Pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to respond to the Trump administration's tariff threats, seeking to mitigate duties on their products while keeping the impact on their tax bills to a minimum.   The industry has long leveraged complex transfer pricing arrangements to cut down on its tax bills, but now the looming tariffs could spark a major rethink for where companies make their drugs and the location of their crown jewel: the intellectual property. Pharmaceuticals were exempt from the initial wave of tariffs announced earlier this year, but subsequent months have seen threats of heavy fines and taxes from the administration and a looming national security investigation, which could result in heavy duties on the industry.   In this week's Talking Tax podcast, Cronus Consulting founder Nick Shipley talked with reporter Caleb Harshberger about how pharmaceutical companies are navigating the chaos, and what it could mean for their tax planning and operations. Shipley is a consultant for the pharmaceutical industry. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

One of the most unwanted jobs in Washington is now up for grabs—again. President Donald Trump's IRS commissioner, Billy Long, exited as the head role last week and is expected to be nominated as the ambassador to Iceland. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will fill the job in the interim. The vacancy at the top of the IRS continues the turbulence the agency has experienced since the start of the Trump administration. Now, the question of who will be nominated next—if at all—remains. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Slowey discusses how the IRS got to this point and what it means for the future of the agency. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

It’s been four months since the Trump administration announced its “Liberation Day” tariffs, and companies are still scrambling to make sense of what it means for their operations and tax planning. Rates keep changing, sometimes day to day, as countries struggle to make lasting trade deals with the US, while corporate tax and customs departments put their heads together to minimize the costs to their companies—without attracting a big audit. In this special Talking Tax podcast—the first of four on transfer pricing and tariffs—PwC principal Chris Desmond talks with Bloomberg Tax reporter Caleb Harshberger about the ways companies have been trying to adjust to the new reality. These include emergency meetings with top executives and heads of tax, trade, and other functions across the company, and deep dives into customs rules that many company executives hadn't felt the need to know well—until now. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Millions of taxpayers used to getting paper checks from the Treasury Department will soon have to find another way to get their money as the agency phases out paper refunds. The Treasury will send its final tax refund on a paper check by October, if it stays the course set by President Donald Trump’s March 25 order to transition fully to electronic payments. Tax observers fear that the change could leave low-income or unbanked taxpayers confused or without refunds. The abrupt switch to direct deposit for all tax refunds also could catch less-obvious taxpayers by surprise. Real estate trusts can't submit banking information on current tax forms unless they are expecting a refund of over $1 million, meaning smaller trusts can't tell the IRS where to send a direct deposit. Banks also hesitate to service high-risk small businesses—like those in the marijuana industry—leaving them without a means to receive a direct deposit. In this episode of Talking Tax, Cheri Freeh, chair of the committee responsible for policy advocacy for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, breaks down these changes and tells taxpayers how to get ahead of them. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Tax-exempt organizations are closely watching the Trump administration to see if it makes good on its intention to alter standards around claiming tax-free status. The IRS gave a green light to churches speaking about political campaigns and candidates without losing their tax-exempt status, while President Donald Trump publicly threatened Harvard University's tax status because of allegations of antisemitism on campus. Treasury also is considering a change to IRS policies to allow the revocation of tax-exempt status for colleges that consider race in student admissions. Nonprofits already are changing their internal policies to adhere to the administration's moves. Some universities earlier this year slashed progressive policies and scrubbed references to diversity, equity, and inclusion from their websites to avoid a clash with Trump. Churches likely will push the bounds of what type of political speech is allowed, setting up a fight about whether places of worship can endorse or raise money for political candidates, tax professionals said. Phil Hackney, a University of Pittsburgh School of Law professor and former IRS lawyer, breaks down what these changes mean for nonprofits in this week's episode of Talking Tax. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Tax breaks for whale captains in Alaska and spaceport builders were among the lower-profile perks included in the GOP's $3.4 trillion tax-and-spending law enacted this month. The policies were necessary to gain votes of Republican holdouts, enabling the measure to pass in both the Senate and House in time for GOP lawmakers' self-imposed July 4 deadline. The law moved through Congress faster than many predicted, and some lawmakers are seeking changes to provisions in the law already generating criticism, such as a change to the deduction amount for wagering losses. The Republican majority's use of the reconciliation process, which allowed the measure to pass without any Democratic support, does not portend well for bipartisanship ahead. In this week's episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Chris Cioffi breaks down what Congress could tackle next on the tax front, including what could be in more reconciliation bills in the months and year ahead. