Tax Notes Talk

Jenny Speck with Vinson & Elkins discusses the clean energy tax credits in the House’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including last-minute changes to the House Rules Committee’s version. 

For more coverage, read the following in Tax Notes:

• House Advances $3.8 Trillion Tax Bill; Faces Rewrite in Senate
• Democratic Dads Say Tax Bill Would Pass Debt Burden to Kids
• Clean Energy Industry Seeks Edits to Tax Bill
• Analysis: The Future of IRA Credit Transfers: Predictions From the First Year

Follow us on X:

• Marie Sapirie: @mariesapirie
• David Stewart: @TaxStew
• Tax Notes: @TaxNotes

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Have you or a peer made a lasting impact on state and local tax policy? Nominations for the 2025 Tax Analysts State and Local Tax Award of Distinction are open. For more information or to nominate someone, go to taxnotes.co/awards.

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Credits
Host: David D. Stewart
Executive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige Jones
Producers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes
Audio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes

Four policy experts discuss the Trump administration’s actions on tariffs, their economic impacts, and their effects on tax policy during a live recording from the American Bar Association Section of Taxation May meeting.

For more coverage, read the following in Tax Notes:

• Tax Experts: Two Thumbs Down for Federal Film Credits, Tariffs
• U.S. and China Reach Trade Agreement, Roll Back Tariffs
• Tariffs Scrapped on Steel and Aluminum in U.K.-U.S. Trade Deal
• Tariffs, Economic Change Add to Pressure on GOP Tax Bill

Follow us on X:

• Ryan Finley: @ryanmfinley
• David Stewart: @TaxStew
• Tax Notes: @TaxNotes

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Have you or a peer made a lasting impact on state and local tax policy? Nominations for the 2025 Tax Analysts State and Local Tax Award of Distinction are open. For more information or to nominate someone, go to taxnotes.co/awards.

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Credits
Host: David D. Stewart
Executive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige Jones
Producers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes
Audio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes

Tax Notes chief correspondent Stephanie Soong discusses how the Trump administration’s tax priorities have been shaping negotiations on the OECD’s two-pillar project. 

Listen to our previous episodes on the two pillars here:

• Former U.S. OECD Negotiator Talks Trump's Global Tax Impact
• Making Progress: Updates on the OECD Tax Reform Plan
• An Update on Pillar 1 Amount B
• Pillar 1 Amount B: Disagreements and Divides

For more coverage, read the following in Tax Notes:

• EU Tax Observatory Urges More Talks on Pillar 2 Tax Incentives
• Stakeholders Back Mix of Pillar 2 Tweaks to Reassure the U.S.
• EU Presidency Lays Out Options to Address U.S. Pillar 2 Concerns
• GILTI’s Coexistence With OECD Global Minimum Tax Is U.S. Priority

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• Stephanie Soong: @StephanieSoong
• David Stewart: @TaxStew
• Tax Notes: @TaxNotes

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Credits
Host: David D. Stewart
Executive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige Jones
Producers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes
Audio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes

Professors Joshua Blank and Leigh Osofsky, authors of Automated Agencies: The Transformation of Government Guidance, discuss the IRS and other federal agencies’ use of artificial intelligence and chatbots in providing legal guidance to the public.  

For more coverage, read the following in Tax Notes:

• State Tax Administrators Are Studying the Use of Generative AI
• IRS to Pause Technology Modernization Work
• ATO Urged to Integrate Ethical, Legal Safeguards Into AI Models
• IRS Artificial Intelligence Policy Could See Changes Under Trump

Follow us on X:

• David Stewart: @TaxStew
• Tax Notes: @TaxNotes

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Join the Tax Notes Talk team for our upcoming live recording at the ABA May Tax Meeting on Friday, May 9! 

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Credits
Host: David D. Stewart
Executive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige Jones
Producers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes
Audio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes

Tax Notes Capitol Hill reporters Cady Stanton and Katie Lobosco outline Congress’s progress on drafting the tax-focused reconciliation bill and the obstacles still remaining.

For more coverage, read the following in Tax Notes:

• The Semi-Calm Before the Storm of Assembling a Giant Tax Bill
• Those Troublesome Budget Instructions: They Might Not Matter
• House Looks to Assert ‘First Mover’ Status on Tax Bill
• Senate Taxwriters Discussing Hike in Top Tax Rate, Grassley Says
• How House Budget Hawks Went From ‘No’ to ‘Yes’ in Under 24 Hours

Follow us on X:

• Cady Stanton: @Cady_Stanton 
• Katie Lobosco: @KatieLobosco
• David Stewart: @TaxStew
• Tax Notes: @TaxNotes

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This episode is sponsored by the University of California Irvine School of Law Graduate Tax Program. For more information, visit law.uci.edu/gradtax.

