Overview
Secretary Mnuchin Testifies at House Ways and Means Committee Hearing on FY18 Budget: Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin testified today at the House Ways and Means Committee’s hearing on President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget proposal. Secretary Mnuchin testified that the best way to achieve sustainable economic growth is through a combination of tax reform, regulatory relief, taxpayer protections, and budget cuts.
Congressional Budget Office Releases Cost Estimate for American Health Care Act of 2017: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released their estimate of the spending and revenue effects of H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act of 2017 (ACHA), which was passed by the House of Representatives on May 4. The CBO and JCT estimate that the ACHA would reduce the cumulative federal deficit by $119 billion over the period of 2017 through 2026, but that the number of uninsured Americans would increase by 23 million over the next decade. The report updates the CBO’s March 13 estimate on an earlier version of the bill.
European Union Agrees to Mandatory Arbitration for Tax Disputes: The EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) agreed to a proposed directive creating a new system for resolving disputes over double taxation between member states. Under the agreement, taxpayers can initiate a mutual agreement procedure, and member nations are given two years to reach an agreement resolving the dispute. The directive calls for an arbitration procedure if the mutual agreement procedure fails which will result in a binding decision.