Congress Adjourns for the Year 2013- Tax Reform Put Off Until?

By Thomas A. Davis, Esq., Davis & Harman LLP, Washington, DC

The first session of the 113th Congress ended just before Christmas on a bipartisan note after Congress passed a Bipartisan Budget Act, the major purpose of which is to stop another potential Federal government shutdown before October, 2015. The bill makes changes to the spending limits over the next two years and extends the mandatory spending cuts into 2022 and 2023. The bill raises revenues by increasing Transportation Security Administration fees, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation fees, custom user fees, the amount new federal employees pay toward their retirement plans, and other similar types of revenue raisers. The budget agreement did not deal with the issue of increasing the federal debt ceiling, which is now estimated to come up again in early 2014. 

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By B. Paul Husband, Esq., Husband Law Group, Universal City, CA

Charitable contribution deductions can still be taken for the full fair market value of horses donated to qualified charities, subject to the timely fulfillment of a substantial number of requirements.  Those requirements have grown, as regulations are wont to do. This article will recap the requirements, and briefly comment upon the additions over the years, particularly in the definition of Qualified Appraiser.

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