have the administrative authority, within their respective jurisdictions, to apply the affordability provision of PPACA so as to expand access to affordable health insurance coverage for working families without further legislation.

Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, and providing for proceedings during the period from November 17, 2017, through November 27, 2017.

United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2017

Sets forth the rule for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, and providing for proceedings during the period from November 17, 2017, through November 27, 2017.

Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act

United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2017

Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act This bill prohibits U.S. assistance to Israel from being used to support the military detention, interrogation, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in violation of international humanitarian law or the use against Palestinian children of: (1) torture, inhumane, or degrading treatment; (2) physical violence or psychological abuse; (3) incommunicado or administrative detention; (4) solitary confinement; (5) denial of parental or legal access during interrogations; or (6) force or coercion to obtain a confession. The Department of State shall annually submit to Congress: (1) a certification that none of the funds obligated or expended in the previous fiscal year for assistance to Israel have been used to support any of such activities; or (2) if the State Department cannot make such certification, a report describing each activity and the amount of funds used by Israel in violation of this bill. The State Department shall include in each annual report on the barring of development assistance to a country that engages in human rights violations a description of the nature and extent of detention, interrogation, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children by Israeli military forces or police in violation of international humanitarian law.

To reform the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2017

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce tax rates and modify policies for individuals and businesses. The bill includes provisions to: reduce the tax rates for individuals; reduce the tax rates for corporations and on other business income; allow increased expensing of the costs of certain business property; repeal the estate tax; modify the taxation of foreign income; specify that a change in the organizational structure of a corporation is not a taxable event if there is no change among the owners, their ownership interests, or the assets of the organization; and repeal the tax on net investment income.

Universal Charitable Giving Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2017

Universal Charitable Giving Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction from gross income (above-the-line deduction) for charitable contributions of individuals who do not elect to itemize deductions for the taxable year. The deduction may not exceed one-third of the standard deduction of the individual.

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to authorize additional emergency uses for medical products to reduce deaths and severity of injuries caused by agents of war, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2017

This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to allow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize the emergency use of an otherwise unapproved medical product if the Department of Defense (DOD) determines that there is a military emergency involving an agent that may cause imminently life-threatening and specific risk to U.S. forces. If a military emergency is determined to exist, the bill allows DOD to request that the FDA expedite certain procedures for approving medical products that would be reasonably likely to diagnose, prevent, treat, or mitigate such risk. The FDA must take specified actions to facilitate such a request by DOD. The bill repeals provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 that allow DOD, rather than the FDA, to authorize the emergency use of an unapproved product under similar circumstances. Unless DOD determines such meetings to be unnecessary, the FDA shall meet with DOD: (1) semi-annually to conduct a full review of relevant medical products in the DOD portfolio; and (2) quarterly to discuss the development status of regenerative medicine advanced therapy, blood, and vaccine medical products and projects that DOD prioritizes.

Better Jobs for Veterans Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2017

Better Jobs for Veterans Act of 2017 This bill amends provisions with respect to the hiring of veterans, members of the Armed Forces, and their spouses. The bill extends the veterans retraining assistance program, which provides job training assistance to unemployed veterans between the ages of 35-60. The Department of Defense must establish a database to record training performed by members of the Armed Forces and make such information available to states and other employers to satisfy civilian licensing or certification requirements. The bill extends the work opportunity tax credit to the hiring of members of the Ready Reserve or the National Guard or the hiring of the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces. (The work opportunity tax credit permits employers who hire individuals who are members of a targeted group to claim a tax credit equal to a portion of the wages paid to those individuals.)

Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2874) to achieve reforms to improve the financial stability of the National Flood Insurance Program, to enhance the development of more accurate estimates of flood risk through new technology and better maps, to increase the role of private markets in the management of flood insurance risks, and to provide for alternative methods to insure against flood peril, and for other purposes, and providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 2810) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2017

Sets forth the rule for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2874) to achieve reforms to improve the financial stability of the National Flood Insurance Program, to enhance the development of more accurate estimates of flood risk through new technology and better maps, to increase the role of private markets in the management of flood insurance risks, and to provide for alternative methods to insure against flood peril, and for other purposes, and providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 2810) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year.

Missed Opportunities in Science and Engineering Research Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017

Missed Opportunities in Science and Engineering Research Act of 2017 This bill requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to report to Congress on the fiscal health of the NSF research enterprise and the volume of worthy but unfunded grant proposals submitted to the NSF in the preceding year.

American LAWS Act

United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017

A merican Labor, Wages, and Sovereignty Act or the American LAWS Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the diversity immigrant program, and (2) reduce the worldwide fiscal year level for family-sponsored immigration. Legal Workforce Act The bill revises the employment eligibility verification process. It also increases employer penalties for the unlawful hiring of illegal aliens. The bill establishes a nonimmigrant alien visa for the parent of a U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years old. The Department of Homeland Security shall establish: (1) an employment eligibility verification system (EEVS), patterned after the E-Verify system; (2) programs to block the use of misused social security numbers and suspend the use of social security account numbers of identity fraud victims; and (3) at least two Identity Authentication Employment Eligibility Verification pilot programs using distinct technologies to provide employers with identity authentication and employment verification of new employees.

Veterans' Agricultural Apprenticeship Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017

Veterans' Agricultural Apprenticeship Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a program to make direct loans to farmers and ranchers who will provide mentorship and apprenticeship opportunities for veterans to learn the skills necessary to become successful farmers or ranchers. USDA must carry out the program through agreements with state departments of agriculture that will: select veterans to participate in the program, secure established farmers and ranchers to provide the mentorship and apprenticeship opportunities, and make and administer direct loans to support the resulting mentorship and apprenticeship. The loans must be made without interest and may not exceed a term of one year. Of the amounts appropriated for FY2019-FY2023 for the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, USDA must use $1 million for each of the fiscal years for the program.

Missed Opportunities in Aviation Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017

Missed Opportunities in Aviation Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Transportation to report to Congress the total number of airport development project grant requests that were under review for funding during the preceding fiscal year. The report must include the number of requests that were granted, were denied, and remained pending at the end of the fiscal year. The report must detail those that were denied or remained pending but showed the greatest potential for improving aviation in the United States.

Missed Opportunities in Transportation Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017

Missed Opportunities in Transportation Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to report to Congress on missed opportunities in each competitive or discretionary grant program administered by DOT in the preceding fiscal year. The report must detail the 10 applications, proposals, or requests that were not funded or awarded but showed the greatest potential to improve transportation in the United States.

Accurate Budgeting Act

United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017

Accurate Budgeting Act This bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Joint Committee on Taxation to incorporate a macroeconomic impact analysis in estimates of the budgetary effects of major revenue legislation to the extent that it is practicable. The macroeconomic impact analysis, commonly referred to as dynamic scoring, includes: the changes in economic output, employment, interest rates, capital stock, and tax revenues expected to result from the proposal; revenue feedback (changes in revenue resulting from changes in economic growth as a result of the proposal); and the assumptions and data used for the estimate. The bill also amends the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (PAYGO) to require estimates of the budgetary effects of major revenue legislation prepared for purposes of PAYGO requirements to incorporate a macroeconomic impact analysis to the extent that it is practicable.

Missed Opportunities in Low Income Housing Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017

Missed Opportunities in Low Income Housing Act of 2017 This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service to report annually to Congress on applications for tax credits under the low-income housing tax credit program that, in the preceding fiscal year, were approved but not allocated credits.

OPEN Act

United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017

Openness in Political Expenditures Now Act or the OPEN Act This bill requires each corporation that submits regular and periodic reports to shareholders to (1) include information about certain political activities during the time period covered by the report, and (2) provide copies of reports disclosing political activities to the Federal Election Commission. The bill also prohibits an organization from obtaining tax-exempt status under 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code if its expenditures on covered political activities exceed certain thresholds in a taxable year.

A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to disallow any deduction for punitive damages, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) deny a tax deduction for any amount paid or incurred for punitive damages in connection with any judgment in, or settlement of, any legal action between private parties; and (2) include any amount paid as punitive damages in gross income for income tax purposes.

Regulatory Relief Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017

Regulatory Relief Act of 2017 This bill requires a federal agency to repeal at least two existing rules when promulgating a new rule. For each fiscal year, an agency must offset the total incremental cost of its new rules, unless otherwise required by law or the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The bill excludes from such requirements: (1) rules made with respect to a U.S. military, national security, or foreign affairs function; (2) rules related to agency organization, management, or personnel; or (3) other categories of rules exempted by the OMB.

