Since the 1980s, businesses have only been able to deduct 50 percent of their meal expenses off their federal taxes. A proposal championed by the White House and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) would increase that deduction to 100 percent allowing companies to deduct the full cost of a business meal off their federal taxes.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin included the meal deduction as a White House priority in negotiations.
WaPo
A priority!
During a roundtable discussion in May, Trump brought up the idea unprompted and suggested it would be more important than hundreds of billions in emergency small business loans.
“I think it’s, frankly, more important than even the other things we’re talking about,” the president said of restoring the deduction.
[...]
Trump and Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, have been among the most aggressive proponents of restoring the meal deduction.
[...]
Trump urged that the United States “go back to the original” version of a tax deduction for entertainment and meals.
Which he will be using liberally once he's out of office and back in business. AND he'll use it at Trump properties, so double bonus for him.
The president added: “They’ll send their executives, they’ll send people there, and they get a deduction. That is something that will really bring life back to the restaurants; I think make them hotter than before. You know, they used to have it. And when they ended it, it was really never the same. It was never the same.”
Oh, bullshit. It was a few dollars less in businessmen's pockets. It didn't hurt the restaurant business one bit.
President Trump has for months talked about securing the deduction — derisively referred to as the “three-martini lunch” by critics — as a way to revive the restaurant industry badly battered by the pandemic.
This, I think is absurd. The restaurant business will revive when people feel comfortable eating out. That's it. That's all that's holding back the restaurant business. The deduction is a way to put money back into the pockets of wealthy businessmen - when they (and their clients) feel comfortable dining out.
Some Democrats recoiled at the proposal, though it has also been denounced as ineffective by conservative tax experts as well.
Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle each blamed the other for the long stint between the last coronavirus relief package and the deal reached Dec. 20. (U.S. Senate)
During negotiations, however, Democratic leaders agreed to the provision in exchange for Republicans agreeing to expand tax credits for low income families and the working poor in the final package, according to a Democratic aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of internal negotiations.
“Republicans are nickel-and-diming benefits for jobless workers, while at the same time pushing for tax breaks for three-martini power lunches. It’s unconscionable,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.
Yes, it is. And that's the Republican party for you.
Liberal and conservative economists and tax experts have panned the idea.
“Months later it is still bad policy, and still not good economic relief for the current situation,” said Kyle Pomerleau, a tax analyst at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute think tank. “It just should not be in there.”
But it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment