April 9, 2020
The Honorable Mike Pence
Vice President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20501
The Honorable Steven T. Mnuchin
Secretary of the Treasury
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20220
The Honorable Russell T. Vought
Acting Director
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20503
Dear Vice President Pence, Secretary Mnuchin, and Acting Director Vought:
We write to request communications and other information pertaining to the Trump
administration’s advocacy for two tax provisions included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act (PL 116-136). These provisions are Title 2, Subtitle C:
SEC. 2303. MODIFICATIONS FOR NET OPERATING LOSSES; and
SEC. 2304. MODIFICATION OF LIMITATION ON LOSSES FOR TAXPAYERS
OTHER THAN CORPORATIONS.
As you know, the 2017 tax law (PL 115-97) changed the way non-corporate taxpayers can carry
losses from a given year to minimize their tax bills in other years. Beginning in tax year 2018,
taxpayers filing jointly could only use $500,000 in losses from actively-managed investments,
like pass-through income from businesses, to offset wage or capital gains income. For example,
if one spouse owns a company that had a $5 million loss in 2018 and the other spouse made $5
million from stock market investments, this limitation meant that the couple’s taxable income
was $4.5 million (not zero, if the loss were allowed to fully cancel out the income). The other
$4.5 million in losses, however, could be carried forward to use in future years.
PL 115-97 included another change that prohibits corporate and non-corporate taxpayers from
carrying losses back in time. Before this change, a taxpayer that incurred a big loss in a given

 year could retroactively amend prior tax returns (going back up to five years) to use the losses to
cancel out income, and thus to receive tax refunds. The 2017 law allowed losses to be carried
forward indefinitely to future years but also limited the amount of income losses can offset to
80% of taxable income in a given year. Thus, a taxpayer with $10 million in income would still
have at least $2 million in taxable income, regardless of losses.
Sections 2303 and 2304 effectively suspend these changes for tax years 2018 through 2020.
Following passage of this legislation, the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the provisions
together would reduce revenue by $195 billion over ten years, together, among the costliest
provisions in the bill.
So that Congress and the American public can better understand the provenance of these tax law
changes, and assess whether any individuals within the Administration who stand to gain from
these provisions were involved in their development, we request you provide the following
information within 15 days of the date of this letter:






All communications from January 1, 2020 to the present between the White House,
Department of Treasury, or the Office of Management and Budget and any nongovernment person or entity related to sections 2303 or 2304, or the policies modified by
those sections.
All communications between the Department of Treasury and the White House, and
between the Department of Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget, related
to sections 2303 or 2304, or the policies modified by those sections, in the development
of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
All studies, analyses, proposals, cost estimates, or other information considered by the
White House, the Department of Treasury, or the Office of Management and Budget
related to sections 2303 or 2304, or the policies modified by those sections, in the
development of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this request.
Sincerely,

Sheldon Whitehouse
United States Senator

Lloyd Doggett
Member of Congress