Talking Taxes In a Truck Podcast

Tax season is in full swing, and on this episode we're joined again by Ryan Ellis, who brings a front-line perspective to the discussion as an IRS Enrolled Agent. His message is a timely one: Americans are benefiting in a big way from the Working Families Tax Cut Act, but too often don't connect those lower tax bills to the policy changes enacted last year, an important reminder as we head into a...

On our latest episode we're joined by Jack Salmon, Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center and contributor to The Unseen and Unsaid . Jack helps us walk through how the aggressive tax policies being considered in California and Washington State will likely shrink the tax base in those states as high earners relocate, investment shifts elsewhere, and revenue projections miss the mark. We also touch...

On the latest episode of Talking Taxes in a Truck, we're joined by Jared Walczak, Senior Fellow at the Tax Foundation, to unpack California's proposed wealth tax and what it signals for state tax policy nationwide. Walczak explains why the unprecedented 5 percent tax – particularly its aggressive valuation rules for founders with super-voting shares – could dramatically overtax entrepreneurs, invi...

Our guest is Tom Nichols, partner at the Milwaukee-based Meissner Tierney Fisher & Nichols, longtime advisor to S-Corp, and author of an excellent new piece exposing the Section 461(l) Excess Business Loss limitation for the money-grabbing fraud it is. Tom walks through the provision's origins, the harm it does to affected businesses, and how flawed revenue estimates drove the policy. We also get...

S-Corp highlighted a recent report by economist Don Schneider quantifying the tax relief millions Americans can expect in the next year as a result of the OB3. It's a big number, so we invited Don, the Deputy Head of US policy at Piper Sandler, to explain why this could be the biggest refund season ever. Don also reviews the future of tariffs (and why they're likely here to stay even if courts wei...

Joe Lieber is a founder and co-managing partner of  Capitol Policy Partners , a veteran DC insider and a longtime friend of the TTT podcast. With a government shutdown all but inevitable at this point, we asked Joe how long we can expect this fight to play out, whether a grand bargain is in the offing, and the implications of a prolonged funding lapse. Later we get into the prospects of a year-end...

With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Working Families Tax Cut?) officially the law of the land, how are private companies responding? And where does tax policy go from here?   We invited EY Private National Tax Leader Dianne Mehany to the podcast to discuss those questions and more. Dianne breaks down the key provisions and how they're playing with clients (199A, SALT, estate tax). Later we discus...

Joe Lieber is a founder and co-managing partner of Capitol Policy Partners , a veteran DC insider and a three-time TTT podcast guest! Joe kicks things off with an overview of the tariff debate and where he thinks things are headed, how the bond markets will react, and whether the levies can be rolled into the budget reconciliation package. We then turn to tax policy, where Joe gives his bull case...

Between tariffs and budget resolutions, it's been an eventful and busy week here at S-Corp central. To cover it all, we're joined by three-time podcast guest Ryan Ellis, the President of the Center for a Free Economy and an IRS Enrolled Agent. Ryan gives us his unvarnished take on the tariffs, the Senate budget resolution, baseline budgeting, SALT Parity, Republican tax hikes and more.

The Corporate Transparency Act enforcement has been on quite a roller coaster in the past two months, so Main Street businesses can be forgiven if they have lost track of their filing obligations. To help shed some light on the issue, we're joined by Caleb Kruckenberg, the Center for Individual Rights' Litigation Director. Caleb breaks down the latest rulings out of SCOTUS and the Texas Eastern Di...

Our guest this week is Ken Kies -- Managing Director of the Federal Policy Group, a former Chief of Staff at the JCT, and one of DC's foremost tax policy experts. Ken discusses the looming "fiscal cliff" and what it means for pass-throughs, outlines the long-term fiscal imbalance we face, and shares his best marathon training tips.

Our latest podcast guest is Carol Roth, a New York Times bestselling author, small business advocate and most recently, a staunch ally in the fight to repeal the burdensome and ill-conceived Corporate Transparency Act. Carol starts by talking about how her time in the investment banking world exposed her to the uneven playing field between small businesses and larger corporations, and how that exp...

