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The IRS should help taxpayers understand the law

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A national taxpayer advocate recently testified before the Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee on proposals to reform IRS operations in the House Republican tax reform blueprint. One suggestion: to focus not only on the percentage of calls that the IRS answers but also on “the range of services we want the tax administrator to provide.” The advocate said the IRS “today answers only ‘basic’ tax-law questions during the filing season and doesn’t answer tax-law questions during the other 8½ months of the year.”

CBO grades American Health Care Act

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The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gives its “score” to the American Health Care Act (AHCA). The CBO issued a report projecting the proposed law would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion from 2017-2026. The largest savings would come from reduced Medicaid outlays and eliminating the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies for nongroup health insurance. Savings would be offset by a new tax credit and repealing many ACA taxes and penalties. In 2018, the CBO estimated 14 million more people would be uninsured under the bill, increasing to 24 million in 2026.