The fate of expiring provisions for individuals

Senate Finance Committee hearing of 4/3/14 on extenders

Over 50 federal tax rules expired at the end of 2013 and a few more will expire in the next few years. This is not news - it is a recurring event.  Often the provisions are renewed a year or more later after expiration. That makes planning impossible and it removes the incentive effect that some of these provisions are intended to have.

I've got a short article in the 4/10/14 AICPA Tax Insider that lists all of the expired and expiring provisions relevant to individuals. An accompanying table shows:

• When the provision was originally enacted.
• How many times the rule has already been renewed.
• How it would be addressed by proposals from Senator Wyden (although prior to some amendment by the Senate Finance Committee last week), Congressman Camp's reform proposals (of February 2014) and President Obama's FY2015 revenue proposals.

The table also includes my commentary on the particular items.

I hope you'll take a look and post a comment here on what you think of letting them all expire, renewing some, or something else and why. Thank you.