Editors: New Act... how'd you figure it out

[LCP]

I'm interested in the legislative "sausage making" of tax law..... particularly this bill vs the typical bill.

As soon as the bill was final, I looked for the details in a couple of different areas. Both in the bill to the extent I could and at the IRS web site. I found very little and even some vague if not innacurate/misleading info.

Were the details in the law to be found if one had the time?

Or were the details left for some congressional committee staffer to add in later?

Or were the details specifically left for the IRS to decide on???

[Bees Knees]

The update contains two links: One to HR1, which is the actual text of the law. The other to the Senate Finance Committee summary of the new law.

If you read both of those, you will find the details that are summarized in TTB update.

TTB editors have a long history of being able to read legal mumbo jumbo and translating it into plain English. That is one reason why QF, and then TTB has been so popular with tax professionals over the years.

[Jiggers]

Congress should talk to TTB editors first.....

I think Congress should talk to TTB editors first, before writing the tax code.

And they should consult us!

It sure would save a lot on court costs, audit fees, and confustion in the future.

Great work, editors.

[LCP]

The update contains two links: One to HR1, which is the actual text of the law. The other to the Senate Finance Committee summary of the new law.

If you read both of those, you will find the details that are summarized in TTB update.

TTB editors have a long history of being able to read legal mumbo jumbo and translating it into plain English. That is one reason why QF, and then TTB has been so popular with tax professionals over the years.

Thanks for the info and your effort!

Please forgive me if I don't dig into the details at this stage.... can you answer the following:

When did the Committee summary come out and can you vouch for the details being in the bill itself? What I'm wondering is whether the Committee gets to go back to it's notes and fill in the details much later.

On a specific issue .... I was trying to figure out the details of the tuition tax credit changes. The IRS site referred to it as "new" and said nothing of it's affect on the Hope credit for a while, maybe it still does. Makes me wonder why they couldn't have spelled it our more clearly earlier.

[Bees Knees]

When did the Committee summary come out and can you vouch for the details being in the bill itself? What I'm wondering is whether the Committee gets to go back to it's notes and fill in the details much later.

No, the committee did everything ahead of time. The committee summary came out before the bill was signed into law.

Actually, all tax bills have some type of committee summary prior to Congress voting on the legislation. Usually, the Joint Committee on Taxation issues a technical explanation of the bill prior to the House and Senate doing their final vote. Congress members are just like us. They cannot read or understand the actual bill itself. They leave it up to the committee members to tell them in plain English what is contained in the bill, and then they vote on it based on their Committee member recommendations.

On a specific issue .... I was trying to figure out the details of the tuition tax credit changes. The IRS site referred to it as "new" and said nothing of it's affect on the Hope credit for a while, maybe it still does. Makes me wonder why they couldn't have spelled it our more clearly earlier.

Section 1004 of HR 1 says IRC Section 25A (relating to the Hope scholarship credit) is amended as follows….

Then it gives the new details contained in the bill. Thus, by referring to IRC Section 25A and amending that code section for the new American Opportunity Tax Credit rules, it is clear that it is the Hope scholarship credit itself that is being amended and changed for the new provisions.