As you know, both corporate and individual tax rates were reduced in last year’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Lower tax rates make tax-exempt vehicles like municipal bonds less attractive to both corporate and individual investors; with lower tax rates, they have less incentive to look for tax-exempt investments. Reduced demand for municipal bonds and other tax-exempt investment vehicles like private activity bonds (PABs) means that cities will have to increase the interest rates on new bond issues in order to attract investors.

With the omnibus having been passed by Congress, substantive legislative work will wind down until after the elections in November. There are, however, a few outstanding tax/financial issues to note.

Despite a strong last minute effort, Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) did not succeed in getting her Remote Transactions Parity Act (RTP) into the omnibus package passed today by the House and expected to be passed by the Senate by Friday.

Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy held a seven-hour, 4 panel hearing on the fate of tax extenders—temporary tax extenders like those for biofuels or short-line railroads. While they were just extended retroactively for 2017, they have again expired and currently are not available for 2018.

As part of their ongoing implementation of the partnership audit system created by 2015's Balanced Budget Act, the IRS has again released guidance on how partnerships can pay adjustments after an audit.