Senate Bill Doesn't Have House's Tax Break for 'Unborn Children'

[DonViejo]

Source: Bloomberg




By Sahil Kapur
December 4, 2017, 1:16 PM EST

Shortly before passing their tax bill, Senate Republicans removed a provision that would have allowed tax breaks for “unborn children,” a top GOP aide confirmed on Monday.

The proposal “on unborn children was not included in the measure that passed the Senate,” said Julia Lawless, a spokeswoman for Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch.

The provision -- which passed the House in its tax bill last month -- would have allowed parents to set up tax-advantaged accounts, known as 529s, to save for college expenses of an unborn “child in utero.” Anti-abortion advocates sought its inclusion, while abortion-rights leaders slammed the language, arguing that conferring a right in connection with fetuses creates a legal basis to chip away at abortion rights.

Lawless said the language was deemed incompatible with the so-called Byrd Rule, which prohibits changes that aren’t directly related to taxes and spending under the process that Senate leaders are using to pass their tax bill. The final bill was released Friday evening and passed 51-49, with only Republican votes, a few minutes before 2 a.m. in Washington on Saturday.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-04/senate-bill-doesn-t-have-house-s-tax-break-for-unborn-children

[Sophia4]

1. Thanks for posting this. What a vile idea to include such a provision in a tax bill.

[hedda_foil]

2. This was an interesting proposition. Not a good, but interesting.

A nation that puts a premium on increasing their population might pass a tax credit for a pregnancy, as well as for actual children. It could have the side effect of reducing abortion, though it would probably be a negligible effect. Given the anti-abortion hysteria on the right, and the white nationalist encouragement of lots of white babies, the whole idea was somewhere between odious and repugnant.

[Scruffy1]

3. Very well said.

I will fully plagiarize the phrase "...between odious and repugnant."

[OilemFirchen]

6. There already is a deduction for children.

However, with the current tax bill in conference, there isn't a tax credit for other people's children - having done away with deductions for local taxes, much of which pays for schools. Childless individuals and couples are thus penalized twice.

FTR, I absolutely advocate for all citizens to pay for public education, childless or not. I do not, however, believe in double-taxation.

[hedda_foil]

7. I couldn't agree more. The idea of paying taxes on your state and local taxes is horrendous.

[BigmanPigman]

4. The House and Senate have to negotiate now...GOOD FOR US!!!

Last edited Mon Dec 4, 2017, 06:38 PM - Edit history (1)

I was part of the Not One Penny nationwide phone call today and you are doing what Ben said we all need to do. The bill is not a win, it is a disaster and we can stop it. There are still a few weeks left and the three things we must do...
1. Attend protests, town halls, etc and make sure the media is there, no matter how big or small it is. The media has been absent due to the non stop distractions. There are many important issues but this is our BIGGEST PRIORITY for the next few weeks.
2. Keep up the CALLS. They started late but eventually their staffers were busy ...call, tell your family and friends in other states to call too. [phone]
https://www.trumptaxscam.org/
3. Social media is crucial. Retweet and share whatever you can. Send it to the media. Events, town halls, protests are occurring and over 100 are planned for this week alone. Bernie, Cory Booker, Indivisible, MoveOn have been going to Kentucky, Ohio and PA all weekend.

New info is already coming out. One new fact since the Fri vote is that there will be 1/2 trillion more dollars added to the deficit. 28% of Americans approve of the Tax Scam. This week Ryan will appoint Repub to his closed door "conference committee" and then we can target those reps. The house and senate have to "negotiate a compromise". What they voted on is different in each chamber. For now we know of 28 Rep congressmen who voted against one of the two bills/plans. We need to flip 23 of them. The Senate will need to be PRESSURED NON STOP...this means calling the 9 senators that were wavering. If we get Alabama we only need two more senators with Corker. This would be great. Also there is the threat of a govt shutdown by Fri., Dec. 8th.
We have been the catalysts of the grass roots efforts for a year and have stopped major legislation. We have a few more weeks until the holidays. After that we have to spread the word about what the GOP has done to the stability and future of our country with this tax cut for the rich and they are taking money from the sick and poor which will bankrupt millions and take over 13 million off of health care. Meanwhile tax cuts for multi million dollar corporations will not be trickling down at all and never will. The bill ensures that the country will be taxed more over the next 10 year (but not the corporations...you and me are paying).
Call [phone]

We must HAMMER them on this bill. Put pressure on these greedy, cruel eastwards and DO NOT STOP!

[haele]

5. This provision is unenforcable, anyway

We have set up two 529 accounts for our grand-daughters through our credit union, and there's quite a bit we've learned about them.

Currently, Tax Advantaged accounts require social security numbers or other identification that only a born person (i.e., actual evidence of live birth) can have.

With the "pre-born" as the anti-abortionists like to call them, it seems to me that unless the Social Security office decides to expand their records to include fertilized eggs, there's a significant chance that such an account can be used for money laundering on smaller scales, and a bank or financial institution needs to be on alert for "parents" that open up such accounts frequently.
Simply, what's to stop a tax scam where , the account set up with only the parent's SSNs, and "all their friends and family members" quickly put a significant amount of money into the account - and then "something happens".
After all, there are areas in this country where miscarriage and maternal mortality rates are significantly high. See, when the account owner dies, the terms of the 529 plan will control who becomes the new account owner.
Some states permit the account owner to name a contingent account owner, who'd assume all rights if the original account owner dies. In other states, account ownership may pass to the designated beneficiary. The earnings portion of the withdrawal would be taxable, but the surviving beneficiary won't be charged a penalty for terminating an account upon the death of the original beneficiary.

If I were a small-time mobster running an illegal gambling ring or a scamming evilangelical type it's a great set-up.
After going to the local "Pregnancy Crisis Center" and getting verification that "she's gonna have a baby" because there's a spike in the hormones, one would then go to the local bank and open up the account for an unborn "child".
The "parents" and others could then write donations off to that account as an education investment deduction for that year, and since it will only be in the account a few months due to non-viability, the surviving beneficiary then withdraws the now deducted money without any penalty and minimum earnings to be taxed after the few months.

Sure, one couldn't pass a lot of money doing this, but in the first few months, it's sometimes difficult to accurately ascertain if someone really, really is pregnant or if the fetus is even viable. And if these folks are really serious about pushing the "personhood at conception" rules, a clump of fertilized of five or six embryo implants could technically be eligible for this account before the natural culling occurs.

Haele

[dembotoz]

9. I wondered if they would provide a ssn to the fetus

A clean number is worth money to those who wish to establish a fake identity

[KWR65]

8. Well. I guess every man has a potential millon children per year that are unborn

How would the IRS prove I didn't have one million unborn children?

[Nitram]

10. "Tax breaks for unborn children? They are trying to leave a paper trail of "precedent" to bolster

future attempts to ban abortion. The good news is that their obsessions make the bills harder to reconcile.