Tax Policy Update: January 14, 2014

Number of the Week: $53 Billion. The amount the Internal Revenue Service recovered through enforcement actions in the last fiscal year - a 6-percent increase over last year's recovery despite the low number of audits the agency carried out relative to the number of returns filed. The new omnibus spending package cuts the IRS budget to $11.2 billion, despite the agency's pleas for increased funding for enforcement and handling of new requirements under the healthcare law.

LEGISLATIVE LANDSCAPE

The House: All Quiet on the Tax Reform Front. But other fronts are buzzing with more oversight hearings on Obamacare, energy legislation markups and votes on a Healthcare.gov information security bill and a bill to ease EPA actions on states.