Fading Tax Cut Prospects Put Some Key Breaks in Jeopardy; Congress May Fail to Extend Temporary Provisions
Last month's tax-cut boomlet appears to be subsiding, leaving behind the likely prospect that Congress will make no changes in tax law this year.</br></br>For the Internal Revenue Service, which would have to rewrite forms, and for many economists, who think a tax cut would be a bad idea, this is good news.</br></br>But for many small businesses, self-employed people and workers with certain fringe benefits, it could mean higher taxes next year.</br></br>The reason is that about a dozen different tax breaks available to these folks will expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act.</br></br>The expiring provisions include one that allows self-employed people to deduct 25 percent of their health insurance premiums, another that allows employers to offer tax-free tuition reimbursements to workers taking outside courses, a third that allows employers to provide group legal services for employees on a tax-preferred basis.