27 October 2024 This Week in Tax Policy for October 28 Congress: The House and Senate are out of session until after the November 5 elections, scheduled to return on November 12. 2024 elections: The presidential election race remains close in the home stretch — roughly even according to some polls, and Republican candidate Former President Donald Trump pulling slightly head of Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris according to others. The direction of tax policy in 2025, and so many other issues, depends on the outcome of the presidential race, plus the also uncertain races to determine control of the House, and the uphill battle Democrats are facing to retain control of the Senate. The New York Times reported October 25, "Kamala Harris and Donald J. Trump are locked in a dead heat for the popular vote, 48 percent to 48 percent, the final national poll by The New York Times and Siena College has found … The result, coming less than two weeks before Election Day, and as millions of Americans have already voted, is not encouraging for Ms. Harris. In recent elections, Democrats have had an edge in the popular vote even when they have lost the Electoral College and thus the White House. They have been looking to Ms. Harris to build a strong national lead as a sign that she would do well in such critical swing states as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin." The October 24 Wall Street Journal reported, "Donald Trump has opened a narrow lead in the presidential race, as voters have adopted a more positive view of his agenda and past performance and a more negative view of Kamala Harris, a new Wall Street Journal poll finds. The national survey finds that Trump is leading Harris by 2 percentage points, 47% to 45%, compared with a Harris lead of 2 points in the Journal's August survey on a ballot that includes third-party and independent candidates. Both leads are within the polls' margins of error, meaning that either candidate could actually be ahead." "Former President Donald Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris 48%-46%, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey, within the poll's 3.1% margin of error," CNBC reported October 24. "Voters say they will be better off financially if Trump wins by a 42% to 24% margin." The Washington Post reported October 21, "Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are running nearly evenly across the seven battleground states among a critical portion of the electorate whose votes are likely to determine who becomes the next president." The tax policy issues and proposals espoused by the candidates have largely been eclipsed by the broader election in its final weeks but remains a topic of discussion. During a CNN Town Hall in Pennsylvania October 23, VP Harris was asked about the pledge to not increase taxes on those with incomes $400,000 or under and if that implies taxes go up for those earning $500,000, $600,000, or $700,000. "It's a very complicated situation, right?" she said. "If you're talking about a small business owner, I'm going to bring down, cut taxes for small businesses, right?" But as a more general matter, "there is going to be a parity around what the richest people pay in terms of their taxes," VP Harris said. She also revived her criticism of Former President Trump's tariff plans, saying, "part of his plan is to put in place a national sales tax of at least 20% on everyday goods and necessities. And that, by economist estimates … would cost you, as the American consumer and taxpayer, an additional $4,000 a year." The proposed tariffs have been a focus of recent campaign advertisements. In a social media post, Former President Trump said, "I am NOT proposing a National Sales Tax, as the Democrats say in their Advertisements against me. Dems know what they are saying is a blatant lie. I am proposing tariffs on other countries that take advantage of us, hardly a NST." IRC Section 45X final regulations: The IRS and Treasury Department October 24 released final regulations (TD 10010) under IRC Section 45X concerning the advanced manufacturing production credit established by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to incentivize the production of eligible clean energy components in the United States. Eligible components for purposes of the credit include certain solar energy components, wind energy components, inverters, qualifying battery components and applicable critical minerals. "The final rules will accelerate the buildout of domestic critical mineral supply chains by allowing taxpayers to include materials costs and extraction costs in production costs for applicable critical minerals and electrode active materials, provided certain conditions are met," a Treasury news release said. "This change, based on feedback from stakeholders, will enable further investment in responsible U.S. critical minerals extraction and processing and strengthen U.S. energy security and clean energy supply chains." Politico reported that White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi told reporters the final rule could allow a company to receive a credit for the eligible costs at a processing facility, as well as an additional credit for extraction costs. "This is absolutely a game-changer for our ability to lean into mineral security, sourced, processed, manufactured here in the United States," he said. The Wall Street Journal reported that Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who is in a very close reelection race, "got a boost Thursday from new Biden administration tax credit rules that should help the state's mining industry." The Journal quoted a statement that cited the senator's "relentless pressure" to produce this final result in the regulations, and referred to the Stillwater mine in Montana that produces palladium and platinum. IRC Section 48D final regulations: IRS and Treasury October 22 issued final regulations (TD 10009) to implement the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (CHIPS ITC) established by the CHIPS Act of 2022 to incentivize the manufacture of semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment within the US. A press release said the rules are largely in line with proposed regulations released in March 2023 while providing certain modifications, including on the definition of what constitutes an "advanced manufacturing facility" and clarifying the inclusion of semiconductor wafer production in the definition of semiconductor manufacturing. "The final rule clarifies that semiconductor wafer production includes the production of wafers used for photovoltaic solar energy generation. Treasury and IRS, with the Department of Energy and other agencies, continue to evaluate additional options to further the Administration's goal of incentivizing domestic production of the full solar supply chain, including solar wafers," the release said. IRA guidance tracker: This list describes select IRS guidance related to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Document ID: 2024-1967 | |||
