25 September 2026 What to expect in Washington (September 25) The Senate is scheduled to return to session next week rather than start their recess until after the November 3 midterm elections a week early. A vote on final passage of the college sports bill has been set for Monday, September 28 at 5:30 p.m. There are continued bipartisan negotiations on energy permitting reform, but the agenda for next week isn't yet clear, including whether the Senate will vote on the House-passed Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340) — Senator Jon Husted's (R-OH) bill addressing the recovery of costs related to data centers. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is also reportedly considering holding a vote on the House-passed congressional stock trading ban and voter ID requirement bill (H.R. 7008), and there are also efforts to develop a plan to address diesel fuel prices. Crypto tax — With the House planning to be out of session until after the elections and the Senate planning to recess after next week, there is plenty of unfinished business before Congress that awaits a lame-duck session slated to begin after the elections — and that will certainly be influenced by their outcome. One major question is how the Senate Finance Committee may respond to the cryptocurrency tax bill, the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357), approved by the House Ways and Means Committee September 16. Some Ways and Means Democrats said cryptocurrency shouldn't be the focus of the Committee now, balanced by others who argued that while the bill, which passed 38-5, wasn't the final word on the issue, it was nonetheless an important starting point. The bill didn't take on the controversial topic of the potential deferral of tax on mining and staking income addressed by prior proposals, but did address the remaining set of issues under discussion for the past year or more, including a de minimis rule allowing no gain or loss to be recognized on smaller cryptocurrency transactions, mark-to-market accounting rules for digital asset brokers and dealers, charitable contributions of digital assets, and the application of wash sale rules and constructive sale rules to digital assets. A September 24 Politico story, "Crapo: We may want to make changes to House crypto tax bill," cited Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) as saying, "We're going to give it a thorough review," "We may want to tune it up," and "I'm not telling you whether we will revise it or not — I don't know." The story further cited Chairman Crapo as saying it's too soon to say whether lawmakers will be able to advance any tax legislation later this year. The Chairman reiterated comments from last week that his confidence that a year-end tax bill is inevitable has waned. "I hope there will be one," he said. "I just can't predict how the politics are going to play out between now and late December." International tax — An EY Tax Alert, "Proposed regulations implement OBBBA's favorable expense apportionment changes to NCTI and FDDEI," is available here. Film/TV credit - A bipartisan group of members in Congress on Thursday (September 24) unveiled a bill to provide a new 20% tax credit on labor costs for domestic film and television productions, following an August 31 social media post from President Trump calling for "Federal Tax Incentives in order to Make our Movie and Television Production Business GREAT AGAIN … " Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act. House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX) sponsors the House version, with cosponsors Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Linda Sánchez (D-CA) and Committee members David Kustoff (R-TN), Judy Chu (D-CA), Mike Carey (R-OH) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY), plus Reps. Brian Jack (R-GA) and Laura Friedman (D-CA), who represents Hollywood. A "qualified film or television production" for purpose of the credit is defined as a feature film, television pilot, or television season produced for commercial purposes, with a total cost exceeding $1 million and where 75% of the principal photography days occur within the United States. News, live sports, talk shows, daytime dramas, social media content, advertising and corporate videos are ineligible for the credit. There are 5% bonus credits provided, to increase the credit to a maximum of 30%, for circumstances like filming in a rural Opportunity Zone or a federally declared disaster area, independent productions, multi-state producers, or an increase in domestic productions relative to a historical foreign base amount. The credit is transferable, similar to the energy credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The credit would be effective for productions after December 31, 2026. The bill could be among items under consideration for a potential year-end bill on tax and other issues, in addition to the separate bill (H.R. 4840, S. 2530) to extend the IRC Section 181 expensing rules for film, television, and theater productions. As Politico Morning Tax said today, "A variety of issues with bipartisan support could be in the mix for a year-end package, including tax administration, cryptocurrency, a fix for the current limits on gambling deductions, various short-term incentives and now the film credit."
Nominations — The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday (September 24) approved the nominations of:
Document ID: 2026-2047 | |||
