Concerns of tax Execs 2013.

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.
• Position: TAX POLICY

Leading business tax executives are in the process of determining the impact of the 2012 election results and the enactment of the "fiscal cliff' legislation, (the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012), on the tax legislative agenda and environment in 2013. Law firm Miller & Chevalier joined with the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) in designing the 2013 Tax Policy Forecast Survey to determine the evolving views of these executives. It was Miller & Chevalier's 7th survey.

The results of the survey demonstrate that the leading concern of business tax executives is that in light of the current political and fiscal environment, Congress could enact revenue offsets to fund other legislative initiatives rather than fund changes to make the U.S. tax system more competitive, such as a corporate rate reduction.

In fact, 88 percent of respondents believe that raising revenue will be a significant tax policy priority of the administration in 2013. Respondents are particularly concerned about the use of revenue offsets impacting the U.S. taxation of their international operations in this context.

Business tax executives continue to believe that fundamental tax reform is necessary and believe it is Congress's top policy priority this year, but expressed greater doubt than in prior years that such reform will be enacted in the near future. Only 2 percent of respondents believe that fundamental tax reform will be enacted in 2013, whereas 31 percent of respondents in last year's survey believed such reform would be enacted in 2013.

Now, more than 40 percent predict that fundamental tax reform will not be enacted until after 2015, if ever. Respondents also...