Join the Tax Notes Talk team for our upcoming live recording at the ABA May Tax Meeting on Friday, May 9! 

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Credits
Host: David D. Stewart
Executive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige Jones
Producers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes
Audio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes

Tax Notes chief correspondent Amanda Athanasiou discusses her recent investigation into the IRS's handling of Freedom of Information Act requests and trends from two decades of agency data.

For more, check out the Tax Notes coverage of the IRS FOIA system:

• IRS FOIA Backlog Expected to Grow
• FOIA Appeals Fail So Often, Taxpayers See a Broken System
• The IRS Is Getting Fewer FOIAs. Why Aren’t Response Times Improving?

Follow us on X:

• Amanda Athanasiou: @akathanasiou
• David Stewart: @TaxStew
• Tax Notes: @TaxNotes

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This episode is sponsored by the University of California Irvine School of Law Graduate Tax Program. For more information, visit law.uci.edu/gradtax.

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Credits
Host: David D. Stewart
Executive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige Jones
Producers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes
Audio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes

Mat Mermigousis of BDO discusses the Trump administration’s ever-changing tariff policies and what they may mean for U.S. businesses. 

For more coverage, read the following in Tax Notes:

• Trump Pauses Tariff Increases
• EU Poised to Impose 25 Percent Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Goods
• China Announces Reciprocal Tariffs on U.S. Imports
• Trump’s Tariffs Generate Tons of Criticism as Uncertainty Abounds

Follow us on X:

• Michael Smith: @TaxesMichael
• David Stewart: @TaxStew
• Tax Notes: @TaxNotes

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This episode is sponsored by the University of California Irvine School of Law Graduate Tax Program. For more information, visit law.uci.edu/gradtax.

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Credits
Host: David D. Stewart
Executive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige Jones
Producers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes
Audio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes

Professor Andrew Kahrl, author of The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America, discusses his argument that local property taxes have contributed to the disenfranchisement of Black homeowners.   

Read Thorndike's book review in Tax Notes, "Is the ‘Predatory’ Property Tax an Instrument of Oppression?"

Listen to more Tax Notes Talk episodes from our critical tax theory series:

• Addressing Tax Policy Challenges for Workers With Disabilities
• Race-Based Poll Taxes and 20th-Century Discrimination
• Examining Treasury’s Review of Racial Bias in the U.S. Tax Code

Follow us on X:

• Joe Thorndike: @jthorndike
• David Stewart: @TaxStew
• Tax Notes: @TaxNotes

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This episode is sponsored by the University of California Irvine School of Law Graduate Tax Program. For more information, visit law.uci.edu/gradtax.

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Credits
Host: David D. Stewart
Executive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige Jones
Producers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes
Audio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes

Kimie Eacobacci of the National Council on Disability details how a 60-year-old revenue ruling can exclude workers with disabilities from standard employment benefits and protections. 

Listen to more Tax Notes Talk episodes from our critical tax theory series:

• The Inadvertent Price of a Gender-Neutral Tax Code
• Race-Based Poll Taxes and 20th-Century Discrimination
• Examining Treasury’s Review of Racial Bias in the U.S. Tax Code
• State Tax Authority and Native Americans: Complex and Convoluted
• Wealth, Inequality, and Taxes in the U.S.
• Taxes and the LGBTQ Community

Follow us on X:

• David Stewart: @TaxStew
• Tax Notes: @TaxNotes

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This episode is sponsored by the University of California Irvine School of Law Graduate Tax Program. For more information, visit law.uci.edu/gradtax.

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Credits
Host: David D. Stewart
Executive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige Jones
Producers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes
Audio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes

Tax Notes IRS reporter Benjamin Valdez provides an update on the IRS’s recent staffing developments and how they may affect filing season.  

Check out our most recent episode on the IRS, "Trump's Hiring Freeze and the IRS."

For more coverage, read the following in Tax Notes:

• IRS Rollout of In-Person Work Faces Obstacles
• Treasury, IRS Still Finalizing Next Staff Reductions, Krause Says
• IRS to Pause Technology Modernization Work
• Trump Replaces Acting IRS Chief Counsel
• Ousted IRS Human Capital Officer Pushed Back on Firings, DOGE
• Former IRS Officials Warn of Consequences to Staff Cuts

Follow us on X:

• Ben Valdez: @BenMValdez
• David Stewart: @TaxStew
• Tax Notes: @TaxNotes

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This episode is sponsored by the University of California Irvine School of Law Graduate Tax Program. For more information, visit law.uci.edu/gradtax.

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Credits
Host: David D. Stewart
Executive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige Jones
Producers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes
Audio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton Rhodes