Hidden blacklist in GOP tax law could hit everyone from LeBron James to doctors

[DonViejo]

By BRIAN FALER 03/08/2018 11:26 AM EST

Republicans have created a big tax break for businesses, but not just any businesses.

Their new tax law includes a little-noticed blacklist barring people working in certain fields, and earning more than $157,500, from claiming a new 20 percent deduction for unincorporated businesses called pass-throughs. It could prevent everyone from doctors to tanning salon owners to LeBron James from claiming the break.

Republicans say they barred some types of businesses because they didn’t want just anyone to benefit from the lucrative break — they wanted it to be reserved for job creators, who employ other people. Some say there were political considerations as well, because lawmakers didn’t want to be seen handing out big tax cuts to wealthy doctors and lawyers, who aren’t expected to make the cut.

But to critics, the list is arbitrary, vague and amounts to picking winners and losers. It includes more than a dozen areas, including "health," "law" and "consulting." It's up to the Treasury Department and the IRS, charged with implementing the new law, to figure out who exactly belongs on the blacklist.

Officials will have to determine, for example, who is in the business of providing health services. It seems clear doctors will not be allowed to take the break, experts say, but what about someone who owns a gym or a tanning salon? Or someone who sells an X-ray machine to a hospital? What about a doctor (likely banned) who also earns income from owning a parking garage (likely not banned)?

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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/08/hidden-blacklist-republican-tax-law-445645?lo=ap_c1

[spanone]

1. this will go down as the most corrupt admin. ever....bar none.

[Gothmog]

2. Lawyers are on this blacklist

[Dawson Leery]

3. Basketball Players and Doctors are on the Democratic Side.

The GOP's corruption is on par with that of tin pot third world dictators.

[dsc]

15. to be fair many other athletes aren't though

such as baseball players, golfers, and nascar drivers and none of them get the break either.

[progree]

4. I thought the GOP GreedBangers were real big on tax code simplification

but I guess not.

[jmowreader]

5. Doctors create plenty of jobs

They have nurses, assistants, receptionists, billing specialists, transcribers, technicians, and so on and so forth.

[Exotica]

6. Tom Brady upon hearing this

?itemid=9702883

[NCjack]

7. I hope that when DEMs get in that they remove tax breaks for casinos, as

they drag the economy down by pumping money from the bottom to the top. That is all they are, pure money pumps.

[Jim Lane]

8. Casinos often pay HIGHER tax rates than other businesses

It's not uncommon that, in the negotiations with the state over an application for a casino license, the applicant will agree to make specified payments off the top to the state. These obligations can kick in even if the casino overall is operating a loss and hence owes no income tax.

For an example, see this page on the State of Connecticut's website. The column headed "Slot Machine Contributions to the State of Connecticut (1)" shows the proceeds to the state from the casinos' agreement to make payments from slots revenue.

As for the "money pump" aspect, you could say the same about, for example, the film industry. A bunch of people at the bottom pay small amounts, which result in huge payouts to a few at the top, like Benedict Cumberbatch (or even Jennifer Lawrence!). The real issue with casino gambling isn't income redistribution, but problem gambling. Just about no one spends so much money going to the movies that their lives are destroyed. In that respect, gambling is less like the film industry and more like the alcohol industry.

[NCjack]

10. I also want the taxes to go up on alcohol, tobacco, and other

industries that pump money from the bottom. And, I especially want casino owner Sheldon Adelson to have his taxes substantially increased.

[Jim Lane]

11. There are very few industries that DON'T "pump money from the bottom"

It's not just alcohol, tobacco, and gambling. For example, I'm typing this on a computer that came with Windows pre-installed. When I bought it, part of what I paid went to Microsoft, thus further enriching one of the richest people in the world.

Other than perhaps a sales tax exemption for homemade crafts, it wouldn't be easy to implement a tax change that would be based on each industry's redistributive effect.

[NCjack]

14. Now we are getting somewhere. I want their taxes to go up, also. nt

[Corgigal]

9. Discrimination based on occupation

Yea! America.

Lawsuits everywhere will fly. More taxpayers money to enforce.

[Maeve]

12. Ok, I don't earn enough to worry about this

But I'm not surprised there is going to be a HUGH mess figuring out this Frankenstein monster of a bill.

[riversedge]

13. k for visibility