Earthquake Mitigation Incentive and Tax Parity Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017

Earthquake Mitigation Incentive and Tax Parity Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any earthquake loss mitigation received by a residential property owner or occupant under a state-based earthquake loss mitigation program. "Earthquake loss mitigation" is any property or service that reduces seismic risks to a residential structure or its contents. The term includes any payment, reimbursement, loan, loan forgiveness, grant, credit, rebate, voucher, or other financial incentive for the property or service. The bill applies to earthquake loss mitigation programs established by a state (including an agency, instrumentality, or political subdivision of the state) or by a state with a tax-exempt organization or public instrumentality of the state.

Public Funds for Public Schools Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2017

Public Funds for Public Schools Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the amount of a taxpayer's deductible charitable contributions to be reduced to account for the benefits of state income tax credits and deductions provided by a state to the taxpayer for a contribution to a specified school voucher organization. A "specified school voucher organization" is an organization with the primary purpose of providing vouchers, scholarships, or other funds for the expenses of students to attend elementary or secondary schools.

Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2017

Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act This bill amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to require a state to identify, evaluate, and provide special education and related services to children who have visual or hearing disabilities (or both) and also are, or may be, classified in another disability category. A state must ensure that it has enough qualified personnel to serve children who have such disabilities and that a full continuum of alternative placements is available to meet the needs of disabled children for special education and related services. The individualized education program for each child that is either (or both) visually or hearing impaired must include specified components and must provide the child with instruction that meets the child's unique learning needs. Similarly, the individualized family service plan for an infant or toddler with a hearing disability must include specified components. A state's closure of a special school serving deaf or blind children shall count as a reduction of its financial support for special education and related services for purposes of the prohibition against reducing state financial support for such services from one fiscal year to the next. The bill also: (1) authorizes grants for training special education personnel, to be used in preparing individuals to become qualified teachers and early intervention specialists for children with hearing disabilities; and (2) establishes within the Department of Education the Anne Sullivan Macy Center on Visual Disability and Educational Excellence to better support students with visual disabilities.

Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act

United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2017

Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax credits and grants for activities that provide access to healthy food in food deserts. A food desert must be more than 1 mile away from a grocery store in a metropolitan area or more than 10 miles away outside of a metropolitan area. It must also meet population requirements and have either a poverty rate of at least 20% or a median family income that does not exceed 80% of the median for the state or metropolitan area. For entities that are certified by the Department of the Treasury as special access food providers using specified criteria, the bill allows tax credits for operating a new grocery store or renovating an existing grocery store in a food desert. The bill also authorizes grants for a portion of: (1) the construction costs of building a permanent food bank in a food desert, and (2) the annual operating costs of temporary access merchants (mobile markets, farmers markets, and food banks). Treasury, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture (USDA), must annually allocate the tax credits and grants to special access food providers. Grants authorized by this bill are not considered gross income for tax purposes. The bill also amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to require USDA to update the Food Access Research Atlas at least annually to account for food retailers that are placed in service during that year.

Ending Tax Breaks for Private Prisons Act

United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2017

Ending Tax Breaks for Private Prisons Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the definition of "taxable REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) subsidiary" any corporation which directly or indirectly: (1) operates or manages a prison facility or provides services at or in connection with a prison facility; or (2) provides to any other person (under a franchise, license, or otherwise) rights to any brand name under which any prison facility is operated, subject to specified exceptions.

Ending Tax Breaks for Private Prisons Act

United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2017

Ending Tax Breaks for Private Prisons Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the definition of "taxable REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) subsidiary" any corporation which directly or indirectly: (1) operates or manages a prison facility or provides services at or in connection with a prison facility; or (2) provides to any other person (under a franchise, license, or otherwise) rights to any brand name under which any prison facility is operated, subject to specified exceptions.

To amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by clarifying that State Exchanges are prohibited from imposing fees or assessments on issuers of excepted benefits and standalone dental plans not sold through an Exchange.

United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017

This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to prohibit a state from funding its health insurance exchange by charging a health insurer a fee or tax for excepted benefits coverage (benefits not subject to requirements under the Act) or standalone dental plans that are not sold on an exchange.

Improper Tax Payments Reduction Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017

Improper Tax Payments Reduction Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the earned income tax credit, to: (1) specify that a taxpayer must claim all allowable deductions when determining net earnings from self-employment, (2) require employers who report wages to include the name and address of each employee and the amount of reportable wages received by each of those employees, and (3) limit earned income to amounts substantiated by the taxpayer on statements furnished or returns filed under third-party information reporting requirements or amounts substantiated by the taxpayer's books and records.

An act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018.

