In yet another move to insulate companies that screw consumers, Congress has now made it so you can't deduct the attorney fees you get from the violating business from your taxes -- fees you only get if you prove that the business violated the law, or if the business settles with you because it realizes that you're about to prove it.
This is bad stuff folks.
As one analyst described it:
This is bad stuff folks.
As one analyst described it:
Section 11045 of the new law eliminates the miscellaneous itemized deduction for attorneys fees altogether. Until now, consumer plaintiffs could treat their attorneys fees as a deductible expense for the production of income under section 212, subject to the 2% floor. Section 212 is dead until 2026, when section 11045 sunsets.
In other words - consumer rights plaintiffs now have no possibility of benefiting from any deduction for attorneys fees in any way, shape, or form. They used to "benefit" from the (unfavorable) itemized deduction subject to the 2% floor under 212. Now they don't even get that. So there's no point worrying whether they will have enough deductions to itemize under the new regime of higher standard deductions and no personal exemptions.
Additional tidbit in case you didn't click the link I sent last week: the new law penalizes sexual harassment / abuse plaintiffs who sign non-disclosure agreements [NDAs]. Section 62 [currently] provides an above-the-line deduction for attorneys fees to certain types of plaintiffs (essentially everyone but consumers). Congress amended section 62 to take away the deduction from survivors who sign NDAs.
High-quality, honest, reputable businesses are the ones who will suffer from this the most -- each consumer only tends to get ripped off by the scummy businesses once, but their competitors face unfair competition day-in and day-out, 365 days a year.
Most consumer protection laws got their start when businesses realized that "anything goes" in the consumer marketplace doesn't just hurt consumers -- it hurts the other businesses even more. This Congress has absorbed so much propaganda from the banks and business lobbies that they are willing to shoot their own constituents rather than displease their campaign financiers. Disgusting.
Most consumer protection laws got their start when businesses realized that "anything goes" in the consumer marketplace doesn't just hurt consumers -- it hurts the other businesses even more. This Congress has absorbed so much propaganda from the banks and business lobbies that they are willing to shoot their own constituents rather than displease their campaign financiers. Disgusting.
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