Congress has left Washington for an extended (lawmakers do not return until September 9) summer recess. NAIFA members are visiting with their Representatives and Senators at home.

When Congress returns to Washington on September 9, lawmakers will have less than three weeks to fund the government (and consider any other pre-election pending legislation). Plus, Representatives and Senators will be focused on the November 5 election, when partisan control of the House, Senate, and Presidency are all in play. So, most Washington insiders believe that Congress will punt on most, if not all, major decisions, leading to a fraught post-election lame-duck session.

On August 8, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced it will again process 2021 Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) claims. It says it has resolved many claims issues, so far resulting in 28,000 denials and many valid claim payments.

On July 24, Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a final regulation on calculating minimum required distributions (MRDs) under the rules in SECURE 1.0. The regulation also contains guidance that is subject to notice and comment on SECURE 2.0 MRD rules.

On July 25, Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), along with five colleagues, introduced legislation that would impose criminal penalties on “rogue” health insurance advisors who make changes to individuals’ Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance without the insureds’ knowledge or consent. The Insurance Fraud Accountability Act would impose fines on brokers who negligently provide incorrect enrollment information, and criminal liability if the provision of incorrect information is “knowingly and willfully false or fraudulent.”

On July 10, the House Education and Workforce Committee approved a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to block the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) new fiduciary-only rule. The CRA resolution, H.J.Res.142, would “disapprove the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to “Retirement Security by Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary (89 Fed. Reg. 32122 (April 25, 2024)), and such rule shall have no force or effect.”

A federal district court in Texas has stayed a Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rule that sets a fixed administrative fee and consequently prevents payment to health insurance agents and brokers for advice recommending certain managed care plans. In Am. For Beneficiary Choice v. HHS and Council for Medicare Choice v. HHS, the court found that the plaintiffs demonstrated a substantial likelihood that they would prevail on the merits. The merits include plaintiffs’ claims that the rule would “upend the regulatory status quo, dramatically limiting administrative fees that Congress did not intend” for CMS to regulate.

In Moore v. United States, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) sidestepped the question of whether it is constitutional to tax unrealized income—but four opinions (two concurring and two dissenting) suggest that at least four of the current SCOTUS justices might in another case find it is unconstitutional to tax income until it is realized.

Both House and Senate tax writers continue their preparations for the 2025 tax bill. More potential targets for revenue-raising tax provisions have emerged.

Last month Republican lawmakers introduced motions to block the new rule raising the salary threshold for the white-collar exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime (OT) rule. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) introduced the Congressional Review Act (CRA) motion in the House; Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) introduced it in the Senate.

On June 20, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said the 1.4 million pending employee retention tax credit (ERTC) claims are getting continued heightened scrutiny, with “the vast majority” of them showing risk of being improper. The agency announced it had completed a detailed review of the pending claims in order to protect taxpayers and small businesses, and said it resulted in plans to deny tens of thousands of improper high-risk ERTC claims. Now, the IRS has started a new round of processing lower-risk claims to help eligible taxpayers.

On July 9, the House Ways & Means Committee approved legislation, H.R.8915, to expand the kinds of education-related expenses that can be paid tax-free from a 529 plan. Among the bill’s provisions is one that would allow NAIFA members to use 529 funds for professional certifications or programs connected with obtaining a postsecondary credential, including those required to obtain a state license.

House Ways & Means Committee Republicans have formed ten issue-specific “tax teams” to work on what to include in the looming 2025 major tax bill. Senate Finance Committee Republicans will tackle these issues in six “working groups.” Both say they “may” include Democrats in their deliberations at some point, but for now, it is an all-GOP effort.

Recurring revenue estimates of the cost of extending the expiring 2017 tax cuts suggest that revenue will play a major role in the debate over the upcoming tax bill in 2025. After at least five revenue estimates, all covering a 10-year period that includes 2028, projections of the revenue lost due to current tax rules keep going up.

A companion Senate bill (S.4398) to the RISE Act introduced last fall in the House (H.R.6007) has been introduced. The RISE Act expands the tax credit available for starting retirement savings plans for very small businesses.

The House-passed tax bill, H.R.7024, remains stalled in the Senate. However, its chief Senate sponsor, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), says the bill is not dead. Sen. Wyden says he continues to work with Senate leadership to schedule Senate floor time on the bill.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has asked for public comments on how to amend current law to allow companies to provide benefits to their independent contractor workers who are not employees.  Sen. Cassidy is ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, the committee with jurisdiction over ERISA’s non-tax pension/retirement savings issues. He also serves on the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over ERISA’s and other retirement savings tax issues.

A coalition of business groups has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) new and now-final white-collar exemption to Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime (OT) rules. A court ruling on the lawsuit could result in a delay in the July 1 effective date of the new rule.

The House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing on April 30 with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as the sole witness. The hearing focused on the Biden budget tax proposals, and on the issues surrounding the scheduled expiration of the 2017 individual and estate tax rules.

Not only are fixed annuities now within the scope of the final fiduciary rule, but also a key tax writer is seeking information from the 12 biggest annuity writers about how annuities are sold. It appears that annuities are approaching being at the center of both Congressional and regulatory attention.