House panel releases sweeping GOP tax bill
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The House Ways and Means Committee on Monday released a fuller version of its part of the party’s bill full of President Trump’s legislative priorities, kicking off what is expected to be a showdown over the tax provisions in the sprawling measure.

The 389-page measure, which is the centerpiece of the GOP’s megabill, is expected to draw howls from within the House GOP conference.

In one of the most long-awaited details, the legislation increases the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap from $10,000 to $30,000 for single and joint filers which would phase down as income grows a figure that is lower than the proposal floated by key stakeholders.

Shortly before the release of the tax bill, a group of Republican moderates from high-tax blue states told leadership they would be content with a SALT deduction cap of $62,000 for single filers and $124,000 for joint filers. The proposition came after the same group rejected an offer from leadership last week to increase the SALT deduction cap to $30,000.

Moderate Republicans from high-tax blue states pushing for a higher SALT deduction cap were quick to push back on the panel’s text.

“Still a hell no,” said Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), one of the most vocal voices pushing to increase the SALT deduction cap.

The SALT deduction cap, which was first instituted in the 2017 Trump tax cuts, has emerged as one of the most contentious debates pertaining to the Trump agenda bill. Moderate Republicans from high-tax blue states including New York, New Jersey and California have been pushing to increase the cap, which deficit hawks are opposed to.

The release of the text which had been highly anticipated since Friday night, when the panel unveiled a partial version of the measure comes as the committee prepares to debate and advance the measure in a meeting scheduled to begin on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. That meeting is expected to run through the night.

Beyond increasing the SALT deduction cap, the bill includes several tax-related promises Trump made on the campaign trail, including getting rid of taxes on tips and overtime provisions that are set to expire at the end of 2028. The bill also proposes exempting car loan interest payments through 2028, with several exceptions.

The bill also makes the 2017 income tax rate reductions permanent, which was a priority for many Republicans. The 2017 tax law specifies marginal tax rates of 10 percent, 12 percent, 22 percent, 24 percent, 32 percent, 35 percent, and 37 percent.

While there had been consideration of letting the top tax rate expire, which would mean that the highest tax bracket for regular income would increase to 39.6 percent, this provision was left out. Conservative tax groups had railed against that possibility.

The House Ways and Means Committee released text for its portion of the Trump agenda bill as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) looks to keep the conference on his ambitious timeline of approving the entire package by Memorial Day. Despite the lingering disagreements, Johnson was confident that the conference would remain on track.

“Yes, I think we’re going to meet it,” he told reporters when asked if he is still confident in his Memorial Day deadline.

Among other provisions, the bill increases the passthrough deduction to 23 percent from 20 percent. Passthroughs are businesses designated as partnerships, sole proprietorships, LLCs and S-corporations that pass their tax liability on directly to their owners. The vast majority of U.S. businesses fall into this general category.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) welcomed the proposed increase.

“For the 96% of manufacturers that are organized as pass-through businesses, this bill is more than policy—it’s a path to growth,” NAM CEO Jay Timmons said in a statement. “It means the ability to buy equipment, hire workers, increase pay and expand operations with greater certainty and confidence.

Critics of the GOP tax framework say that it’s another example of “trickle down economics,” meaning tax advantages for businesses, investors and managers, the benefits of which may or may not “trickle down” to workers and consumers.

“So far this costly bill appears to double down on trickle down, with huge tax cuts that will further enrich the rich and not much for the rest of us,” Amy Hanauer, director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said in a statement in response to Friday’s version of the bill. 

Additionally, the bill includes a temporary expansion of the child tax credit (CTC), bumping it up to $2,500 through 2028.

The Ways and Means text also increases the debt ceiling by $4 trillion, which could be a point of contention if the package reaches the Senate as is. The budget resolution laid out a $5 trillion debt limit increase for the upper chamber.

The tax proposals also rescind some renewable energy incentives in Democrats’ 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). It slashes funding for the loans office in the Department of Energy, which provides financing for companies in the process of developing non-fossil fuel energy technologies and specifically low-carbon tech.

It also rescinds a grant program for air pollution and emissions reduction in underprivileged communities, taking aim at the climate justice movement. There are clawbacks on multiple Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs, including on a $20-billion program that lends for climate-friendly projects.

The Republican tax bill reinstates a number of business provisions from the 2017 Trump tax cuts that had already expired and that businesses had been hoping would be renewed in previous years. 

These include immediate research and development expensing, bonus depreciation, and interest deductibility, along with the amped passthrough deduction and key elements of the international tax regime, which has competing initiatives at both the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

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