United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce tax rates and modify policies, credits, and deductions for individuals and businesses. With respect to individuals, the bill: replaces the seven existing tax brackets (10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35%, and 39.6%) with four brackets (12%, 25%, 35%, and 39.6%), increases the standard deduction, repeals the deduction for personal exemptions, establishes a 25% maximum rate on the business income of individuals, increases the child tax credit and establishes a new family tax credit, repeals the overall limitation on certain itemized deductions, limits the mortgage interest deduction for debt incurred after November 2, 2017, to mortgages of up to $500,000 (currently $1 million), repeals the deduction for state and local income or sales taxes not paid or accrued in a trade or business, repeals the deduction for medical expenses, consolidates and repeals several education-related deductions and credits, repeals the alternative minimum tax, and repeals the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes in six years. For businesses, the bill: reduces the corporate tax rate from a maximum of 35% to a flat 20% rate (25% for personal services corporations), allows increased expensing of the costs of certain property, limits the deductibility of net interest expenses to 30% of the business's adjusted taxable income, repeals the work opportunity tax credit, terminates the exclusion for interest on private activity bonds, modifies or repeals various energy-related deductions and credits, modifies the taxation of foreign income, and imposes an excise tax on certain payments from domestic corporations to related foreign corporations. The bill also repeals or modifies several additional credits and deductions for individuals and businesses.

America Wins Act

United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2017

America Wins Act The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on the carbon dioxide content of coal, petroleum and petroleum products, and natural gas sold by the manufacturer, producer, or importer and require the revenues to be used for infrastructure and other purposes. Refunds or credits for the tax must be issued for carbon substances that are: (1) not emitted due to use as a feedstock or through carbon capture and sequestration, or (2) previously taxed carbon substances used to make another taxable carbon substance. The bill includes border adjustment provisions that require certain fees, credits, or refunds for carbon-intensive goods that are exported or imported. The bill also establishes a Build America Trust Fund and appropriates to the fund amounts equal to the increase in revenues attributable to the tax. Specified amounts of the funds must be used, without further appropriation, for infrastructure, including highways and transit; aviation; passenger rail; harbors, waterways, flood protection, and dams; clean water; Department of Agriculture water and waste disposal programs; and broadband deployment. Specified portions of the funds must also be used for: providing assistance to workers and communities reliant on industries that primarily produce taxable carbon substances or carbon-intensive goods, an energy refund program to provide payments to certain low-income households, and a refundable tax credit for households that meet specified income requirements.

Small and Seasonal Business Relief Act

United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2017

Small and Seasonal Business Relief Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt returning workers from the nonimmigrant H-2B visa (temporary nonagricultural services) annual numerical limitations: (1) through FY2018 for those individuals already counted toward such limitation in FY2016 or FY2017, and (2) during the next fiscal year for those individuals already counted toward such limitation in FY2018 or FY2019. Such amendment shall take effect as if enacted on October 1, 2017.

Wildland Fires Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2017

Wildland Fires Act of 2017 This bill requires the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture (USDA) to conduct a cost review each fiscal year of each wildfire covering an area greater than 100,000 acres. Appropriations for wildfire management operations in USDA's or Interior's Wildland Fire Management accounts that are not expended for a fiscal year may be available for wildfire risk reduction projects on federal land. Interior and USDA shall: (1) publish a map depicting at-risk communities (as re-defined by this bill), including tribal communities; and (2) furnish financial assistance to such communities adjacent to federal land for wildfire planning and preparations. Interior and USDA shall: (1) establish a pilot program to reduce the risk of wildfires to communities in the wildland-urban interface and reestablish natural fire regimes outside such interface, and (2) implement the program to treat specified federal land composed primarily of ponderosa or Jeffrey pines by September 30, 2027. The bill establishes the Pilot Monitoring Committee to monitor the impacts on wildfire risk and the ecological effects of the projects being implemented under such program. Interior and USDA: (1) may issue stewardship contracts or enter into stewardship agreements for up to 10 years to conduct prescribed fires on federal lands, and (2) shall establish a pilot program for awarding contracts or agreements of up to 20 years to carry out restoration projects or hazardous fuels reduction projects on federal lands. The National Forest Foundation shall establish a program to certify as a collaborative a group of interested persons that is interested in assisting USDA and Interior in increasing the quantity of projects or activities such departments carry out on an individual unit of National Forest System land or public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management in accordance with the applicable management plan.

SQUEAL Act

United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2017

Stop Questionable, Unnecessary, and Excessive Allowances for Legislators Act or the SQUEAL Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the deduction for living expenses incurred by Members of Congress. (Under current law, the deduction is limited to $3,000 per year.)

International Regulated Investment Company Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2017

International Regulated Investment Company Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for international regulated investment companies (IRICs) and specify rules for the taxation of IRICs. An IRIC is a regulated investment company (i.e., a mutual fund) that has all of its outstanding stock held by foreign shareholders, including nonresident alien individuals (and their foreign estates) and qualified foreign pension funds, and meets other specified requirements.

Give A HAND Act

United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017

Give Assistance and Help to Americans impacted by Natural Disasters Act or the Give A HAND Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow various tax credits, deductions, and modifications to existing rules in areas impacted by disasters. With respect to areas in which a federally declared disaster occurred, the bill allows: expensing of disaster expenses, increased charitable contribution limits and mileage rates, modifications to rules regarding deductions for losses, waivers of certain mortgage revenue bond requirements, increased expensing and bonus depreciation, an increased new markets tax credit allocation, penalty-free distributions from retirement plans, an additional exemption for providing housing to displaced individuals, an exclusion for cancellations of indebtedness, the use of the previous year's income for calculating the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit, an increased rehabilitation credit for buildings, additional advance refundings of certain tax-exempt bonds, disaster area recovery bonds, additional low-income housing credit allocations, an exclusion for disaster mitigation payments received from state and local governments, a deduction for payments to a tax-exempt natural disaster fund, a credit for a portion of the wages paid to employees, an exclusion for employer-provided housing, an enhanced deduction for medical expenses, and extensions for tax and Medicare filing deadlines. The bill also modifies several deductions, credits, and other tax provisions that affect Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

IRA Preservation Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017

IRA Preservation Act of 2017 This bill modifies the requirements for Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) to: (1) require the Department of the Treasury to provide taxpayers with certain educational materials and notifications, and (2) modify various penalties. Treasury must provide the public with: (1) an overview of the laws and regulations related to IRAs, and (2) examples of common errors with respect to the laws and regulations and instructions on how to avoid the errors. Treasury must also provide individual taxpayers with specified notices that identify critical failure points, inconsistencies, or errors and include advice on avoiding failures or errors. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: reduce penalties for taxpayers who voluntarily correct certain IRA errors, including excess contributions and failures to take required minimum distributions; eliminate the 10% additional tax on early distributions that are attributable to withdrawal of interest or other income earned on excess contributions to an IRA; repeal the tax disqualification penalty (loss of tax-exempt status) for accounts where employees engage in certain prohibited transactions; and revise the statute of limitations for collecting certain taxes in connection with an IRA.

Access to Affordable Housing Act

United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017

Access to Affordable Housing Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the state allocations for the low-income housing tax credit by specified amounts.

Invest in Innovative Small Businesses Act

United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017

Invest in Innovative Small Businesses Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a new business-related tax credit equal to 25% of the equity investments made by a qualified investor  in a domestic corporation or partnership that: is a small business, has its headquarters in the United States, is engaged in a specified high technology trade or business, has been in existence for less than 5 years, employs fewer than 100 full-time employees, has more than 50% of its employees performing substantially all of their services in the United States, and has certain equity investments designated for the purposes of this bill that do not exceed specified amounts. The bill limits the allowable amount of such credit to the excess of the sum of regular tax liability, plus the tax under provisions regarding the alternative minimum tax, over the sum of specified tax credits allowed for the year. It also imposes an overall limitation on such credit of $500 million for each of calendar years 2018 through 2022.

Closing the Bump-Stock Loophole Act

United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017

Closing the Bump-Stock Loophole Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to regulate a reciprocating stock, or any other device which is designed to accelerate substantially the rate of fire of a semiautomatic weapon (i.e., bump stocks) in the same manner as a machine gun. Any person possessing such a device when this bill is enacted must register the device with the ATF within one year of the enactment of this bill, and the registration must be included in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. The bill defines a "semiautomatic weapon" as any repeating weapon that: (1) utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and (2) requires a separate function of the trigger to fire each cartridge.

