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- Republicans are set on Friday to release the final text of the compromise version of their massive tax bill.
- The compromise bill, crafted by GOP members of the congressional tax committees, will feature a few changes from the House and Senate versions.
- Republicans leaders want to vote on the bill as early as Tuesday.
Republicans are set to release the final version of their massive tax bill on Friday, setting up a frantic stretch to pass the plan through Congress next week.
The bill is a compromise between the House and Senate versions and assembled by Republican members mostly from the committees that wrote them.
The text of the legislation, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, will be released around 5:30 p.m. ET, said Rep. Kevin Brady, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
The legislation would make sweeping changes to the corporate and individual tax systems. Based on reports and congressional sources, here are some ways the bill is likely to differ from the House and Senate versions:
- It would give corporations a slightly less generous tax cut. The corporate rate is likely to be slashed to 21% from the current 35%. The House and Senate versions had proposed 20%.
- It would increase the refundability of the child tax credit. The bill would increase the child tax credit to $2,000 from the current $1,000, like the Senate version — but the level to which the credit would be refundable would increase to $1,400 from the Senate’s proposed $1,100. That change is aimed at Sen. Marco Rubio, who on Thursday threatened to vote against the bill if the credit were not made more generous.
- It would lower the top marginal tax rate: The bill would bring the top marginal tax rate down to 37% from the current 39.6%, but more generous than the 38% in the Senate bill.
- It would adjust the individual tax brackets. The new brackets would be:
- 10%: $0 to $9,525 of taxable income for an individual; $0 to $19,050 for married joint filers
- 12%: $9,526 to $38,700 individual; $19,051 to $77,400 joint
- 22%: $38,701 to $70,000 individual; $77,401 to $165,000 joint
- 24%: $70,001 to $160,000 individual; $165,001 to $315,000 joint
- 32%: $160,001 to $200,000 individual; $315,001 to $400,000 joint
- 35%: $200,001 to $500,000 individual; $400,001 to $600,000 joint
- 37%: over $500,000 individual; over $600,000 joint
- It would allow people to count income or sales tax toward the state and local tax deduction. The House and Senate versions proposed people be able to deduct up to $10,000 in state property taxes from their federal tax bill. The compromise bill would allow people to deduct up to $10,000 in a combination of state and local property, income, and sales tax. It’s unclear whether that figure is the same for joint and individual filers.
- It would give pass-through businesses a deduction: Pass-through businesses like limited liability corporations in which the owner books the profits as income would be allowed to deduct 20% of their earnings. This is similar to the Senate bill, but down from that bill’s 23% deduction. The benefit would also phase out starting at $315,000 for couples, down from $500,000 in the Senate bill.
- It would double the threshold to qualify for the estate tax. It’s currently $5.6 million. But the increase would expire, along with all the individual tax changes, in 2026. Many Republicans wanted to do away with the tax entirely.
- It would not repeal the Johnson amendment. That prevents nonprofit organizations from donating directly to political campaigns, and the House and Senate versions called for repealing it. Critics had argued that would allow nonprofits to become de facto tax-exempt political organizations.
- It would lower the threshold for the medical expense deduction for two years. The House version called for repealing the deduction, which allows people with medical expenses above 10% of their income to deduct costs beyond that. The compromise bill lowers that level to 7.5%. Sen. Susan Collins requested this change.
Republican leaders have said they plan to hold a vote on the compromise bill early next week, with a goal of President Donald Trump signing it by Wednesday.
Despite concerns over some members in the Senate, it appears that the Republican leadership has secured enough votes to pass the TCJA.
Sens. Marco Rubio and Bob Corker said they would support the bill on Friday, after originally withholding their support from the compromise. Corker was also the only Republican to vote against the bill when it first came to a vote in the Senate.
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