Lamar Whitman Posts

TechAmerica supports bipartisan legislation introduced today in both the Senate and House by Senators Hatch and Wyden and Congressman Ryan. The “Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015” (TPA-2015) would renew Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which allows the administration to submit negotiated trade agreements to Congress for an up or down vote, which provides more assurance in the negotiation process.

Congress should act quickly on legislation to extend the authority of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). Currently, its authority will end on June 30. Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate that would extend the bank’s authority through 2019.

Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate to prevent discriminatory and duplicative taxes on digital goods and services, including online downloads of music, literature, movies, mobile apps, and cloud computing services. Modeled after legislation pending in the last Congress, “The Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act” would bring some certainty to

The Marketplace Fairness Act (“MFA”) was re-introduced in the Senate this week by Sens. Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). This bill is similar to legislation passed by the Senate (69-27) in May 2013. The MFA would require all remote sellers to collect and remit sales taxes for products and services sold

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) appeared on a Hill Panel yesterday to announce the pending introduction of legislation (Kirk-Manchin Bill) that would extend the Ex-Im Bank authorization, currently set to expire on June 30, 2015. Similar legislation –H.R. 597 – the “Reform Exports and Expand the American Economy Act” – introduced

The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 636, “America’s Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015.” This legislation would permanently reinstate the 2014 small business expensing limitation of $500,000. The limitation was decreased to $25,000 beginning on 2015. TechAmerica has long called for the higher $500,000 limitation to be permanently extended.

Since its initial enactment in 1998, the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) has banned federal, state and local governments from taxing Internet access charges, as well as from assessing multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce. The stated purpose of this law was to “ … promote and preserve the commercial, educational, and informational potential of the Internet.” This purpose is even more valid today. However, the moratorium, which has been extended five times since its enactment, is now set to expire on October 1, 2015.

The Senate Tax Extenders Bill, which amends the IRS code and extends various tax provisions related to individuals, businesses and the energy sector, initially passed the Senate Finance Committee with bipartisan support, but failed later to meet the 60-vote cloture requirement by a vote of 53 to 40.