Tax Bill Agreed.

This isn’t bad. A lot to work with here. Lots of new seams to explore. Corp rate 20%. (Not 21%.). 20% deduction for passthroughs. (Not 17%.) Mortgage interest grandfathered in. Limit goes to $750G. ( ot $500G). State tax deduct is limited to 10G total. No info on half million $ HOME exemption.

A major surprise, this the only tax bill in memory that got better during Reconciliation. There is something about this White House. Seems likes it’s in shambles but it produces results. Major tax cut.

The first & last grouping are most important. The middle one may have some errors. Is just there to provide info on unchanged provisions? I think? Just take it with a lot grain of salt. The first & last grouping are most important.

Some solid reporting should emerge over the weekend. Scheduled for vote Tuesday.

First list.

• Individual tax brackets of 10 percent, 12 percent, 22 percent, 24 percent, 32 percent, 35 percent, and 37 percent.
• The standard deduction is roughly doubled from $6,350 and $12,700 under current law to $12,000 and $24,000 for individuals and married couples, respectively.
• Twenty percent deduction for pass-through businesses. (Limited?)
• Corporate tax rate of 20 percent.
• Bill eliminates individual mandate–but not until 2019.
• The corporate repatriation rate is set at 15.5 percent on cash and 8 percent on illiquid assets, significantly higher than earlier reports indicated.
• Bill requires the opening of the Arctic Wildlife Refuse to oil drilling.
• Child tax credit set at $2,000, refundable up to $1,400, phase out starts at $400,000 of income (lower than expected).

Original List … if it disagrees with 1st or last list, disregard.

• Republicans agreed to increase the refundable portion of the child tax credit, which makes it more valuable to lower-income taxpayers. As under the earlier Senate bill, the credit will be set at $2000. But the refundable portion, which is the amount of money taxpayers can get back as a refund even if they owe no income tax, was raised from $1,100 to $1,400. That change was made as a concession to Senator Marco Rubio, who had said he would vote against the bill if the child tax credit were not strengthened.
• The controversial cuts to the deduction for state and local taxes have been pared back. Under the GOP proposal, taxpayers would be able to deduct up to $10,000 of state property taxes, income taxes, or sales taxes. The earlier House and Senate bill only allowed it to be used for property taxes.
• The attempt to give churches a wider lattitude when it comes to political speech without jeopardizing their tax exempt status was killed after Democrats convinced the Senate parliamentarian that the Senate’s rules require a 60 vote super-majority to pass the measure.
• The corporate tax rate will be set at 21 percent, up from the 20 percent in the earlier bills. The tax cut will not be delayed by a year, something lawmakers were considering as a way of reducing the budgetary cost of the bill. Under current law, the corporate tax rate is 35 percent.
• The deduction for pass-through business income will be set at 20 percent. That is lower than the 23 percent under the Senate bill, which translates into a higher tax rate for owners of these businesses.
• The estate tax will not be repealed. Instead, the threshold for it to apply will be doubled to $11 million.
• In a big reversal, medical expense deductions have become easier to take. Under current law, taxpayers can deduct medial expenses that go above 10 percent of their income. The House version called for repealing the deduction all together. The bill now keeps the deduction and lowers the threshold to 7.5 percent. That’s a big tax cut for the sick.
• The repeal of the individual mandate has survived and will be included in the bill.
• The top marginal tax rate for individuals will fall to 37 percent, lower than the Senate bill’s 38 percent. The current top rate is 39.6 percent.
• Student loan interest deductions and deductions for waived tuitions for graduate students will also survive, according to several reports. Those provisons had been meeting fierce resistance from higher education lobbyists and student activists.

Last list.
POLICY HIGHLIGHTS
Some errors in here as well.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) overhauls America’s tax code to deliver historic tax relief for workers, families and job creators, and revitalize our nation’s economy. By lowering taxes across the board, eliminating costly special-interest tax breaks, and modernizing our international tax system, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will help create more jobs, increase paychecks, and make the tax code simpler and fairer for Americans of all walks of life. With this bill, the typical family of four earning the median family income of $73,000 will receive a tax cut of $2,059.

(Whoopy doopy. Not much. This is genuinely a tax cut for businesses. Not even necessarily for businesses owners. The flow through thing will. It the taxes of 10 million privately owned businesses.

