Congress Includes AICPA GST Tax Proposal in Estate Tax Bill; Other Institute-Backed Changes Poised for Action.

Congress included the proposal the AICPA helped develop to modify the generation skipping transfer tax in its bill to repeal estate taxes. Unfortunately, that does not mean problems related to the GST tax are about to be solved. President Clinton has vowed to veto the bill, and there does not appear to be enough votes for the bill in the House and Senate to override a veto. However, GOP congressional leaders are considering rolling estate tax relief into a budget reconciliation bill Congress probably will consider in Sept. The Institute will push to have the GST tax proposal added to the budget reconciliation measure.

Several other initiatives in which the AICPA has played an instrumental role are included in legislation to increase the minimum wage that is poised to pass Congress. One is the measure the Institute helped develop to allow employers to offer retirement-planning services to their employees without the cost of those services being taxable to the employee. The other is a provision that would reinstate the installment method of accounting for accrual basis taxpayers. The installment method change that became law in late 1999 became a boomerang for Congress almost immediately when it became apparent that the change was killing the sale of small businesses. AICPA Key Persons joined the torrent of Americans early this year urging Congress to reverse its action to effectively eliminate the use of the installment method of accounting for most accrual method taxpayers.