Overview
IRS Clarifies That Payments Under State or Local Tax Credit Programs May Be Deductible Business Expenses: In a news release issued today, the IRS clarified that business taxpayers that make business-related payments to charities or government entities for which they receive state or local tax credits can generally deduct the payments as business expenses. The IRS also stated that the deductibility of such payments is unaffected by the recent notice of proposed rulemaking concerning the availability of a charitable contribution deduction for contributions pursuant to such programs.
OECD Releases Report on Recent Tax Policy Reforms: Today, the OECD released its report, Tax Policy Reforms 2018, covering the latest tax policy reforms in all OECD countries plus Argentina, Indonesia, and South Africa. The report notes that countries are using recent tax reforms to lower taxes on businesses and individuals with a view towards boosting investment, consumption, and labor market participation. The report also found that the average corporate income tax rate across the OECD has dropped from 32.5% in 2000 to 23.9% in 2018.