The estate tax, applied to assets of someone when they die, represents a tiny portion of federal revenue. But for farms and businesses at risk of being caught by this death tax, the effects can be huge. If a business or farm is valuable enough to be ensnared by the estate tax, passing on this asset built and developed over a lifetime, or across generations, becomes extraordinarily difficult and costly, sometimes even impossible. But apparently the Internal Revenue Service does not think this situation is bad enough and has proposed new regulations which would make passing on a business to your children even more difficult.

The hardest part of drafting any new regulation is establishing a definition. In fact, most of the policy work is in the definition and there are alarmingly few policy considerations after something is defined as a covered entity. The definition of cryptocurrency has already proved problematic for regulators. Essentially, to commodities regulators, virtual currency is a commodity. For bank regulators, it is a bank. For securities regulators, it is a security. For those who regulate money transmitters, it is a money transmitter. For the purpose of property taxes, it is a property. Everyone wants a stake in the new world of virtual currency.

On June 22, the House Judiciary Committee brought in outside experts to examine the allegations of misconduct against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Conservatives point to overwhelming evidence that Koskinen lied before the House Judiciary Committee, obstructed the ability of Congress to uncover the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups, and is responsible for destruction of evidence.