On February 2nd, President Obama released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 budget request to Congress. Along with the budget, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) released a volume called “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2016 Revenue Proposals,” also known as “the Green Book.” The Green Book is an annual compilation of the tax proposals in the Administration’s budget, including a brief explanation of each proposal and its estimated revenue effect. This year’s Green Book includes a series of provisions reflecting many of the themes and policies outlined in the President’s State of the Union address, including business and international tax reform, bolstering the middle class, fairness, improving tax administration and voluntary compliance, and raising revenues. As with Punxsutawney Phil, the question is whether you will see a shadow or sunshine when you read about the proposals. And, like Phil, that depends on where you stand on any particular issue.

The Green Book is an important document, providing signals about the President’s priorities and offering clues about where the Administration and Congress can find common ground. Put another way, the Green Book can be seen as a menu of revenue-raisers that Congress may consider and adopt. As such, it is critical for stakeholders to understand the impact of the Green Book’s proposals on their organizations and seize on opportunities to educate policymakers about these proposals moving forward.