OnLabor

Law. Workers. Organizing.

Author:Diane Ring

Work-Related Distortions in the Proposed Tax Bills: Understanding the Policy Conversations (Part 2 of 2)

This post follows up on our prior post, which focused on the complex provisions of the proposed Senate tax bill. This post discusses some of the key concerns that have been expressed about the new tax bill. (Again, we focus here on the Senate version of the proposed legislation. The specifics of the analysis may change once we get the Conference version, though the broader policy and design questions are likely to persist.)

Work-Related Distortions in the Tax Reform Bills: Understanding the New Proposed Provisions (Part 1 of 2)

The New York Times ran a piece on December 9, 2017, entitled “Tax Plans Might Give Your Co-Worker a Better Deal Than You.” The article highlights ways in which the proposed tax reforms (some in the House bill, some in the Senate bill) would draw new tax distinctions among workers, creating problematic and inequitable tax discontinuities. Specifically, the article makes a few key observations:

Will Proposed Tax Legislation Tilt the Worker Classification Debate?

Tax reform is in the air. On Thursday, November 9, Senate Republicans released a Description of the Chairman’s Mark (prepared by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT)), which contains in substance the Senate version of proposed tax reform legislation. Among other things, that JCT description stated that the bill would clarify the treatment of many workers as independent contractors by providing a safe harbor that, if satisfied, would guarantee such treatment. But in the modification to the Chairman’s Mark released on November 14, that safe harbor provision was stricken from the Senate bill.

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