2009: The Tax Year in Review

Economic developments leading up to and carrying through 2009 set the stage for a sea change in fiscal policy being engineered under the Obama administration.  Seeds of tax policy change are a touchstone in efforts to neutralize distress and move toward recovery to a robust economy.  A few of the key tax policy developments in 2009 and insights by our Tax Law Center author partners:

Tax implications of “Obama-nomics” and health care reform in 2009, 2010 and beyond are the subject of ongoing debate, and are central to the nation’s short-term and long-range economic and social dynamics. 

• Obama Tax Policy: Meeting Economic Crisis Challenges - by H. David Rosenbloom
• President Obama's International Tax Proposals in a Policy Context - by William H. Byrnes IV
• Elements of President Obama's Tax Policy - Interview With Chris Bergin
• Taxes and Health Care Reform - Interview With Martin Sullivan
• The Obama Administration's International Tax Policy Proposals - Interview With Bob Goulder
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - by Pepper Hamilton LLP
• The New Cancellation of Debt (COD) Deferral Election - by Jones Day Tax Practice Group

Attention to bank and investment secrecy is intensifying in the wake of the UBS scandal, settlement terms to disclose the identities of U.S. taxpayer investors, and prospects for follow-up legislation and enforcement efforts to generate revenue due to the U.S. Treasury:

• Foreign Account Tax Compliance Problems and Complications - by Shahzad Malik
• The Perils of the Foreign Bank Account Reporting Rules - by Mark Muntean
• The Year of Enforcement Action Against Offshore Bank Accounts - by Fran Obeid
• CAVEAT: Foreign Account Reporting FBAR Extension to June 30 2010 Is Limited - by Alice Joseffer

The Value Added Tax - The VAT is an important part of tax regimes in virtually every industrialized nation. But it has been absent from the U.S. taxation landscape – so far… However, with exponentially increasing deficits, it is all but certain that some kind of value added taxation will be introduced into the federal code. VAT is regarded as a political “third rail,” and this is why political leaders are wont to avoid even discussing it. But now it is unavoidable, and there are murmurs in Congress about VAT, notably by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

• VAT in the USA - by Chris Walsh

• National Sales Tax and Value Added Tax - Interview With Chris Walsh

• Value Added Tax Fundamentals - Interview With Bob Goulder