Updated
Updated · Bloomberg Tax · Jul 30
Senate Republicans Defeat 14-13 Bid to Block Trump IRS Audit Immunity Deal
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg Tax · Jul 30

Senate Republicans Defeat 14-13 Bid to Block Trump IRS Audit Immunity Deal

3 articles · Updated · Bloomberg Tax · Jul 30

Summary

  • A 14-13 party-line vote in the Senate Finance Committee killed a Democratic amendment that would have barred a Trump administration plan shielding President Trump and his family from future IRS audits.
  • The amendment was offered during the panel’s first markup this Congress on a bipartisan tax-administration package, and Republicans argued adopting it could sink years of negotiated IRS procedure and due-process fixes.
  • The proposal also would have extended the statute of limitations for auditing Trump and his family and required the Treasury Department to report any related agreements to Congress.
  • Democrats said the arrangement was an abuse of power, citing more than 7,000 constituent messages, while Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are still negotiating possible changes to the audit-immunity plan announced in May.

Insights

If audit protections can be negotiated through settlement language, what does that mean for future tax enforcement rules?