Passing a tax extenders package remains a top priority for both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee. The question of timing, however, is anybody’s guess.
There’s no doubt that Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) Tax Extender Act of 2017 (S. 2256) will serve as the starting point for any forthcoming package. McGuireWoods Consulting’s (MWC) Tax Policy Update team has put together an overview of S.2256 here.
Democrats are in the process of putting together an extenders wish list, but most of what they want are already in Hatch’s bill. Because the legislative window for getting things done in an election year is small, don’t be surprised if the Senate committee foregoes a formal markup entirely and negotiates a package behind closed doors.
Given that there’s no strong interest in getting extenders done on the House side, the Senate will likely try to move an extenders package by attaching it to a must-pass bill (e.g., FY 2018 spending bill).
The Tax Policy Update team has picked up chatter that Republicans of the House Ways and Means Committee might end up addressing extenders in a piecemeal fashion — for example, adding a set of provisions in the forthcoming disaster relief bill and then doing another set in the FAA reauthorization bill.
As always, the MWC Tax Policy Update team will keep you posted on any new developments.