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Multinational corporations have been hustling to make sense of the flurry of US tariff policy changes this year, and figure out how to factor that into their transfer pricing. One place that's been in this situation before: Latin America. For decades, companies there have been navigating tariffs and the impacts on their tax planning—including transfer pricing, or how companies value transactions between their related entities. This week on the Talking Tax podcast, Webridge Technology Global Tax Adviser Hernan Katz talks about the lessons companies can take away from the experience of Latin American countries. These include making sure staff across departments are working together to tackle issues of trade and transfer pricing, how tax authorities try to crack down on companies they suspect aren't following the rules, and explaining how intercompany dealings are motivated by business reasons—not tax or trade. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The fate of the OECD-led global tax deal was rocked this week after the US and its Group of Seven allies came to an understanding that would exempt American companies from two key parts of the global minimum tax framework. G7 countries agreed to the exemption over the weekend in exchange for Congress removing Section 899 from its tax-and-spending bill—a provision referred to as the "revenge tax" that would have hiked taxes on foreign-owned companies if their home countries imposed "unfair" taxes on US businesses. In this week's episode of Talking Tax, reporter Lauren Vella talks about how the agreement was reached, and why the G7's statement is only the first small step toward the US achieving what it calls "side-by-side" treatment of its tax system and the global minimum tax framework. She also discusses Canada's decision to revoke its digital services tax to bring President Donald Trump back to the trade negotiating table, and what impact it could have on other countries that have similar levies in place. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Congress is reconsidering the accounting guardrails it put in place more than two decades ago to ensure investors can trust the revenues and asset values listed companies publish. Republican budget proposals would abolish the US audit regulator and reassign its work to the Securities and Exchange Commission. While lawmakers negotiate over what will end up in a final version of their tax and spending bill, the proposals have prompted debate over how best to regulate auditors and the role of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. A member of the board and two former executives turned whistleblowers of once-corporate titans Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. spoke with Bloomberg Tax reporter Amanda Iacone about whether the audit regulator should remain independent or whether it would benefit from being folded into the federal government. On this episode of Talking Tax, Sherron Watkins, a former Enron finance executive, and Cynthia Cooper, a former WorldCom chief audit executive, argue that Congress shouldn’t scrap an agency that oversees auditors that act as investors’ last line of defense. To Christina Ho, a current PCAOB member who has objected to the board’s approach, moving auditor oversight to the SEC would counter what she sees as regulatory overreach and provide new opportunities to improve audit quality. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The Republican-led Senate Finance Committee unveiled its portion of the mammoth tax-and-spending legislation that's quickly moving through Congress, and there's a lot to unpack. The Senate bill has dozens of differences from the House version. It makes several business breaks permanent, softens the excise tax on university endowments, and phases out more slowly cuts to clean energy credits, while smoothing edges on the so-called "revenge tax." But there are many similarities in the approaches the two bills take—both have tax breaks on income such as tips and overtime sought by President Donald Trump, and seek to extend much of the 2017 GOP tax law. Things are moving quickly as the Senate aims to pass its version out of its chamber before the July 4 break. In this week's episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Chris Cioffi speaks with host David Schultz on what's in the bill, what's left out, and where Congress goes from here. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Recent layoff announcements at Big Four accounting, tax, and consulting firms come as the industry faces economic uncertainty and a shrinking talent pool. The accounting profession is at a crossroads as a new class of students graduate. While recent data shows heightened interest in both undergraduate and master's degree programs, the industry faces possible disruptions like workforce reductions and emerging artificial intelligence tools. Deloitte LLP announced in April it would lay off government consulting employees as the Trump administration slashed federal contracts. The firm said in a statement the personnel actions were based on its public-sector clients' "evolving needs," among other factors. PwC LLP plans to cut roughly 1,500 jobs, many in its tax and assurance practices, the firm said last month, after two years of historically low levels of turnover. The firm plans to slow down its campus recruiting and will offer fewer internships for next year. But PwC announced this week it plans to reorganize its US advisory business, doubling the number of divisions from four to eight. The move "is being approached from a position of strength," according to a statement from PwC US advisory leader Tyson Cornell. Peter Demerjian is the director of the school of accountancy at Georgia State University. Namaan Mian is the chief operating officer at Management Consulted, a professional training and coaching organization. Demerjian and Mian spoke with Bloomberg Tax reporter Jorja Siemons about the recent layoffs, the industry's embrace of AI, and potential impacts on the industry's next generation. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The “revenge” tax provision that’s in the giant tax bill working its way through Congress has a lot of people worried. Known as Section 899, the provision would impose stiff, retaliatory tax rates on companies and people from countries that the US deems to be imposing "unfair" and "discriminatory" taxes against US companies. It was included in the version of the bill House Republicans narrowly passed last month, and now gets Senate attention. The aim of Section 899 is to push those countries into changing their policies, but many observers fear the move would lead to lower foreign investment in the US, costing American jobs and cutting into economic growth. That’s not the only reason for concern. Financial markets are worried about the retaliatory tax’s potential impact on the value of US assets. Some observers think Section 899 would damage the US’s longstanding reputation as a stable, reliable place for global companies to do business and for global investors to put their money, On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax senior reporter Michael Rapoport explains the retaliatory-tax proposal and discusses its prospects for becoming law. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Companies scored wins after the House passed a multi-trillion-dollar tax bill that largely preserved the current tax rates on foreign-earned income. Republicans' 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created a new international tax regime including a minimum tax on global intangible low-taxed income, or GILTI, a reduced tax rate on foreign-derived intangible income, or FDII, and a base erosion and anti-abuse tax, or BEAT. Each of these tax rates will go up in 2026 without congressional action, but House lawmakers made slight changes that will result in minimal tax increases. But the debate isn't over. The bill now heads to the Senate, where tax practitioners and companies expect impactful changes to the mammoth legislation, including the international provisions. On this week's episode of Talking Tax, reporter Lauren Vella talks about the House provisions, what companies want to see in the Senate version of the tax bill, and how the legislation might impact US relations with other countries. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

House Republicans are moving quickly to get a massive tax-and-spending package across the finish line before week's end even as they negotiate with party factions over outstanding concerns. Some Republicans are demanding deeper cuts to social programs like Medicaid to curb deficits as part of the deal and to reduce the package's cost to extend the 2017 tax overhaul. And yet the bill increases the debt limit by $4 trillion and adds billions in spending. Cut out of the process, Democrats oppose the proposal, and even some Republicans have objected to its size and scope. Regardless of where lawmakers fall on the political spectrum, they all seem to agree on one data source: What the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has to say about the package and what it will do to the national deficit, which now stands at over $36 trillion. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Chris Cioffi talks with Maya MacGuineas, longtime president of the nonprofit public policy group, and digs into why the growing debt can be problematic for future economic growth. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

With the massive wave of federal government layoffs, tens of thousands of workers from the IRS and other agencies are likely looking for new jobs, potentially in the private sector for the first time. Caroline Ciraolo, a partner at Kostelanetz and founder of the firm's office in Washington, D.C., has started an initiative that connects former federal tax professionals with law firms and other private employers. She knows what it's like to make the transition: Ciraolo was the No. 2 official in the Department of Justice Tax Division from 2015 to 2017 before returning to the private sector. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax Editor at Large Rebecca Baker sat down with Ciraolo to discuss shifting out of government work, and how the "love of the practice area" is a key transferable skill. "That passion for unpacking complicated transactions and complicated facts and circumstances, identifying the issues—those skills are equal on both sides," she said. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The IRS right now isn't the same agency it was at the start of this year. That's because about 20% of IRS workers have signaled they want to leave or have been fired. The ripple effects of this exodus could go far, not just for the IRS itself, but for businesses and individual taxpayers trying to file their returns. Roughly half of the 30 people at the top of the IRS organizational chart have left, many because of Trump administration decisions that stretch boundaries of the law. Those departures in particular erode an important layer of defense to the IRS's most important missions: taxpayer data security and a fair tax system, former and current agency officials said. Most recently, two executives brought on to help the IRS build up its enforcement and reporting of digital assets left and were replaced by longtime IRS official Trish Turner. The leadership departures, combined with the broader cuts across different levels of the agency, make it harder for the IRS to collect revenue for the government and provide help to taxpayers. The IRS plans to lean more heavily on technology to make up for the lost workers. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporters Erin Slowey and Erin Schilling discuss who's replacing executives who have left, the impacts of the high turnover, and what happens when workers who want to leave can't. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

