It's Tax Day (April 15), the deadline to file federal income tax returns, and with it comes plenty of tax-related activity on Capitol Hill: Republicans continuing to celebrate the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA) tax cuts as President Trump heads to Nevada and Arizona to tout the benefits of last year's law, committees planning to hold hearings including with the IRS CEO, and Democrats pushing counterarguments by proposing bills they say combat tax avoidance techniques used by the wealthy.

The Senate Finance Committee is holding a hearing today, "The President's Fiscal Year 2027 IRS Budget and the IRS 2026 Filing Season," with Internal Revenue Service Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano. Bisignano testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on March 4, saying IRS would establish "a durable talent and development framework," and advance "a strong compliance agenda while improving collections beyond historical norms." He repeatedly highlighted larger refunds following passage of the OBBBA. Some Democrats expressed concerns about tax-exempt organizations being scrutinized because of their political views.

A story in the April 13 Wall Street Journal, "America's New Tax Mantra: 'The IRS Isn't Going to Catch Me'" focused on the ramifications of a reduced head count at IRS, including among auditors and shuffling of agency leadership as, "Many top officials left or were pushed out, and the IRS cycled through eight different leaders." An April 14 Politico story, "What tax world wants to hear from the IRS CEO as filing season ends," said stakeholders likely want to hear more from Bisignano about "his vision of a tech-forward agency with better customer service" and that "Bisignano is expected to emphasize improvements in the IRS's technology." Members are also set to debate the merits of the OBBBA.

The House Small Business Committee is also holding a hearing, "Lower Taxes, Stronger Main Street: The Benefits of the Working Families Tax Cuts." Witnesses include representatives of the Tax Foundation, Center for American Progress, and small businesses.

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) has reintroduced two proposals, addressing private placement life insurance (PPLI) contracts and grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), both of which are issues he has been targeting in recent years:

• The Protecting Proper Life Insurance from Abuse Act (S. 4279), originally proposed as a discussion draft in December 2024, would protect the preferential tax treatment of traditional life insurance, separating PPLI policies, and deeming them Private Placement Contracts.
• The Getting Rid of Abusive Trusts Act, previously introduced in March 2024, would require that a GRAT have a minimum term of 15 years and a maximum life expectancy of the annuitant plus 10 years, prohibit any decrease in the annuity during the GRAT term, and generally treat transfers as a sale or exchange for income tax purposes.

Budget — Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought will testify regarding the President's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request at the House Budget Committee today (Wednesday, April 15) at 10:15 a.m. and at the Senate Budget Committee tomorrow (April 16) at 10 a.m.

Trade — On April 14, the WSJ reported in a story, "Process to Start for Tariff Refunds," that "The Trump administration is expected to start accepting claims next week for refunds from the tariffs President Trump collected illegally. In an order Tuesday … [the] Court of International Trade said the government confirmed … that it is on track to begin processing claims for refunds with interest on April 20 for some importers."

Tomorrow (Thursday, April 16), the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science will hold a hearing on the President's budget request for $95 million in funding for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Ambassador Jamieson Greer will be the sole witness.

Health care — Also scheduled for tomorrow (April 16) at 9 a.m., the House Ways and Means Committee is holding a hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Also on Thursday, at 10 a.m., is a Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing, "Making Medicines More Affordable: How Competition Can Lower Drug Prices."

The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee yesterday (April 14) held a field hearing in Florida on "Modernized Health Care in Practice: Empowering Americans to Live Healthier Lives." In an opening statement, full Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) said there is insufficient Medicare spending on primary care. "Medicare could expand value-based payments to improve patient outcomes while reducing the cost of wasteful medical services," he said. Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) said healthcare "became a lot more expensive at the beginning of the year as the Advanced Premium Tax Credit expired."

Reconciliation — Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said following the regular Tuesday party luncheons April 14 that Republicans may have a budget resolution on the floor as early as next week paving the way for a GOP-only bill to "provide multiple years of funding" for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies. A reconciliation bill on such funding would follow shortly after. He noted that ICE and CBP funding are being covered now by OBBBA funds.

Thune has said the bill will be narrow, addressing only those agencies, and press reports suggested the new spending won't be offset. "To execute on it and do it with any kind of speed, you've got to keep it really tight," Thune said Monday night, according to Punchbowl News. The plan is for progress toward reconciliation in the Senate to compel the House to bring up the bill funding the remainder of DHS.

Success of the narrow approach may depend on GOP members trusting that other issues will get picked up in a subsequent reconciliation bill. An April 14 Bloomberg Daily Tax Report (DTR) story said the near-term ICE/CBP bill is not expected to include Medicare and Medicaid changes and cited Leader Thune as saying budget instructions will not be sent to the Senate Finance Committee. Some members are reportedly pushing back at the prospect of omission of an extension to an OBBBA prohibition of federal payments to prohibited entities, and potentially other issues. There is some skepticism that a third bill would come to fruition. "I think this is it. This is our shot," Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA) said in a Tuesday Politico report, "And that's why you sense some frustration among a lot of the senators."

Asked on Fox Business April 14 whether to expect another reconciliation bill later in the year, with other priorities like supplemental appropriations and the SAVE America Act, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said, "That would be much more complex. That could get all kinds of snags. At this point, we can't afford snags. We need to pass the Senate bill … Then we'd get our attention to the other priorities of the President, whether it's defense funding. Obviously, I want [the] SAVE America Act. I'm not sure we can do that through reconciliation. There are certain components. We can certainly fund and encourage states to clean up their voter rolls, provide IDs, that type of thing. But we're limited what we do through reconciliation."

Consideration of a budget resolution and reconciliation will of course involve the vote-a-rama process of unlimited amendment votes during which the opposing party shut out of consideration of the legislation typically compels the controlling party to take politically difficult votes. In his appearance following the party luncheons April 14, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the other party is "tying themselves in a total knot by going through a reconciliation process that no Republican wants. And you can be sure in the vote-a-rama we're going to hold their feet to the fire on DHS, on the war, and on so many other issues."

IRS — An EY Tax Alert, "Final regulations refine definition of tips and occupations qualifying for deduction," is available here.