Eversheds Sutherland Tax Reform Law Blog
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All in a Late Night’s Work: Senate Passes Tax Bill

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, the Senate passed its tax reform bill with a vote of 51-49. Changes to the bill, including some handwritten into the document, were made leading up to the final vote. The only Republican to vote against the bill was Senator Bob Corker who has continued concerns regarding the estimated $1+ trillion deficit over the next 10 years. Corker...

Senate May Vote on Its Tax Reform Bill as Early as Thursday, but There Are Hurdles to Overcome

At least a half dozen Republican senators have shown concern about the Senate version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, threatening the passage of the bill by the end of this year. The bill, passed out of the Senate Finance Committee on November 17, faces its next major hurdle from the Senate Budget Committee who will meet Tuesday, November 28, to add a revenue-raising measure allowing...

White House Officials State Willingness to Sacrifice Health Care Provision for the Tax Reform Greater Good

The White House Budget Director, Mick Mulvaney, indicated that the Trump Administration is willing to strike the health care provision in the Senate’s proposed tax legislation repealing the requirement that everyone in the U.S. have health insurance or pay a fine. Striking this provision would leave the Senate $338 billion short of their revenue goal and would require Republican...

Senate Bill Anticipated Later This Week; House Begins Markup of Their Tax Reform Legislation

  The House Ways and Means Committee began marking up the GOP tax bill this afternoon, and the process is expected to continue until Thursday. The markup will start with opening statements and then amendments are expected to be introduced throughout the week by Chairman Kevin Brady.  With the floor open to Democrats, discussions and amendments are anticipated to focus on the...

House Passes Budget, Clearing the Way for Tax Reform

The House of Representatives approved the Senate version of the 2018 federal budget by a narrow margin (216-212).  The budget will allow for tax legislation that could add up to $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years, and will clear the path for Congress to fast-track tax reform legislation.  House Republicans are expected to unveil the text of their tax bill next week....

State and Local Tax Deduction Presents a Potential Roadblock to Tax Reform

Republican leaders are counting on a swift vote on the budget in order to meet their end-of-year deadline for passing tax reform.  However, House Republicans from high-tax states like New York, California, Illinois, and New Jersey indicated that they might not vote to pass the budget on Thursday unless they receive a guarantee that tax reform will not eliminate the State and Local Tax...

President Trump Urges House Republicans to Adopt the Senate-Approved Budget to Speed Up Tax-Reform Process

President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence urged House Republicans on a conference call yesterday to speed up the tax reform process by adopting the Senate-approved budget without further amendments. The chairwoman of the House Budget Committee, Rep. Diane Black, as well as Speaker Paul Ryan also voiced their support for the passage of the Senate budget this week. The end of this...

Senate GOP Passes Amendment to Repeal State and Local Tax Deduction

With a 52-47 vote, Senate Republicans passed an amendment to the budget resolution to repeal the state and local tax deduction, which allows federal filers to deduct taxes paid for their real estate, personal property, state income, and sales taxes.  The measure is expected to raise $1.3 trillion over the next ten years.  Opponents of the move are critical of the fact that only...

Senate Approves Budget, Easing Path Toward Tax Reform Legislation

The Senate approved a budget for 2018 with language permitting a simple majority vote on tax legislation through reconciliation. The budget language allows tax legislation to add up to $1.5 trillion dollars to the deficit over a decade, which the budget blueprint balances by assuming greater economic growth, cuts in spending and an accounting method that does not include Social...

McCain Announces Support for Budget Resolution

Sen. John McCain buoyed GOP tax reform hopes by announcing his support for the Senate budget resolution, set for a vote later this week.  Debate on the resolution began midday Tuesday following a 50-47 vote, split along party lines, to move the process forward.  While Sen. John Thune expressed optimism toward passing the resolution, some Senate Republicans remain uncommitted, including...

Senate Republicans to Vote on Fiscal Year 2018 Budget

Senate Republicans anticipate voting on the fiscal year 2018 budget this week, allowing their tax plan to add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next ten years.  The resolution will also contain provisions allowing the GOP to pass the tax reform bill, promised to be brought to the floor by year’s end, by a simple majority and avoid a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.  While...

Senators Corker and Toomey Reach Tentative Budget Resolution Deal

Bob Corker and Pat Toomey, GOP members of the Senate Budget Committee, have reached a tentative agreement on a budget resolution that would allow for tax cuts that would significantly increase the deficit as determined using static scoring.  While the Senators did not specify the size of the potential deficit increase, Senator Ron Johnson indicated that he would support an amount of at...

Senate Budget Committee Considers Appropriate Baseline Measure

Senate Budget Chairman Michael Enzi confirmed that he intends to mark up a fiscal 2018 budget resolution in September.  First, however, the Budget Committee will need to agree on how to measure the resolution, using either the current policy baseline or current law baseline.  The former method, which reduces projected federal revenue by approximately $460 billion over 10 years, assumes...

Business Community Urges Congress to Pass Tax Reform

Corporate America is encouraging Congress to pass tax reform legislation as quickly as possible.  Amid apprehension that tax reform could experience delays similar to those facing other items on the Republican agenda, business leaders have pressed congressional leaders to move forward with a budget resolution to facilitate tax reform.  Business groups will launch campaigns during...

Strategists Predict Regardless of Healthcare Reform’s Outcome, Tax Reform will Happen

Political strategists predict a tax reform bill will be signed into law next year, regardless of the outcome of efforts to enact a healthcare bill.  Their expectations are for smaller corporate and individual tax cuts than initially hoped, with a new corporate tax rate around 23 percent and individual cuts focused on the lower and middle class taxpayers.  However, tax reform efforts...