• For individuals and families, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
• Lowers individual taxes and sets the rates at 0%, 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37% so people can keep more of their hard-earned money.
• Significantly increases the standard deduction to protect roughly double the amount of what you earn each year from taxes – from $6,350 and $12,700 under current law to $12,000 and $24,000 for individuals and married couples, respectively.
• Continues to allow people to write off the cost of state and local taxes – just like current law – up to $10,000. Gives individuals and families the ability to choose among sales, income and property taxes to best for their unique circumstances.
• Takes action to support more American families by:
• Expanding the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $2,000 for single lers and married couples to help parents with the cost of raising children. The tax credit is fully refundable up to $1,400 and begins to phase-out for families making over $400,000. Parents must provide a child’s valid Social Security Number in order to receive this credit.
• Preserving the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to help families care for their children and older dependents such as a disabled grandparent who may need additional support.
• Preserving the Adoption Tax Credit so parents can continue to receive additional tax relief as they open their hearts and homes to an adopted child.
• Preserves the mortgage interest deduction – providing tax relief to current and aspiring homeowners current mortgage interest deduction.
• For homeowners with new mortgages on a rst or second home, the home mortgage interest deduction will be available up to $750,000.
• Provides relief for Americans with expensive medical bills by expanding the medical expense deduction for 2018 and 2019 for medical expenses exceeding 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income, and rising to 10 percent beginning in 2020.
• Continues and expands the deduction for charitable contributions so people can continue to donate to their local church, charity, or community organization.
• Eliminates Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty tax – providing families with much-needed relief and exibility to buy the health care that’s right for them if they choose.
• Maintains the Earned Income Tax Credit to provide important tax relief for low-income Americans working to build better lives for themselves.
• Improves savings vehicles for education by allowing families to use 529 accounts to save for elementary, secondary and higher education.
• Provides support for graduate students by continuing to exempt the value of reduced tuition from taxes.
• Retains popular retirement savings options such as 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) so Americans can continue to save for their future.
• Increases the exemption amount from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) to reduce the complexity and tax burden for millions of Americans. AMT survives. 
• Provides immediate relief from the Death Tax by doubling the amount of the current exemption to reduce uncertainty and costs for many family-owned farms and businesses when they pass down their life’s work to the next generation. Also nice. Solved estate issues for most of my clients. 
  For job creators of all sizes, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
• Lowers the corporate tax rate to 21%. Actually 20%.  (beginning Jan. 1, 2018) – down from 35%, which today is the highest in the industrialized world – the largest reduction in the U.S. corporate tax rate in our nation’s history.
• Delivers significant tax relief to Main Street job creators by:
  
• Offering a first-ever 20% tax deduction that applies to the first $315,000 of joint income earned by all businesses organized as S corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and sole proprietorships. For Main Street job creators with income above this level, the bill generally provides a deduction for up to 20% on business profits – reducing their effective marginal tax rate to no more than 29.6%. xxx I assume correct? But differs from other sources. 
• Establishing strong safeguards so that wage income does not receive the lower marginal effective tax rates on business income – helping to ensure that Main Street tax relief goes to the local job creators it was designed to help most.
• Allows businesses to immediately write off the full cost of new equipment to improve operations and enhance the skills of their workers – unleashing growth of jobs, productivity, and paychecks. No more section 179.  But doesn’t remove the temptation. If you own a hammer, everything looks like a nail. 
• Protects the ability of small businesses to write off interest on loans, helping these Main Street entrepreneurs start or expand a business, hire workers, and increase paychecks. I keep sreessingnthey can’t prohibit you from deducting cost of doing business. 
  
• No genuine reform in sight. Preserves important elements of the existing business tax system, including:
• Retaining the low-income housing tax credit that encourages businesses to invest in affordable housing so families, individuals, and seniors can nd a safe and comfortable place to call home.
• Preserving the Research & Development Tax Credit that encourages our businesses and workers to develop cutting-edge “Made in America” products and services.
• Retaining the tax-preferred status of private-activity bonds that are used to finance valuable infrastructure projects.
• Eliminates the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, thereby lowering taxes and eliminating confusion and uncertainty so American job creators can focus on growing their business and hiring more workers, rather than on burdensome paperwork.
• Modernizes our international tax system so America’s global businesses will no longer be held back by an outdated “worldwide” tax system that results in double taxation for many of our nation’s job creators.  Just changes tax rate. Each country passes own laws. Tax havens will respond. That will also be interesting. They have built their entire economy around tax savings.
• Makes it easier for American businesses to bring home foreign earnings to invest in growing jobs and paychecks in our local communities.
• Prevents American jobs, headquarters, and research from moving overseas by eliminating incentives that now reward companies for shifting jobs, pro ts, and manufacturing plants abroad.
  For greater American energy security and economic growth, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
• Establishes an environmentally responsible oil and gas program in the non-wilderness 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Congress speci cally set aside the 1.57-million acre 1002 Area for potential future development. Two lease sales will be held over the next decade and surface development will be limited to 2,000 federal acres – just one ten-thousandth of all of ANWR.
• Signifcantly boosts American energy production. Responsible development in the 1002 Area will raise tens of billions of dollars for de cit reduction in the decades to come, while creating thousands of new jobs, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and helping to keep energy affordable for American families and businesses.
• Provides a temporary increase in offshore revenue sharing for the Gulf Coast in 2020 and 2021, allowing those states to invest in priorities such as coastal restoration and hurricane protection.

That’s it folks

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