IRS adopts new way to calculate regulatory burdens

The IRS has adopted the National Taxpayers Union’s proposal for calculating the costs of taxpayer compliance, which the low-tax advocates said was a “more realistic method.”

The Paperwork Reduction Act required the IRS to estimate the real-world impact of regulations on taxpayers. This calculation is based on the actual time and money compliance will cost.

The IRS’s initial estimate of the onus of the paperwork greatly underestimated the actual burden on filers by using unrealistic hourly rates for professional tax advisors, NTU said.

“Following a recommendation by NTU President Pete Sepp suggesting a more realistic method to calculate the costs, the IRS listened and revised its cost calculation,” NTU said.

The 2024 proposed rule would expand reporting requirements for certain partnership-related “transactions of interest.”

This mandated taxpayers and their advisors to submit further details to the IRS using forms such as Form 8886 and Form 8819, which were intended to help the agency recognize intricate tax strategies where the IRS suspects there may be the possibility for tax avoidance, but they also would force significant new compliance requirements on filers, NTU said.

“To estimate the burden of these requirements, the IRS relied on an average hourly wage of just $102 for taxpayers completing these forms. … In addition, the IRS estimated that it takes an average of over 21 hours to fill out Form 8886, so the costs involved could be significant, at $2,195 per form.”

The organization said that to many filers subject to the proposed rules, the wage assumption is “unrealistically low” and the Transactions of interest are often complex, requiring careful analysis, documentation, coordination with tax advisors, highly-paid accountants, attorneys and other specialists.

In formal comments, NTU recommended a more accurate benchmark: $177.29 per hour, better reflecting the true cost of compliance for affected taxpayers.

The IRS and Treasury listened. They now estimate that compliance with the reporting requirements tied to transactions of interest will cost taxpayers roughly $163 million annually for the most commonly used forms tied to these transactions.

An AI law to protect kids and the First Amendment

The America First Policy Institute wants Congress to pass legislation requiring age-verified accounts for using artificial intelligence tools such as chatbots.

The conservative think tank said it would protect both children and First Amendment rights online.

The legislative framework, proposed in a recent position paper, also suggested requiring chatbot companies to tether a child’s account to a parent or guardian, so parents, not platforms, “will be more able to impose their own restrictions and curate the content they want their children to see and with which to engage.”

To help children assess the dangers, AFPI said Congress should impose child-safety disclosure requirements on AI companies. The disclosures would include a company’s risk assessments to enable parents to better assess the dangers these platforms might pose to their children.

Planned Parenthood keeps pocketing taxpayer dollars

Concerned Women for America wants to know why Planned Parenthood still receives taxpayer dollars.

In its  new report, Planned Parenthood said it provided 434,459 abortions (an 8% increase from 402,230 in 2023-2024) and 2.27 million birth control services. 

That irked Concerned Women for America, a conservative activist group.

“Planned Parenthood committed more abortions in the past year – a tragic and devastating loss of life  that we grieve over,”  said Penny Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women for America.  

“This devastating number of abortions also belies Planned Parenthood’s narrative that abortions are hard to access since the Dobbs decision. But just like Planned Parenthood will ’continue to do everything possible to help patients get abortion care,’ we at Concerned Women for America will continue to expose the truth about how abortion takes the life of a child and can be harmful to the mother.”

She said that Americans should not be forced to fund the pro-choice organization with their taxpayer dollars, saying that Planned Parenthood is the nation’s “largest abortion provider and a leading provider of cross sex hormones for children.”

“Our government should not be in the business of funding this evil, predatory industry,” Ms. Nance said. 

Democratic candidates urged to challenge Schumer, Jeffries

The far-left wing of the Democratic Party is calling on party leaders to step aside so the next generation can take over.

The Progressive Change Campaign said Democrats need to stand up to the likes of Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to win the upcoming midterm elections.

“We need someone [as president] who’s going to say, ’This is my party now. Chuck Schumer, retire. Hakeem, follow my lead. I’m going into battle. I need my party following me and not putting up with obstructionist corporate Democrats,” PCC’s Adam Green said on the “Thom Hartman Program.”

“And in order to ever elect a candidate like that for president, we need to prove this year that a guy named Abdul who supports Medicare for All can win in a state like Michigan.”

Mr. Green said that Juliana Stratton, the more liberal candidate running for U.S. Senate in Illinois, won her primary because one of the main planks of her campaign was removing Mr. Schumer as leader at the start of the next Congress.

“That was huge. There are Senate candidates who have taken similar positions in Michigan, in Iowa, in Maine,” Mr. Green said. “And I think anybody out there going to any kind of Senate forum or rally or town hall meeting would be wise to raise your hand and ask the question, ’Will you say now that Chuck Schumer should not be the Democratic leader at the start of next Congress?’”

• The Advocates column is a weekly look at the political action players who drive the debate and shape policy outcomes in Washington. Send tips to theadvocates@washingtontimes.com.