# Washington Watch: Filing Season Pressures and Legislative Gridlock Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/federal-tax-updates-5954475/washington-watch-filing-season-pressures-and-legislative-gridlock Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/federal-tax-updates-5954475/washington-watch-filing-season-pressures-and-legislative-gridlock.md Podcast: [Federal Tax Updates](https://stenobird.com/podcast/federal-tax-updates-5954475) Published: 2026-01-26T15:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/e1801f18 Audio file: https://op3.dev/e/media.transistor.fm/e1801f18/1f45fde6.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/federal-tax-updates-5954475/episodes/washington-watch-filing-season-pressures-and-legislative-gridlock Duration seconds: 3485 ## Resource Roger and Annie welcome back Thad Inge to decode what's happening in Washington DC as filing season kicks off. With potential government shutdowns, billion-dollar IRS budget cuts, and 25% of IRS staff gone through early retirements, uncertainty looms over tax professionals trying to implement retroactive provisions for overtime and tips. The conversation shifts to the renewed push for minimum tax preparer standards and why getting bipartisan legislation passed might be harder than ever in an election year. Sponsors Padgett - Contact Padgett or Email Jeff Phillips Get NASBA Approved CPE or IRS Approved CE Launch the course on EarmarkCPE to get free CPE/CE for listening to this episode. Connect with Thad Inge LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thad-inge-9342155 Website: https://www.vsadc.com/ Chapters (00:00) - Introduction and Greetings (03:00) - Congressional Updates and Government Shutdown Concerns (09:04) - IRS Staffing and Service Levels (11:16) - Tax Legislation and Employer Guidance (15:53) - State Tax Variations and Software Updates (19:20) - IRS Budget Cuts and Inflation Reduction Act Funds (24:23) - Student Loan Offsets and Political Implications (27:29) - Potential Tax Legislation and ACA Premium Tax Credits (28:33) - Trump's Healthcare Plan and Legislative Challenges (29:08) - Tax Extenders and Bipartisan Cooperation (31:34) - Child Tax Credit and Legislative Vehicles (32:22) - The Legislative Process and Unanimous Consent (36:00) - Senator Tillis and Party Defections (39:08) - Minimum Standards for Tax Preparers (52:55) - Incentivizing E-Filing for Small Businesses (57:10) - Conclusion and Upcoming Tax Season Follow the Federal Tax Updates Podcast on Social Media twitter.com/FedTaxPod facebook.com/FedTaxPod linkedin.com/showcase/fedtaxpod Connect with the… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/federal-tax-updates-5954475/episodes/washington-watch-filing-season-pressures-and-legislative-gridlock/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/federal-tax-updates-5954475/washington-watch-filing-season-pressures-and-legislative-gridlock.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.