HILL TAX BRIEF: Lawmakers Eye January as Tax Bill Crunch Time

The Senate is in session, but with the House gone for the year, lawmakers are looking to January as the next best hope for a bipartisan tax package to gain steam.

They’ll have no time to waste, with Congress returning the week of Jan. 8 and the next legislative vehicle tied to a Jan. 19 deadline for the first tranche of appropriations bills.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) told reporters last week he and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) talk “constantly” and that Smith is “direct” and “constructive” in their conversations.

Tax writers have ...