The Corporate Transparency Act is now in effect, imposing complex reporting requirements on every small business in the country, and many large ones too. But what if the person best equipped to assist those businesses with compliance – your local CPA --wasn't allowed to do so? To explore this dynamic, we talked to Jim Hamill, Director of Tax Practice at the Albuquerque-based accounting firm Reynol...

Our latest guest is Scott Hodge, who is president emeritus at the Tax Foundation and author of the excellent new book Taxocracy: What You Don't Know About Taxes and How They Rule Your Daily Life . Through the lens of history's most ill-conceived taxes – like the "chicken tax" and 17 th century "window tax" – Scott explains how tax policy shapes virtually every aspect of our lives and drives human...

We're just two weeks into the New Year and Washington is already abuzz with potential deals on spending and taxes. What's in the bill? What's out? Can lawmakers get it across the finish line? This week we're joined by Jon Lieber, head of research and managing director for the United States at Eurasia Group. Jon makes the bull and bear cases for a tax package moving and how it all affects the 2025...

Congress may have skipped tax policy this year, but the states have been busy. To get an idea of where things stand both good and bad, we talked to Jared Walczak, Vice President of State Projects at the Tax Foundation and one of the more active players in this space. Our conversation starts with the wealth taxes several states have proposed in recent months, the important but ignored  Antio case m...

Congress is in overdrive tackling its legislative to-do list and things are starting to pile up on the tax policy front. To help us keep track of it all we're joined by repeat podcast guest Ryan Ellis, Enrolled Agent and President of the Center for a Free Economy. Ryan kicks things off with a look at the latest developments on Capitol Hill, including the election of House Speaker Mike Johnson, rum...

How far will the Supreme Court go when it takes up Moore later this year? Will the IRS need to start writing refund checks? Is the entire pass-through regime in jeopardy? Can civil society survive?   To answer these questions, we're joined by repeat podcast guest and S-Corp ally George Callas, EVP of Public Finance at Arnold Ventures and a long-time respected voice in the Capitol Hill tax policy w...

Our latest podcast guest is Kevin Kuhlman, Vice President of Federal Government Relations at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Kevin kicks things off by recapping his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, and explains how the Corporate Transparency Act's reporting rules will saddle the small business community with unprecedented compliance costs and the thr...

This week's guest is Tony Simmons, the former President and CEO of McIlhenny Company and long-time Chairman of the S Corporation Association. Tony shares the history of Tabasco – starting with a single pepper plant back in 1868 and now a storied worldwide brand – as well as the importance of family-owned businesses and the role that tax policy plays in deciding whether to pass a company down from...

For today's Debt Ceiling-themed episode, we're joined by repeat guest Joe Lieber, Director of Research at Washington Analysis, an institutional research firm that closely tracks the goings-on in Congress. Joe offers his thoughts on the debt limit negotiations and the odds of a deal being reached, the surprising dynamics within the House Republican caucus, and which provisions are likely to emerge...

Fresh off of her triumphant visit to Capitol Hill we're joined by Lynn Mucenski-Keck, an S-CORP Advisor and Principal at top-25 public accounting firm Withum. Lynn recaps her appearance before the House Small Business Committee, including the specific tax provisions discussed, her back and forth with some of the panel's members, and her thoughts on the whole experience. Later we discuss IRS fundin...

With the 118 th Congress underway, there's a general sentiment that the next two years of divided government will be a quiet place for tax policy. To explore that question we invited Marc Gerson, Miller & Chevalier's Tax Department Chair and longtime S-CORP ally, for a return visit to the podcast. Marc breaks down the tax policy to-do list facing Congress, runs through the actions Treasury might t...

If you operate a business, your inbox is probably full of solicitations from firms promising a big payday through the Employee Retention Credit. We receive several a day, which got us wondering – what's the real story here? To address that question and more, we invited Lynn Mucenski-Keck, a Principal at Withum and prolific writer on federal tax policy to discuss the history of the ERC, the interpl...

For this special Midterm Elections-themed podcast we're joined by Jade West, Chief Government Relations officer at the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and Liam Donovan, a Principal at Bracewell. Jade, Liam, and Brian kick things off by talking about whether we can expect a "Red Wave" in the House – and if so, how big. Later the group breaks down each of the hotly-contested Senate r...