House Republicans are pushing a plan to dismantle the US audit board and send its watchdog duties to the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a federal budget-cutting process. It's not the first GOP attempt to rein in the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, but this time it comes against the backdrop of the Trump administration's sweeping drive to cut regulations and downsize government. Congress set up the board in the early 2000s to restore investor trust following high-profile corporate accounting scandals at Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. The move to eliminate PCAOB threatens to derail independent oversight of auditors charged with vetting the financial reports of public companies worth trillions in stock value, according to Bloomberg Tax senior reporter Amanda Iacone. On this episode of Talking Tax, Iacone speaks with Benjamin Freed, Bloomberg Tax team lead for state tax and financial accounting, about why the PCAOB is being targeted now, previous attempts to curb its influence, and what a potential disbanding could mean for audit firms. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Before leaving for a two-week break, House Republican lawmakers adopted a Senate budget outline to expedite legislation to push through trillions of dollars in tax cuts, raise the debt ceiling, and slash billions in spending. Now comes the hard part where policy committees need to fill in the fine details. The Senate framework called for $1.5 trillion in new tax cuts, to enact policies like some proposed by President Donald Trump on the campaign trail. The Senate's use of a so-called current policy baseline wipes away, on paper, trillions of dollars expected to add to the deficit from extending the expiring parts of the GOP's 2017 tax law. The House is seen as taking the lead, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) publicly aiming for a Memorial Day deadline to get a bill on Trump's desk. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax federal editor Kim Dixon talks to congressional reporters Chris Cioffi and Zach Cohen about what to expect in the next work period. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Deep cuts to the IRS workforce mean the agency might have to rely more heavily on technology to keep up taxpayer services and enforcement. The IRS is set to lose 20,000 workers after the Trump administration's second deferred resignation offer. That's in addition to thousands who have already left or are on administrative leave. Barry Johnson, former IRS chief data and analytics officer, oversaw the rollout of artificial intelligence at the agency before his retirement in January. When he left, he said the IRS was piloting an AI tool to help employees search the Internal Revenue Code. The agency also used AI to improve taxpayer services, such as with chatbots, and to make enforcement more efficient. But the workforce cuts could hinder that progress, Johnson said. "I'm especially concerned with proposed cuts in what we call the field staff, the folks who process tax returns and conduct audits," he said. "Because to the extent that we lose that subject matter expertise, our ability to train and validate AI applications will be diminished." In this episode of Talking Tax, Johnson talks to Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Schilling about the challenges of relying on technology with a shrunken staff, how the research division uses taxpayer data while upholding confidentiality, and what it means for the agency when top executives leave. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The Trump administration's massive new tariff pronouncements, on top of its pullback from the OECD’s global tax deal, have cast doubt on the future of global tax policy efforts.   The two-pillar OECD-led agreement seeks to create a 15% global minimum tax for large multinational corporations and change the way the companies allocate their profits among countries. While the US is still taking part in some negotiations, it has rejected key elements of the deal that it says infringe on US tax sovereignty. The administration has especially taken issue with the deal’s undertaxed profits rule, which countries can use to tax companies from other jurisdictions if they aren't paying the minimum tax there. And it has raised objections to countries' imposition of digital services taxes. On Wednesday, President Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher reciprocal tariffs that hit many US trade partners earlier in the day, and raised duties on China to 125%.   The conflict could spark a reaction away from global tax policy negotiations and toward more bilateral, one-on-one dealings between countries as nations look to retaliate or cut a deal with the US. On this episode of Talking Tax, reporter Caleb Harshberger talks with PwC global tax policy leader Will Morris and Michael Plowgian, a partner at KPMG and former deputy assistant secretary for international affairs at the Treasury Department. They discuss the current state of negotiations, the complexity of numerous moving parts, and prospects for the US's ongoing role vis à vis the European Union and other nations. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.