UPDATE: the filibuster rule again permitted a minority in the Senate to prevent good legislation from getting off the ground. On May 8 the Senate fell 8 votes short of the 60 vote supermajority needed to bring the loan provision with the S corp payroll provision to a vote. The right wing has by this vote explicitly condoned the gamesmanship that most closely held S corp owners engage in whereby they pretend that their service compensation is a return on investment.
The White House has endorsed a move by Senate Democrats to tighten up partnership and S Corps payroll tax payments--something long needed anyway--in order to fund the protection for students from paying too high interest rates on their loans. See Statement of Administration Policy (May 7, 2012); Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012 (S. 2343). The payroll tax provision would require owners of certain closely held partnerships and S corporations to pay payroll taxes on their income from the entities if they have income in excess of $200,000 (singles)/ $250,000 (joint filers). The provision would raise almost $6 billion over the next 10 years to pay for a one-year extension of the current 3.4% rate on government-guaranteed loans.
A procedural vote will take place on Tuesday, but the routine use of the filibuster by Republican opponents will likely make it hard to enact. Both parties claim a desire to hold the student loan rate steady, but Republicans can't stand the idea of rich people not being able to use their S corporations to avoid paying payroll taxes on all of their compensation, so the GOP passed a bill in the House that would pay for student loan relief by eliminating funding for a preventive care program!
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