Events.

• Position: Conference address on tax initiatives - Financial Executive wins award

Women's forum hears about tax package.

Damela Olson, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy, addressed the FEI Womens' Network Forum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, June 11. She outlined a number of tax initiatives under way on Capitol Hill and within the Administration, and provided some candid remarks about the recently enacted tax bill.

Olson lauded several provisions included in the bill signed by the President, including the reduction in individual income tax rates and the increased small business expensing exemption. Both provisions, she said, should prove beneficial to small businesses, many of which are organized as pass-through entities for tax purposes. Lowering the individual rates will leave more money in the pockets of small business owners, she argued, many of whom will plow that money back into their businesses.

As for ongoing tax legislation, Olson expects Congress to consider international tax reform legislation later this summer. She also expects Congress to consider individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) relief in some form, although outright repeal seems unlikely, given the high dollar cost.

Olson also noted that the United States and Japan have reached an agreement in principle on the text of a new income tax treaty. She stressed the importance of this treaty, noting that it provides for substantial reductions in the withholding taxes imposed on cross-border dividends, interest, royalties and other income, including the complete elimination of...