U.S. science groups make last-minute push to influence final tax deal

[Hortensis]

1. It's such an astonishingly malignant bill that we will

be forced to redo it. Taxing higher education? There'll be no waiting for a generation to pass another. We can't.

A provision liable to be passed is a big driver toward both fewer and lower paid employees and lower taxes, and thus even less money in a national kitty that's being intentially bankrupted.

Marketplace:

Hurtling toward the tax bill's unintended consequences

Well, I guess if I have to pick one, the one that I think is most interesting is how they're going to divide in a small business the wages which will be subject to a high tax rate from the profits which will be subject to a low tax rate. So in a small business, if I'm the owner, how do I divide what I should be paid as a worker from what I should be paid as a capitalist? And there's no bright line between those.

Ryssdal: This is that thing known as pass-through, right?

Sullivan: That's correct.

Ryssdal: OK. So what is to stop me or anybody else in this economy who is just going to work every day from making themselves into a pass-through corporation — and yes Congress is putting guardrails in there — but come on, we know smart tax lawyers can figure this out for us. And I get the lower rate, right?

Sullivan: The bill is still in flux. But it looks like if you're under $500,000 of income, you will be able to incorporate yourself and then make a contract with your employer. The income that you receive instead of wages would be considered a tax-preferred income, and you pay a lower rate.