The Latest on Tax Reform

Update 12.20.17: On December 19th and 20th the House and Senate both voted along party lines to pass the final version of the tax reform bill. The House approved the bill in a 227-203 vote. The Senate approved their bill, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, in a 51-49 vote. The House gave final approval to the bill Wednesday to send it to President Trump’s desk.

To see changes in the final bill, check out this chart.

To see an estimate of what this bill might mean to your personal taxes, check out this New York Times calculator.

Update 12.4.17: The Senate passed its initial version of the Tax Reform Bill early Saturday morning, December 2nd, in a 51-49 vote. Senators Lindsey Graham (R) and Tim Scott (R) both voted for the bill. The full list of Senators who voted for and against the bill can be found here.

The centerpiece of the bill is lowering the Corporate Tax Rate to 20% starting in 2019. The bill would also temporarily cut tax rates for families and individuals through 2025. The Senate version of the bill repeals the individual mandate from the Affordable Care Act, reduces deductions for state and local taxes, and has a slightly lower rate for pass-through income at 23% as opposed to the House’s version at 25%. Other differences between the House and Senate versions can be found here, courtesy of the Tax Foundation.

The House and Senate versions will now go to a conference committee where the two versions will have to be reconciled.

As always, we encourage you to head over to our Action Center to contact your Representatives and let them know what you think of the Tax Reform legislation.

Update 11.17.17: The House passed its Tax Reform bill yesterday afternoon, November 16th, in a 227-205 vote. 13 Republicans voted against the bill, and no Democrats voted for it. You can see a full list of who voted for and against the bill here.

The Senate bill is expected to face far more opposition; a provision to eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, which requires individuals to purchase health insurance, was attached to the Senate’s tax bill this week. The Senate Finance Committee approved the bill late yesterday, November 16th, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to begin floor debate when Congress returns from Thanksgiving.

If the Senate is able to pass their bill, the House and Senate versions will go to a conference committee where the two versions will have to be reconciled.

Leadership in both Chambers plan to pass the bill through the reconciliation process, which allows the Senate to a pass a bill with a simple majority of 51 votes, instead of the usually required 60.

Stay tuned.

11.15.17:  In the last two weeks, the U.S. House and Senate have both released Tax Reform plans intended to make the tax code simpler and fairer, provide tax cuts, and grow jobs and the American economy.

Congress hasn’t attempted tax reform in more than three decades, and the time is ripe for the businesses community to advocate for changes you want to see in the final plan. Both the House and Senate versions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are moving quickly through the legislative process, so we’ll be updating this blogpost to provide you with new links and resources that will keep you up-to-date on versions of the bill.

House: The House bill was changed in committee last week, and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has said that the House will vote on the bill Thursday. President Trump will make a visit to Capitol Hill to meet with Republican lawmakers ahead of the vote. The House version has received broad support from the businesses community, including support from the  U.S. Chamber and NFIB.

Senate: The Senate Finance committee released their tax bill last week, and it is currently making its way through the markup process.  The Senate plans to vote on the bill when they return from Thanksgiving.

The Tax Foundation has provided a handy side-by-side on differences between the House and Senate versions.

The U.S. Chamber is also tracking progress on the tax reform bills with their politically wonky version of a Domino’s Pizza Tracker (pictured above).

We’ll continue to update this blogpost with the latest and greatest on what’s happening with tax reform. In the meantime, we want to hear from you on how the proposed changes could affect your business. Please contact us with any questions or concerns you have about tax reform. Now’s the time to get your slice of the pie; you may not have another opportunity for three more decades.