Investing in American Workers Act

United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017

Investing in American Workers Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business-related tax credit for employers who increase worker training expenditures. The credit is equal to 20% of the excess of: (1) the qualified training expenditures for the year, over (2) the average of the adjusted qualified training expenditures for the three previous years. If the employer had no qualified training expenditures in any one of the three previous years, the credit is equal to 10% of the adjusted qualified training expenditures for the year. The credit applies to expenditures for the training of non-highly compensated employees (annual compensation does not exceed $82,000). The training must result in the attainment of a recognized postsecondary credential and be provided through: an apprenticeship program; a program of training services that is included on a list of eligible training providers that states are required to maintain under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; a program which is conducted by an area career and technical education school, a community college, or a labor organization; or a program which is sponsored and administered by an employer, industry trade association, industry or sector partnership, or labor organization. Certain small businesses and tax-exempt organizations may apply the credit against payroll taxes, subject to specified limits and requirements. Eligible small businesses may also apply the credit against the alternative minimum tax.

SQUEAL Act

United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017

Stop Questionable, Unnecessary, and Excessive Allowances for Legislators Act or the SQUEAL Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the deduction for living expenses incurred by Members of Congress. (Under current law, the deduction is limited to $3,000 per year.)

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow all employees of a firm to be counted as a single shareholder toward the shareholder limit of an S corporation.

United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2017

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the limit on the number of shareholders of an S corporation, to: (1) allow employees (and their estates) of the S corporation and any wholly owned business entities of the corporation to be treated as one shareholder if the corporation only has employee shareholders; (2) allow nonresident aliens to be shareholders if the nonresident alien is an employee, or the spouse of an employee, of such a corporation; and (3) establish tax withholding requirements for nonresident aliens who are permitted to be shareholders under this bill.

NEW GIG Act of 2017

United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2017

New Economy Works to Guarantee Independence and Growth Act of 2017 or the NEW GIG Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a test for determining if a service provider should be classified as an independent contractor rather than as an employee for tax purposes. If the requirements of the test are met, the provider may not be treated as an employee, the recipient or any payor may not be treated as an employer, and compensation for the service may not be treated as paid or received with respect to employment. The factors of the test include: the relationship between the parties (i.e., the provider incurs expenses; does not work exclusively for a single recipient; performs the service for a particular amount of time, to achieve a specific result, or to complete a specific task; or is a sales person compensated primarily on a commission basis); the place of business or ownership of the equipment (i.e., the provider has a principal place of business, does not work exclusively at the recipient's place of business, and provides tools or supplies); and the services are performed under a written contract that meets certain requirements (i.e., specifies that the provider is not an employee, the recipient will satisfy withholding and reporting requirements, and that the provider is responsible for taxes on the compensation). The bill also: (1) sets forth withholding and reporting requirements for service recipients who meet the requirements of the test, and (2) allows service providers to petition the U.S. Tax Court for a determination of employment status.

Return on Investment Accountability Act

United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2017

Return on Investment Accountability Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit for eligible individuals who reside in states in which the federal tax burden of the state exceeds the federal outlays received by the state. An "eligible individual" is an individual who is: (1) the taxpayer, the spouse of the taxpayer, or a dependent of the taxpayer; (2) a citizen of the United States or lawfully present in the United States; and (3) a resident of the state for more than half of the year. The term does not include an estate, trust, or an individual for whom another taxpayer is allowed a deduction for a personal exemption.

Protect Victims of Crime Act

United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2017

Protect Victims of Crime Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase from 10,000 to 40,000 the number of U visas that may be issued in a fiscal year.

End Outsourcing Act

United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2017

End Outsourcing Act This bill modifies provisions of tax, labor, and federal contracting laws related to the outsourcing of jobs. The bill amends the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to require employers to include an outsourcing statement in the notice that must be provided to employees, state dislocated worker units, and local governments prior to plant closings and mass layoffs. The statement must specify whether part or all of the positions held by affected employees will be moved outside of the United States, regardless of whether the positions are moved within the business enterprise involved or to another business enterprise. The Department of Labor must publish on its website a list of employers that have included an outsourcing statement in the notice or have incurred liability for failing to provide the required notice. The bill also amends the Internal Revenue Code to: deny certain tax deductions and accounting methods for outsourcing employers; require the recapture of certain tax credits and grants that were provided to outsourcing employers and were related to the design, construction, operation, or maintenance of an outsourced facility; and grant business taxpayers a tax credit for up to 20% of insourcing expenses incurred for eliminating a business located outside the United States and relocating it within the United States if there is an increase in the taxpayer's employment of full-time employees in the United States. Federal contracting officers must: (1) require contractors submitting bids or proposals to disclose specified details regarding the outsourcing of jobs, and (2) take the disclosure into account in awarding contracts.