DANIELLE ZANZALARI: IRS Policy Shift Could Slow American Mergers

Most Americans don’t spend much time thinking about Internal Revenue Service policy, nor should they have to. They’re supposed to trust that the agency will apply the rules the same way every time so businesses can plan ahead, invest, and innovate. Investment decisions, research and development, job creation, and mergers and acquisitions depend on stable, predictable tax rules. But when the IRS abruptly reinterprets long-standing tax rules, especially by retroactively reclassifying routine business expenses, it injects uncertainty into markets that depend on clear and consistent guidance.