Bottom line

TAX REFORM. Heineken USA hired McGuireWoods Consulting to work on a specific area of tax reform, known in the House version as Section 4303, which would impose a sweeping new excise tax on certain payments from domestic corporations that are related to foreign ones. It puts multinational corporations in the crosshairs, as the tax applies to both U.S. and foreign-headquartered firms, according to a KPNG analysis. Heineken USA is the U.S. subsidiary of Amsterdam-based company, Heineken N.V., the second-largest brewer in the world.

Venable is working on tax-reform issues for the United States Tennis Association regarding “tax-exempt” issues. A version of the Senate bill included a subsection called “Repeal of Tax-Exempt Status for Professional Sports Leagues,” which would have applied to the U.S. Tennis Association and others. The provision had been in the bill as late as Friday — shortly before the upper chamber ultimately voted on it — but was stripped at the last minute, according to Golf World magazine. (The PGA Tour would have also been affected by the provision.)

The Nashville Songwriters Association International registered a two-person in-house lobbying team to work with lawmakers on the Songwriters Capital Gains Tax Equity Act, according to newly submitted disclosures. When songwriters sell their music catalogues, the proposal ensures that the money is treated like capital gains. It has been law since 2006, but faces the chopping block every time Congress looks at reforming the tax code. An early version of the House bill repealed the provision, but it was eventually saved.

PUERTO RICO. Cumberland North America has been brought in to help McConnell Valdés lobby on behalf of Scotiabank de Puerto Rico on “issues related to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its instrumentalities.” Scotiabank is one of the 51 creditors that hold a piece of the territory’s $72 billion worth of debt in bonds. It has, along with Citibank and Goldman Sachs, donated money to Puerto Rico relief efforts, according to The Intercept. Bondholders of Puerto Rican debt are in the middle of lawsuits, and the island’s government owes them more money than it is able to pay.