Robert Sherman: It's just so hard for me to process that, Blake, because throughout the last couple of weeks here, as we've been covering the conclave, just about everyone here in Europe has been saying no way that there is going to be an American Pope who assumes the papacy. Sure enough, an American Pope has, comes from the heartland of the United States. And you listen to the way that he talks, talks in a similar fashion to people who you and I have probably grown up with as well. And that was the first and only Pope whose hand that I've ever shaken. And I still can't even believe it to this moment.
Blake Burman: Yeah, it's pretty remarkable. I woke up, I saw your email. I said, my goodness, good on you, Robert Sherman. And what a moment there, Robert. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. So one of the other big stories and questions here is, believe it or not, might the Pope have to pay taxes? File with Uncle Sam. After all, he's an American citizen. And yes, that possibility is now being discussed. Joining us now here on the Hill is Caroline Bruckner. She's a tax professor at American University's Kogod School of Business. Live with us tonight here on the Hill. Nice to see you. Hello. Thanks for coming in.
Caroline Bruckner: Thanks for having me.
Burman: I read this this weekend and I had to read it three or four times, Caroline, because I said, what? Uncle Sam might want some paperwork from the Pope? Explain.
Bruckner: Well, so the U.S. is unique among developed countries in that it taxes U.S. citizens on their worldwide income. Okay. So if you're a U.S. citizen and you live outside the U.S. for a full year, you generally, and you earn income, you generally may be subject to a tax return filing like everyone else. Yeah. But there are exceptions for generally for people that earn less for below a certain amount. And that gets adjusted for inflation every year. And so for this year, it's going to be $130,000. So given that he's likely to follow in his predecessor's footsteps and not take a formal salary, there's a good chance that Pope Leo will be below that $130,000 cap.
Burman: Can you tee up the soundbite, please, from the acting IRS commissioner? Because he was on News Nation earlier today and Conal McShane asked him this question. If we haven't, let's roll it, please, real quick. It's based upon where the income is generated. So I believe, I mean, I don't know enough about Pope Leo, but I believe he is going to generate that income in the United States. I don't know enough about his citizenship to know whether or not there would be a tax on him. That seemed like we're not sure what we might do here. In fairness, I don't know that he's thought about this.
Bruckner: So it could be that Pope Leo generates speaking fees that he donates back to the church.